The best basketball players in the world come from the United States.

However, Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian, is credited with inventing the sport in 1891.

Naismith invented the game for a group of young people to play inside during the cold winters in Springfield, Massachusetts, the town in which he was a teacher at the time.

The first basketball game was played using peach baskets and a ball.

Words

to be credited with: to be responsible for (inventing, making, producing).

Many American teams are interested in obtaining Chinese basketball player Yi Jianlian.

Yi, plays for the Guangdong Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association or CBA.

Yi is 20 years old and 7 feet tall. His team is now playing in the CBA finals against the Bayi Rockets.

Although his team lost its last game, Yi was able to score 24 points.

Chinese basketball star Yao Ming already plays in the United States for the Houston Rockets.