History of The Basketball Hoop

The basketball hoop was invented in 1891 by Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith as part of a new indoor game to keep his students active during the winter. Naismith wrote the original rules for basketball and hung a peach basket on the wall of the gymnasium at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he taught. The first basketball game was played with a soccer ball and the peach basket served as both the goal and as a means to retrieve the ball after each score, as the bottom of the basket was still intact. Over time, the baskets were modified to have an open bottom, and metal hoops and backboards replaced the original peach baskets. Today, the basketball hoop is a standard component of the game and has become a symbol of the sport.


In the early years of the sport, the baskets had no nets, so after each successful shot, someone had to climb a ladder to retrieve the ball. Eventually, a net was added to the basket to make it easier to retrieve the ball and slow down its descent after a successful shot.


Over the years, the baskets have evolved from peach baskets to metal rims and backboards, but the basic design remains the same. The standard height of a basketball hoop has remained 10 feet since 1949. Today the basketball hoop is an essential component of the game of basketball, and continues to play an important role in the sport.

Then, when players like Shaquille O’Neal and David Thompson came into the league, added measures of strength and durability were added to basketball hoops.

In 1975, breakaway rims were added to prevent breaking the backboard.

In 1986, Lifetime invents the first heigh adjustable basketball hoop.


Fastforward to today, in 2019, huupe invents the world’s first smart basketball hoop. The original concept was created by Paul Anton and Lyth Saeed, the two founders of the company. Although it took many iterations to get to the final design, the original concept always involved a screen on the backboard to display the information that was collected, and a camera or two on top of the backboard to capture all of the basketball data. huupe is excited to connect more people from around the world through the beautiful game that the world loves and hopes that to create amazing basketball memories. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!