What inspired James Naismith to invent basketball?

 

What inspired James Naismith to invent basketball?

Originally Answered: Why did James Naismith invent the basketball?

“Why did James Naismith invent the basketball?”

Thanks for the A2A. James Naismith did not invent the basketball. He invented the game of basket ball. The early iterations are interesting, you should look it up.

As for “the basketball” a cursory google search indicates it was invented by the famous A.G. Spalding, at the request of Naismith in the early 1890’s. Naismith originally used soccer balls for his new sport.

As for the “why,” basketball was originally a non-dribbling sport. I am going to guess here but once dribbling was introduced, the lighter, lower bouncing soccer ball may not have been ideal for ball control.

Early basket ball credit: By Verpacker Ing (Wikipedia)