Basketball has been around for over 100 years, and while even in the last 30 years the game has undergone major changes, what is truly impressive is how much the real team has changed since the game was invented, in particular how far the rim. has arrived.
The original basketball hoop was just a peach basket nailed to a 10 foot high court by Dr. James Naismith as a way to create an indoor game for his students to play when it was too cold outside during New York winters. England. This “hoop” still had the bottom of the basket and required someone to retrieve the ball (which was just a soccer ball at the time) after each touchdown.
Eventually the bottom of the peach basket was cut off, but the ball was still too large to pass on its own and required a long rod to be used to pop the ball after each score, disrupting the flow of the game. . but it was still faster than having to manually retrieve the ball after every touchdown.
Finally, in 1906, metal hoops began to be used and a board was introduced to prevent spectators from interfering with the game, a problem that had arisen in the past when hoops were simply nailed to the mezzanine balcony in any room in the room. let the game be played. on. The introduction of the board also changed the game as it introduced rebounds.
Eventually the backboards went from being nailed to various balconies and the vertical basketball hoops we know today were introduced. The material of the board itself has changed over the years, from the white plastic / fiberglass materials of the past to glass, which in turn gave way to a break-resistant safety glass similar to that found in automobiles.
The entire rim configuration has undergone numerous changes in the last 40 years, in part due to the arrival of players who destroy boards with dunks. In addition to the advent of shatter resistant glass, tear-off tires were introduced which also helped reduce the safety risk presented by the possibility of a dunk destroying the dash.
More recently, the entire basketball system was redesigned as older players became capable of taking down the entire rim and backboard system, creating a safety hazard not only for themselves, but also for the players and spectators around them. . The new hoops have various mechanisms to prevent them from being knocked over, including more pieces that can break into smaller pieces rather than knocking the entire board down.
It will be interesting to see what changes the sport continues to make to equipment as technology advances. Will we ever see floating hoops and boards that eliminate the vertical pole that can be a collision hazard? Only time will tell, but I look forward to finding out.