# Concerning the history of the basketball net

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-history-of-the-basketball-net/463668>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [September 15, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-history-of-the-basketball-net/463668 "2008-09-15T05:25:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-history-of-the-basketball-net/463668/1 "2008-09-15T05:25:44Z")

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I’ve seen that when nets first started to be used (rather than a peach basket), they were similarly without provision to conveniently admit the ball to pass through (cite: a glance in a reprint of the 1923 Sears Roebuck Catalogue). I forget where I heard where later they were constructed with a drawstring on the bottom to allow the ball to pass, albeit still with a measure of bother. When did the first organized game occur with an open-bottomed net?

As far as U.S. college basketball and the NBA is concerned, I notice also that the shape of today’s net is distinctively different than the nets used in the 1940s or so. That is, the style used then was more of a cone, whereas today and the recent past it more closely resembles the cross-section of a vortex. Is there any reason in particular for this change, other than aesthetics? How much thought goes (and went) into the design of a basketball net?

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**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-history-of-the-basketball-net/463668/2 "2008-09-15T19:30:26Z")

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I haven’t been able to answer your questions, but I at least found some photos which illustrate the change in nets through the years:

[Net from the 1920’s](http://www.sports-memorabilia-museum.com/basketball-history/vintage-baseketball-goal-net.shtml)

By scrolling down on [this page,](http://www.antiqueathlete.com/vintage-basketball-memorabilia.shtml) you can see a net from the 1930’s and a photo from a 1957 game program which clearly depicts a net.  
Oh, [here’s a nice bit of info](http://www.kidzworld.com/article/6230-college-basketball-facts-and-records):

> [@](#):
>
> In 1913, the bottom of the basketball net is left open for the first time - meaning it was no longer necessary to retrieve the ball from the net, once a basket was scored.

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-history-of-the-basketball-net/463668/3 "2008-09-15T20:19:15Z")

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If I am reading that right, it took them 17 years to cut a hole in the bottom of the net. :smack: