The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Contributors 2023

James Naismith

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Contributors 2023
Embed from Getty Images
Sport(s): Basketball Inventor and Instructor
Statistics: Member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

Member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame

Member of the FIBA Hall of Fame
James Naismith spent his first 30 years in his native country from Canada, leaving for the United States after teaching physical education at McGill University in Montreal. Naismith relocated to Springfield, Massachusetts, where while teaching at the YMCA Training School, he invented and developed the game of basketball.

Naismith was not just an inventor of a sport, he would coach it for years at the University of Kansas, and he would see it grow annually. As much of a visionary as Naismith was, we can only imagine how much awe he would be in what the sport became.

Currently, his name is in the top basketball hall of fame, and a series of college basketball awards also bear his name. The FIBA World Cup trophy is also named after him.

We are proud to nominate James Naismith for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.