FAMILY OUTING
HMNS explores the origins of basketball.
Before there was a net or a rim, basketball was played using a peach basket — and someone had to climb a ladder to retrieve the ball every time a point was scored.
This is one of the factoids families will absorb at “The First Game: The Birth of Basketball,” on view at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) through late September.
The exhibit contains the original 13 rules of the game, handwritten in 1891 by James Naismith, a PE teacher at the YMCA in Springfield, Mass.
It was wintertime, and the Y’s athletic director asked Naismith to come up with an indoor activity so track and field athletes could get exercise indoors.
On loan by a local collector, the manuscript features Naismith’s cursive notes, scratched out and revised, as he conceived a hybrid of existing ball games. His aim was a sport that was nonviolent, with no contact, says Sahil Patel, spokesperson for the museum.
“I personally am a huge sports fan and grew up in Houston a Rockets fan,” he says. “To have a document like this at the museum is really exciting.”
Even novices will note the drastic ways the game has changed since its inception, he says.
The earliest court
In the original game, there was no dribbling or 3-point line. Goaltending was allowed, and each basket earned 1 point.
“The only way players could maneuver the ball is by passing — they weren’t allowed to run or move with it at all,” Patel explains.
As a result, the first-ever game ended in a score of 1-0.
Naismith’s account observes how the initial game captured the attention of the nine players and documents how high he placed the peach baskets (10 feet from the floor).
The first game consisted of two 15-minute halves.
The original players are captured in large black-and-white photos, and the exhibit space is flanked by a peach basket and a modern-day basketball hoop.
Kids will notice how athletes dressed differently than they do today. They might also observe that the first players weren’t tall like many current-day hoops stars, as they were track and field athletes picking up the new sport in their off-season.
“It’s a pretty important document in the cultural history,” Patel says, adding that the temporary exhibit coincides with both the abbreviated NBA season and the pandemic-era obsession with “The Last Dance,” the Michael Jordan documentary on Netflix.
Welcome to the Robot Zoo
In late July, HMNS’ Sugar Land location reopened at 25 percent capacity, with safety protocols in place that mirror the Museum District location.
Guests 10 and older must wear a mask, and some of the museum’s interactive elements remain closed, including the dig pit that’s popular with kids.
While fossil-hunting is on pause, children are sure to be wowed by the new Robot Zoo, where they’ll encounter largerthan-life
robotic versions of a chameleon, platypus and fly.
The fly’s wings span 10 feet, and each of the large creatures’ mechanical anatomy is exposed. The bodies’ innards are made of objects that children are familiar with, such as parts of a vacuum cleaner and a toothbrush.
By displaying biomechanics that make use of everyday household objects, director of HMNS Sugar Land Kavita Self says guests learn how the creatures perform tasks, such as what makes a chameleon change colors and how a fly is able to walk upside down.
“It produces that sort of ‘aha’ moment in children, where they really get it,” she says. “They absolutely love it because they can really understand how these animals work in ways that are very familiar to them.”
“THE FIRST GAME” EXHIBIT EXPLORES HOW THE GAME OF BASKETBALL GOT ITS START.