Ellington

During the final game of the 2009-2010 NBA championship, I accompanied my Hungarian friend and her boyfriend, Attila, to a performance of the International Ballet Competition. I said to Attila, "You are one of the few men here tonight; you did not want to stay home and watch the NBA championship?" With his thick Hungarian accent, Attila replied, "No, I do not like football."

If, like Attila, you cannot distinguish basketball from football, then read no further, there is no hope for you. All others: If you can shoot, you can play.

First, a little history: Dr. James Naismith, a physical-education teacher, invented basketball in 1891 as an interesting indoor game to occupy students during the winter. A year later, the teachers of Springfield, Mass., played their students in the first official basketball game. Two hundred people, more than the amount one can expect at a Millsaps home game, attended the historic event.

The following year, on March 22, 1893, the game truly became a sport when Smith College played the first women's game in Northampton, Mass. The first professional basketball league formed in 1898 with six teams, much like the American Southwest Conference today. By 1905, basketball was played throughout the United States.

The NBA, created June 6, 1946, solidified America's love of basketball. The WNBA finally gave women players a stage in June 1997. Today, more than 450 million people worldwide, from the grass-roots level to the WNBA, play basketball. Playing basketball is not hard to do: If you have a basket and a ball, and you can shoot the ball into the basket, then you can play.

This can be done in a variety of ways:
• For the uncoordinated or unathletic, hand the ball to your athletic friend and let him or her put the ball in the basket for you.

• For guys and gals with manicures, hold the ball in the palm of your hand, throw the ball toward the basket, bow your head and pray that the ball goes in the basket.

• For baristas, walk over to the basket with $10 and ask it if you can buy a shot.

• For lawyers, the game is played on a court not in a courtroom, so shut your mouth and shoot the ball in the basket. You do not argue with the basket because you cannot shoot.

• For doctors, just because Dr. J was one of the greatest does not mean that you have the potential to learn how to play.

• For the young at heart but old in reality, sit down and be a spectator, as you might break something.

• For all others, shoot the ball off your fingertips, flip your wrist, keep your elbows in, and you will probably make the shot.

Naismith probably never anticipated that his game would explode to the magnitude that it has or have the impact on society that it has today. Not only is playing basketball a form of recreation, but for the extremely talented, it can be a multi-million-dollar career. The skills and techniques used in playing are more of an art form than a game: the game now consists of the cross-over dribble, the dunk and even the alley oop.

If you happen to run into a 6-foot-8-inch black man who goes by the name of King James (aka LeBron James, or for those in Cleveland, Queen James), tell him to call me. I can use some pointers.