Why Is The Basket 10 Feet High?

Posted on August 13, 2008

Have you ever wondered why the basket is 10 feet above the floor of a basketball court?

You can get a really good clue by taking a close look at this interior view of a vintage YMCA gymnasium. This gym is at the old Twelfth Street Colored YMCA in Washington, DC.

Did you figure it out yet?

Look at the running track that circles the floor. The architectural plans for all early YMCA facilities were the same at each facility and called for the running track to be placed 10 feet off of the gym floor in every gym.

So when James Naismith nailed his peach basket to the running track – in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891 – the official height of a basketball basket thenceforth became 10 feet.

I know what you’re thinking. If it weren’t for that @*#$ architect, then I could still dunk!

Don’t worry, I’m saying the same thing! :-)

5 1 vote
Rating
Subscribe
Notify of

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

3 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Boone
15 years ago

Whyyyy it couldn’t it be like 7 1/2…I would be dunking…lol…thanks Claude and this is some very good information to teach my kids, and thanks for teaching me…

0
Reply
Casey
15 years ago

Great info Mr. Johnson!!! Can’t wait to spring this one on my son! I remember running about a hundred laps on those tiny running tracks to log a mile – your picture brought back those memories!!

0
Reply