The First Team

[1] The team comprised 18 players who were studying in Springfield, Massachusetts,[2] to become executive secretaries of the YMCA and who, as part of their coursework, studied physical education with Naismith, who is said to have invented the game to teach teamwork skills to his charges.

[3] The team was inducted as a group into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of that organization's inaugural 1959 induction class for their efforts in popularizing the sport and as the game's first practitioners.

T. B. Patten and C. B. Libby were designated captains of the sides, who played a game that looked distinctly different from what fans would see in future years.

[5] In 1937, a re-enactment of the contest was played at Madison Square Garden in New York City using Naismith's 13 original rules, a soccer ball and peach baskets.

The six surviving members of the first team were interviewed by the organizers of the event to ensure it was true to the original game.