Today the game of basketball has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. It is the most popular in the United States where there are professional leagues for both men and women. Basketball on the college level is extremely popular with the Final Four (the college basketball championship tournament) being one of the most anticipated and watched sporting events in the nation.
The most widely known and longest existing professional basketball league in the United States is the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA was formed in 1949. That handful of professional teams has now turned into a league of 30 teams and yearly revenues of over 3 billion dollars.
In 1997, the NBA started a professional women's basketball league, the WNBA, which is now the dominant professional women's basketball league in the United States.
The NBA also has a developmental league that was started in 2001. It exists for players that have finished their high school and/or college basketball careers to hone their skills in order to someday play for one of the NBA franchises.
The popularity of college basketball in the United States is on par with that of professional basketball and the NBA. The NCAA is the governing body of college basketball, setting the rules and guidelines for the universities, coaches and players. It also manages the NCAA tournament and Final Four, the most popular event of the college basketball season.
Over one million high schoolers, boys and girls, play high school varsity basketball each year. Because of the relative inexpensiveness of the needed equipment and venue, basketball is a sport played in virtually all high schools across the United States.
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is the number one name in amateur sports and sponsors national amateur basketball tournaments for all ages across the United States. Many of today's professional players played on AAU teams.
FIBA is the world governing body for global basketball. It has been around since 1932 and governs entrance of both men's and women's teams into the Olympics as well as the World Championships which are held every four years, alternating with the Olympics.
The popularity of basketball has increased so dramatically that many countries have leagues of their own and many international players now populate the rosters of NBA teams.
Basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts by Dr. James Naismith. Naismith began work at the YMCA in Springfield in 1891 and soon afterward the game of basketball was born out of the need to have a team sport that could be played during the winter months indoors.
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