The inventor of basketball who is being reclaimed as Scottish

The inventor of basketball is being reclaimed as Scottish given his family roots, his dedication to the country’s culture - and the way he saw himself.

Dr James Naismith, a physical education teacher who created the game in 1891, has long been claimed as Canadian because he was born in Almonte, Canada in 1861.

But Dr Naismith, whose father was born in Glasgow and later emigrated to Canada, considered himself to be a Scot and spoke with a Scottish accent for most of his life, according to new research.

Dr Ross Walker, of Stirling University, has sought to reclaim the inventor of basketball for Scotland and argued for a review of the widely accepted history of basketball as Canadian or American.

Dr James Naismith | Jeff Holmes JSHPIX/

Dr Walker, a Scot who played basketball for 15 years and represented his country during competitions, said: “Until 1891, Naismith resided in a replanted Scottish community and Scot-dominated areas, living a lifestyle similar to those contemporarily in Scotland.

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“In day-to-day life, Naismith spoke in Scottish mannerisms, had a Scottish accent, used the broad Scots dialect, engaged with Scottish activities, and spread his Scottish values that underpinned the actions of his life.

“Scottish culture, heritage, Presbyterianism, and nationalism formed his identity, representing who he was as a person, how he carried himself and how he saw the world around him. It also determined who he wanted to be and what he wanted to do in life.

“Scotland influenced the creation of basketball because Scotland influenced the creator of basketball who instilled elements of Scottishness into the sport.”

When Dr Naismith was born, Canada was still a British colony and he was brought up in a Scottish community of immigrants who settled in Lanark County, Ontario.

Canadian citizenship was not legalised until 1947, eight years after Naismith’s death in 1939.

Dr Ross Walker, of Stirling University, who has argued that the inventor of basketball was Scottish. | Jeff Holmes JSHPIX/

At school, Dr Naismith was taught by Scots, read the works of Scottish writers and regularly referred to Robert Burns in personal communications, even gifting his wife a book by Burns with the inscription: “Tae the bonniest lass”.

He played Scottish music on the fiddle and took part in Highland Games, particularly enjoying hill racing and tug o’war. It was a game his father learned on the streets of Glasgow, called duck-on-the-rock, that he used basis for basketball, he later recalled.

When at McGill University, Dr Naismith enlisted with The Fifth Regiment: Royal Scots of Canada Highlanders, becoming a Captain. The regiment was known as the kilted laddies because they wore tartan kilts and were accompanied by a marching band with pipers.

Dr Walker, who is a lecturer in Sport Management at Stirling, argues that the “American- centric” history of basketball should now be re-evaluated.

He said: “While there has been some coverage of Naismith’s Scottish connection, it is very anecdotal and put across in a way which provides background to Naismith but not in a capacity which argues, and most importantly evidences, that Scotland influenced the creation of basketball through Naismith.

“My research contests the global narrative and reputation of basketball that it is a Canadian and American sport, which it is not.

“ Furthermore, most of the coverage which has been shared touches solely upon his parental links to Glasgow, but nothing really delves deeply into the profound impact of his Scottish Presbyterianism, the Scottish settler communities which developed him, and much more which all led to the eventual creation of basketball.

“My research argues that, without Scotland, the global phenomenon that is basketball today may have never been created in the current form that is known and celebrated worldwide.”

James Naismith: the creation of basketball and the Scottish connection was published in the journal Sport in History.