The Odds

In December 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a physical education professor and instructor at the International YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, created the rules for a new game to keep his gym class active with a vigorous indoor game during the long New England winters. He nailed a peach basket onto a 10 foot elevated track. The basket originally retained its bottom, and balls had to be retrieved manually after each point scored. However, this proved inefficient so the bottom of the basket was removed, allowing the balls to be poked out with a long dowel each time.

The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium in Albany, New York on January 20, 1892 with nine players. By 1897-1898 teams of five became standard. In 1906 the peach baskets were replaced by metal hoops with backboards but the original association footballs were not replaced until the late 1950′s when Tony Hinkle introduced the orange ball that is now in common use.

Professional basketball

Professional basketball began in 1896 at a YMCA in Trenton, New Jersey. A dispute between members of the YMCA team and a YMCA official led to the players forming a professional team and playing for money. In 1898 a group of New Jersey newspaper sports editors founded the National Basketball League (NBL). The NBL consisted of six franchises from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

In 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. In 1949, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). The American Basketball Association emerged in 1967 and briefly threatened the NBA’s dominance until the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. Today the NBA is the top professional basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition.

International basketball

The International Basketball Federation was formed in 1932 by eight founding nations: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. Men’s Basketball was first included as an Olympic sport at the Berlin games of 1936. In 1950 the first FIBA World Championship for men was held in Argentina. FIBA dropped the distinction between amateur and professional players in 1989, and in 1992, professional players played for the first time in the Olympic Games.

The NBL is Australia’s pre-eminent men’s professional basketball league. The league commenced in 1979, playing a winter season (April-September) and did so until the end of the 1998 season. The 1998/99 season, which commenced only months later, was the first season after the shift to the current summer season format (October-April). The move was to avoid competing directly against Australia’s various football codes. It features 8 teams from around Australia and one in New Zealand.

The first game of basketball played in Europe was in 1893 at a YMCA in Paris, France. Basketball has now grown so much in Europe that they have started up a competition called Euro-league. Twenty-four teams from all around Europe play through a season until one team is named Euro-league champion. It is the second largest competition in the world (second to the NBA) which draws players from all over the globe.

Women’s basketball

The first FIBA World Championship for Women was held in Chile in 1953. Women’s basketball became an Olympic sport at the Montreal games in Canada in 1976.

The NBA-backed Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) began in 1997. Ten years later, the WNBA signed a contract extension with ESPN. The new television deal runs from 2009 to 2016. Along with this deal, came the first ever rights fees to be paid to a women’s professional sports league.

Basketball betting

There are plenty of opportunities to bet on professional basketball with particular focus on the NBA, NBL and NCAA matches. There are markets on head to head, line betting and total points for all the major league games. You can also bet on winning margin, quarter, half and full-time markets as well as individual players points tally.

Basketball odds

Most sportsbooks provide several betting markets for the NBA, NBL and NCAA matches. There are markets on the winner, total points and spread betting for all the major league games. You can also bet on winning margin, quarter, half and full-time markets as well as individual players points total.

NBA Odds

The NBA season will start on the 26th of December and will be a shortened season of 66 games. Compare NBA Betting Odds.

Euroleague Odds

The Euroleague, sponsored by Turkish Airlines, is the most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. Compare Euroleague Betting Odds.

NBL Odds

The National Basketball League, currently sponsored by iiNet, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia and regarded as one of the strongest basketball leagues in the world. Compare NBL Betting Odds.