The First Team were the first players known to have played the sport of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, having been taught the game in 1891 by

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

, who is recognized as the inventor of the sport. The team comprised 18 players who were studying in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, to become executive secretaries of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

and who, as part of their coursework, studied

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

with Naismith, who is said to have invented the game to teach teamwork skills to his charges. The team was inducted as a group into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

as part of that organization's inaugural 1959 induction class for their efforts in popularizing the sport and as the game's first practitioners. T. B. Patten and C. B. Libby were designated captains of the sides, who played a game that looked distinctly different from what fans would see in future years. With nine men to a side, each team had three forwards, three guards and three

centers Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. The three positions were divided into three section of the court, with only the centers allowed to roam. The final score of the first game was 1–0 with William Chase scoring the first basket in the history of the sport. In 1937, a re-enactment of the contest was played at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

using Naismith's 13 original rules, a soccer ball and peach baskets. The six surviving members of the first team were interviewed by the organizers of the event to ensure it was true to the original game.

Team members

The following are recognized by the Basketball Hall of Fame as members of "The First Team": *Lyman Walker Archibald (July 3, 1868 – November 10, 1947) *Franklin Everts Barnes (August 28, 1868 – October 3, 1947) *Wilbert Franklin Carey (October 31, 1868 – June 16, 1940) *William Richmond Chase (June 23, 1867 – August 30, 1951) *William Henry Davis (July 31, 1867 – October 9, 1919) *George Edward Day (September 21, 1864 – October 31, 1919) *Benjamin Snell French (July 14, 1871 – March 21, 1910) *Henry Gelan (September 13, 1863 – March 16, 1910) *Ernest Gotthold Hildner (October 26, 1873 – July 15, 1968) *Genzabaro Sadakni Ishikawa (July 27, 1866 – December 7, 1956) *Raymond Pimlott Kaighn (December 8, 1869 – August 16, 1962) *Donald Freas (December 24, 1865 - June 7, 1942) *Eugene Samuel Libby (April 28, 1865 – September 1, 1948) *Finlay Grant MacDonald (April 1, 1870 – March 29, 1951) *Frank Hoyt Mahan (October 17, 1867 – February 11, 1905) *Thomas Duncan Patton (April 15, 1865 – April 1, 1944) *Edwin Pakenham Ruggles (January 5, 1873 – June 19, 1940) *John George Thompson (September 10, 1859 – August 17, 1933) *George Radford Weller (August 25, 1870 – February 11, 1956)

References

External links

Hall of Fame profileThe Story of the First Basket Ball Players
by Springfield College Archives and Special Collections

by NBA Hoops Online {{DEFAULTSORT:First Team Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees 1891 in basketball