On January 15, 1892, Dr. James Naismith published the original rules of basketball in The Triangle, the newspaper of Springfield College.
At the time, basketball was a budding sport, and people weren’t really sure what it was.
To help explain, Dr. Naismith released 13 rules. These covered things spanning across who would be involved during a game, questions around scoring, and infractions that could potentially cost a team.
In 1892, it was pretty groundbreaking stuff. I mean, I wasn’t alive back then, but I imagine there were a lot of dropped jaws.
This week, on the latest episode of Sports R Dumb, my co-host Sean and I explore these original 13 rules with the context of 130 years on our side.
How do the rules hold up over time?
Are there any we should bring back?
We’re covering ’em all in a tidy 20 minutes. That’s the kind of efficiency replay reviews could use. But that’s a story for another day.
Listen here, and let me know your favorite of the original basketball rules!