Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891 when he was 30 years of age.

The first public basketball game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1892.

As soon as basketball started to become popular and revolve all around the world, the National Basketball Association formed in 1946. On June 6, it started in New York City as the Basketball Association of America originally. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with its rival National Basketball League (NBL) This was primarily done to avoid confusion and rivalry.