125 years on, basketball still has us jumping through hoops

A game drawn up to occupy some bored boys as winter approached at a Massachusetts gymnasium celebrated its 125th anniversary yesterday.

Basketball, now the world’s second most popular sport, began on December 21, 1891 at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) gym in Springfield with rules made up by Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith.

Last year, more than one billion people watched National Basketball Association programming, said NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum, who helps preside over the world’s preeminent ‘hoops’ league.