Editing James Naismith (section)

==Legacy==
[[File: James Naismith.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of James Naismith at [[Basketball Hall of Fame]] and Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts]]

Naismith invented the game of basketball and wrote the original 13 rules of this sport;<ref name=hof/> for comparison, the NBA rule book today features 66 pages. The [[Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame]] in Springfield, Massachusetts, is named in his honor, and he was an inaugural inductee in 1959.<ref name="hof" /> The [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] rewards its best players and coaches annually with the [[Naismith Award]]s, among them the [[Naismith College Player of the Year]], the [[Naismith College Coach of the Year]], and the [[Naismith Prep Player of the Year]]. After the Olympic introduction to men's basketball in 1936, women's basketball became an Olympic event in [[Montreal]] during the [[1976 Summer Olympics]].<ref name=women1976>{{cite web|last=Jenkins |first=Sally |title=History of women's basketball |work=WNBA.com |publisher=Women's National Basketball Association |url=http://www.wnba.com/about_us/jenkins_feature.html |access-date=September 30, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106144210/http://www.wnba.com/about_us/jenkins_feature.html |archive-date=January 6, 2013 }}</ref>

Naismith was also inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, the [[Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame]], the [[Canadian Sports Hall of Fame]], the [[Ontario Sports Hall of Fame]], the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, the McGill University Sports Hall of Fame, the Kansas State Sports Hall of Fame, [[FIBA Hall of Famer|FIBA Hall of Fame]].<ref name=museumtimeline/><ref>{{cite web |title=James Naismith |url=http://oshof.ca/index.php/honoured-members/item/92-james-naismith |website=oshof.ca |publisher=[[Ontario Sports Hall of Fame]] |access-date=September 23, 2014 |archive-date=December 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226032455/http://oshof.ca/index.php/honoured-members/item/92-james-naismith |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[FIBA Basketball World Cup]] trophy is named the "James Naismith Trophy" in his honor. On June 21, 2013, Naismith was inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame during ceremonies in Topeka.<ref name=KSHF>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshof.org/inductees/inductees-a-z/2-kansas-sports-hall-of-fame/inductees/198-naismith-dr-james.html|title=Naismith, Dr. James |access-date=September 14, 2013}}</ref>

Naismith's home town of [[Almonte, Ontario]], hosts an annual 3-on-3 tournament for all ages and skill levels in his honor. Every year, this event attracts hundreds of participants and involves over 20 half-court games along the main street of the town.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Naismith 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament Aug. 11 in Almonte|url=https://www.newhamburgindependent.ca/community-story/8797964-naismith-3-on-3-basketball-tournament-aug-11-in-almonte/|access-date=January 15, 2021|website=NewHamburgIndependent.ca|language=en-CA|archive-date=January 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121004511/https://www.newhamburgindependent.ca/community-story/8797964-naismith-3-on-3-basketball-tournament-aug-11-in-almonte/|url-status=dead}}</ref> All proceeds of the event go to youth basketball programs in the area.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Today basketball is played by more than 300 million people worldwide, making it one of the most popular team sports.<ref name=mcgill/> In North America, basketball has produced some of the most-admired athletes of the 20th century. [[ESPN]] and the [[Associated Press]] both conducted polls to name the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century. Basketball player [[Michael Jordan]] came in first in the ESPN poll and second (behind [[Babe Ruth]]) in the AP poll. Both polls featured fellow basketball players [[Wilt Chamberlain]] (of KU, like Naismith) and [[Bill Russell]] in the top 20.<ref name=espnvote>{{cite web
|work=ESPN.com|title=Top N. American athletes of the century|url= https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/athletes.html|access-date=September 30, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Top 100 athletes of the 20th century|work=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ssat2.htm|access-date=September 30, 2008|date=December 21, 1999|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312070523/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ssat2.htm|archive-date=March 12, 2009}}</ref>

[[File: Naismith Rules of Basketball 1892 first draft.jpg|thumb|right|Typewritten first draft of the rules of basketball by Naismith]]
The original rules of basketball written by James Naismith in 1891, considered to be basketball's founding document, was auctioned at Sotheby's, New York, in December 2010. [[Josh Swade]], a University of Kansas alumnus and basketball enthusiast, went on a crusade in 2010 to persuade moneyed alumni to consider bidding on and hopefully winning the document at auction to give it to the University of Kansas. Swade eventually persuaded [[David G. Booth]], a billionaire investment banker and KU alumnus, and his wife Suzanne Booth, to commit to bidding at the auction. The Booths won the bidding and purchased the document for a record US$4,338,500, the most ever paid for a sports memorabilia item, and gave the document to the University of Kansas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2010/james-naismith39s-founding-rules-of-basketball-n08735.html|title=James Naismith's Founding Rules of Basketball - N08735|website=Sothebys.com}}</ref> Swade's project and eventual success are chronicled in a 2012 ESPN ''[[30 for 30]]'' documentary "There's No Place Like Home" and in a corresponding book, ''The Holy Grail of Hoops: One Fan's Quest to Buy the Original Rules of Basketball''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/watch/film/f1376f23-d489-4f93-bc42-54dbaa0f663f/there%E2%80%99s-no-place-like-home|title=There's No Place Like Home - Stream the Film on Watch ESPN|website=ESPN}}</ref> The University of Kansas constructed an $18 million building named the Debruce Center, which houses the rules and opened in March 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/heard_hill/2016/jan/15/updates-from-the-debruce-center-future-h/|title=Heard on the Hill &#124; Updates from the DeBruce Center, future home of Naismith's 'Rules of Basket Ball'}}</ref>

Naismith was designated a National Historic Person in 1976, on the advice of the national [[National Historic Sites of Canada#Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada|Historic Sites and Monuments Board]]<ref>[https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1173 James Naismith National Historic Person], Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Parks Canada</ref>

In 1991, postage stamps commemorated the centennial of basketball's invention: four stamps were issued by [[Canada Post]], including one with Naismith's name; one stamp was issued by the [[US Postal Service]]. Another Canadian stamp, in 2009, honored the game's invention.

In July 2019, Naismith was inducted into Toronto's [[Canada Walk of Fame|Walk of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductee/dr-james-naismith|title=James Naismith |website=Canada's Walk of Fame}}</ref>

On January 15, 2021, [[Google]] placed a [[Google Doodle]] celebrating James Naismith on its home page in 18 countries, on five continents.<ref>{{YouTube|tkuwmytvtNg|Dr. James Naismith Google Doodle {{pipe}} History of Basketball Invention}}</ref>