James Naismith - Legacy

Legacy

Naismith is the inventor of basketball and has written the original 13 rules of this sport. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, is named in his honour, and he was an inaugural inductee in 1959. The National Collegiate Athletic Association rewards its best players and coaches annually with the Naismith Awards, among them the Naismith College Player of the Year, the Naismith College Coach of the Year and the Naismith Prep Player of the Year. After the Olympic introduction to male athletes in 1936, women's basketball became an Olympic event in Montreal during the 1976 Summer Olympics. Naismith was also inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Ontario Sports Legends Hall of Fame, the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, the McGill University Sports Hall of Fame, the Kansas State Sports Hall of Fame, FIBA Hall of Fame, and The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which was named in his honour.

Basketball is today played by more than 300 million people worldwide, making it one of the most popular team sports. In North America, basketball has produced some of the most-admired athletes of the 20th century. Polls conducted by ESPN and the Associated Press named basketball player Michael Jordan respectively first and second greatest North American athlete of the 20th century, and both polls featured fellow basketballers Wilt Chamberlain (of KU, like Naismith) and Bill Russell in the Top 20.