| in Did You Know Facts
Fun Fact! Basketball was first played using a football.
![Basketball football.](https://assets.shortpedia.com/uploads/2022/06/03/1654256638.webp?tr=w-1200,h-600,cm-pad_resize,bg-F3F3F3)
Basketball was initially played with a soccer ball and peach baskets, with officials needing to recover the ball each time a player scored. String baskets were introduced to the game around 1900, and subsequently, backboards were added to prevent spectators from blocking a shot.