World Basketball Day • December 21
James Naismith grew up in rural Ontario, Canada. His childhood was simple and physical. Lots of outdoor play, farm chores, and rough games with other kids. One favorite was a game called Duck on a Rock—you throw a stone in a high arc to knock another stone off a rock. That detail matters later.
He was not raised in privilege. His parents died when he was young, so he learned independence early. That shaped his mindset—practical, disciplined, no nonsense.
As a young man, he became interested in physical education, not just sports for winning, but sports for health, character, and cooperation. He studied theology too, which explains why his thinking always included morals and self-control, not aggression.
In 1891, Naismith was teaching at a training school in Springfield, Massachusetts. Winter was brutal. Students were stuck indoors. Existing games were either too rough, too boring, or too dangerous for indoor play.
His supervisor gave him a clear task:
Create a new indoor game. Safe. Active. Engaging.
So Naismith thought back to Duck on a Rock—the idea of throwing with accuracy, not force. He avoided goals on the ground to reduce collisions. He avoided running with the ball to limit violence.
He hung peach baskets high on the wall, wrote thirteen simple rules, and used a soccer ball.
No big vision. No plan to change the world. Just solving a winter problem.
That’s the beauty of it. Basketball was born from restraint, not hype. A calm mind. A cold winter. A simple need.
Sometimes, that’s how the biggest things start.
⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ
