If we were to travel through time to the first basketball game ever played in 1891, how many of us would be smart enough to know that what we’re watching is actually basketball? A comparison of past and present basketball games can make us privy to the first original rules of the games and how the times have refined each to produce the modern type of basketball we have come to know and love today.
The original rules of the game did not include any stipulations or restrictions on dribbling, dunking and three-point shooting. A ball can only be passed to another player, and the player who’s holding it was not allowed to run with the ball in hand. Dribbling did not become common practice until 1901, when players were required to dribble the ball before they can shoot a goal. Dunking the ball and taking three-point shots were practically unheard of at the time.
The original rules also did not indicate how many players were allowed on each team, but there were usually 9 players. The standard 5 players per team did not come into play until 1897. The ball they used then was a soccer ball and the goals were peach baskets that initially had no holes at the bottom. The metal hoops and backboards came to replace the inefficient baskets in 1906.
A comparison of past and present basketball game will show just how much the rules of the game have been changed and refined to conform to the changing times. After its development in 1891, the game spread like wildfire through the whole nation and even around the world, and various personalities – mostly coaches – had a hand in shaping basketball as we know it today.
On the original rule, a player is fouled out on his second offense. It became four fouls in 1911 and eventually five in 1945 for a 40-minute game. The limit is upped to 6 fouls in the National Basketball Association and other leagues that last for 48 minutes. The original basketball game ran for two sets of fifteen minutes with a rest period of five minutes in between.
A player that had been subbed-out was no longer allowed to get back into the game in the earliest version of it. In 1921 they were allowed to return only once and in 1934 they can be subbed back in two times. These restrictions on play substitutions were completely abolished in 1945. Coaches were also not allowed to talk game strategies during the game until 1949 when time-outs were initiated.
Another significant change in the rules that a comparison of past and present basketball game can point out is one that concerned jump ball. In the old game, a jump ball followed every goal. This soon became tedious and time consuming and in 1930 an innovative new rule introduced and rallied by Coach Sam Barry restricted jump balls for when the ball goes out of bounds, thus consequently increasing the pace of the game.
