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Article: A long, strange trip: the rules of basketball have long been understood--what's been harder is actually seeing them.
- Article from:
- Basketball Digest
- Article date:
- December 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Century Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IT'S AMAZING TO THINK THAT two simple sheets of paper have brought so many people around the world so much joy. But those two sheets, representing the "Original Rules" of basketball, are Dr. James Naismith's gift to fans everywhere.
What's even more amazing is that for 108 years, those original rules were never shown publicly or copied. Not unlike the Constitution that created the United States, the rules of basketball--unlike football or baseball, a game that did not evolve but was, in fact, invented by Naismith--have been hidden away and only now, some 110 years since being created, are coming into public view.
Naismith always said, "The first game of ...