James Naismith, basketball’s inventor, arrived in New York City in early 1939 with three items on his agenda.
He gave a speech to basketball writers in which he denounced modern trends in his sport like the zone defense, which he said stalled the game. “I feel, at times, I’d rather not see basketball,” he said in dismay.
He attended a college basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden, where he shook his head at the rough play he saw in a Syracuse victory over Manhattan.
And he appeared on a radio show to recall the birth of basketball, in 1891.