At a time when Canadians are looking over their shoulder thanks to some bluster south of the border, Scotland’s University of Stirling seems to be piling on with a news release titled "Research Reveals Basketball Creator was Scottish, not Canadian."
But Ross Walker, whose paper titled "James Naismith: The Creation of Basketball and the Scottish Connection" was published in the journal Sport in History, is quick to note that he is not trying to rewrite history.
Instead, the University of Stirling lecturer -- akin to an associate professor -- just wants Scotland to get its due, writing his homeland "warrants recognition for its role in helping create basketball."
"It's not a case that I'm seeking to use this (research) to replace America or Canada or to say that their contributions weren't important. It's the complete opposite," Walker said in an interview. "It's the fact that all of these components are unbelievably important. Because without one or the other, then there is no basketball."
He argues Scotland shaped the Canadian-born Naismith — from his interest in Highland Games, respect for the values of honesty and hard work and the "stubbornness of my Scotch ancestry" — and continued to do so in Canada and the U.S. through family and friends of Scottish origin.
"Without those three steps in those three countries, does basketball exist to this day in its current form?" Walker asks. "And that's my point. All three of these countries deserve recognition. It's not a case to undermine anyone. It's just to strengthen our knowledge of the history of the sport. It's just to grow it.
"And that's what I'm hoping to do. I think some people misinterpret the fact that I'm trying to take it away from Canada. Not at all."
Naismith was born Nov. 6, 1861, to Scottish immigrants in Almonte, Ont. He was a 30-year-old physical education instructor at International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., when -- in the winter of 1891 -- he was tasked with occupying an “incorrigible” group of boys inside a snowed-out gymnasium.
Using two peach baskets and a soccer ball, he came up with 13 rules while inventing an indoor game that could be played between football and baseball seasons. At the time, it was called basket ball (two words).
Naismith died Nov. 28, 1939, at the age of 78.
Today the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield is named after him — the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. And Naismith is honoured on Canada's Walk of Fame.
Walker argues that the inventor of basketball was brought up in a transplanted Scottish community of immigrants and considered himself to be a Scot. While attending Montreal's McGill University, Naismith became a captain in the Fifth Regiment: Royal Scots of Canada Highlanders.
"Until his passing, Naismith maintained his Scottish beliefs, mindset, traits and values," Walker writes. "Despite becoming removed from Scottish environments in later life, he held onto his Scottishness, retaining ‘some of the tough spots of his early life’ while ‘the Scottish burr never quite disappeared from his speech.'"
Walker says he considers Naismith a "very noble character."
"He's a man who invented what has become a multi-billion-pound game and he's known for never taking a single penny or cent or dime for it," he said. "And I think that's hugely commendable.:
Walker spent some two years researching Naismith. The result is an 8,800-word paper complete with some 250 footnotes.
"It's taken a long time but, truth be told, I enjoyed the process," he said.
His paper has made headlines in Scotland with articles in the Scotsman, the Herald and Daily Record -- and drawn attention from Argentina to Indonesia.
Walker, 28, represented Scotland in basketball — the home nations are eligible to compete at the Commonwealth Games — but says he has swapped the ball for the pen these days.
"I do still have my national strip that's got my name on it," he said. "That's probably one of my most favourite memories."
Walker obtained his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in sport, physical education and health. His thesis title was "Basketball, Culture and Society in a Devolved Context: A Qualitative Analysis."
He also has degrees in history and business from the University of Dundee. His thesis for the business degree was "The Commercialization of Professional Scottish Basketball: The Case of the Glasgow Rocks Basketball Club."
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
