In the late 1800s, James Naismith, a YMCA physical education instructor at what is now Springfield College, invented basketball to provide indoor activity for students during the long New England winters. The sport has come a long way from those early days, when nine players on each team attempted to toss a soccer ball into peach baskets nailed to the balconies at the ends of the gymnasium. Now, this fast-paced sport has become one of the most popular in the world, thanks largely to athletes like Wilt Chamberlain, Christian Laettner, and Cliff Robinson – all of whom played basketball at the Y before becoming NBA stars.