In the late 1800s, a Canadian American physical education instructor named James Naismith invented basketball. His idea was to combine a wooden basket and a ball to make for a less injury prone sport than American football. The spread of Basketball was largely credited to states’ military forces and the breakout of World War I in 1914. Later, the sport quickly became established in colleges around North America. The National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed in 1946 as the game started as a professional sport.
During 1979, when videogames were beginning to grow at a rapid pace, two classic arcade basketball games were released. The first was simply titled “Basketball” and it was the first arcade cabinet game to use a trackball for player movement. It featured a one player mode and a two players mode. It also pioneered the tilted screen which became common place in arcades. The second famous arcade game of the time was called Hoop Fever, it had a stationary hoop and would releases basketballs to the player to attempt shots. The goal was to make as many shots before the timer ran out and the buzzer rang to indicate the game was over. The arcade machines could be connected together allowing in-person multiplayer.
