NEW YORK — A historic document that details the original rules of basketball, written 119 years ago as a winter sport for the boys of a Massachusetts YMCA, was sold for more than $4 million on Friday to raise money for charity.
James Naismith wrote the 13 rules as a physical education instructor at the Y.
“Basketball is a pure invention,” said Selby Kiffer, senior specialist in American history documents at Sotheby’s, where the rules were being sold by the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.
“It’s really the genesis, the birth certificate of one of the world’s most popular sports,” he said in October when the sale was announced. “It’s a sport that has had an impact on everything from fashion, such as sneakers, to culture, that in a way transcends sports.”
The proceeds will benefit the Naismith foundation, which promotes sportsmanship and provides services to underprivileged children around the world.
It was purchased by David and Suzanne Booth, who hope to bring the rules to the University of Kansas. He is an alumnus.
James Naismith penned the 13 rules on Dec. 21, 1891, after his boss gave him two weeks to come up with a new indoor activity for his gym class.
Naismith was the first basketball coach at the University of Kansas. He died in 1939, three years after his game became an official sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
