Canadian born Dr. James Naismith invented basketball; Naismith was a physical educator at the YMCA, he invented the game as an extra activity that could occupy his gym class on any rainy day.
The inception of basketball saw a peach basket pinned to a height of ten feet or more precisely, three metres. The original games net retained the ball, which had to be manually retrieved after every basket. Punters opting for basketball betting will be interested to know that the game was originally played with a soccer ball, sewn up and laced for improved grip.