The first basketball hoops were actual peach baskets with the bottoms still attached.

In December 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a physical education instructor at Springfield College in Massachusetts, sought an indoor activity to keep students active during harsh winters. He nailed two wooden peach baskets to the balcony railings of the gymnasium, which happened to be 10 feet (3.05 meters) above the floor. This height remains the standard for basketball hoops today.Because the baskets were intact, the game was interrupted after every successful shot. An official had to use a long ladder to manually retrieve the soccer ball used at the time. This cumbersome process limited scoring, and the very first game ended with a score of only 1-0. It took several years before the bottoms of the baskets were partially cut to allow a long pole to poke the ball out.The transition to modern equipment was gradual rather than immediate. Metal hoops with wire mesh nets were not introduced until 1893, and it took until 1906 for open-ended nylon nets to become the standard. These innovations finally allowed the ball to fall through the rim, drastically increasing the pace and popularity of the sport. Naismith's original 13 rules did not even mention dribbling, as the focus was entirely on passing and shooting into the closed baskets.