Memorabilix

James Naismith Autograph

James Naismith (NAY-smith; November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote the original basketball rule book and founded the University of Kansas basketball program. Naismith lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as well as the birth of the National Invitation Tournament (1938) and the NCAA Tournament (1939). More about James Naismith

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Current items with a signature of James Naismith

These are the most current items with a signature of James Naismith that were listed on eBay and on other online stores - click here for more items.

Picture Item Title Price Store
thumbnail2023 Topps Transcendent DR. JAMES NAISMITH Cut Signature Auto #1/1$18.91logo
thumbnailBOGO Gail Goodrich Autograph Signed James Naismith Hall of Fame $11.99logo
Naismith studied and taught physical education at McGill University in Montreal until 1890 before moving to Springfield, Massachusetts, United States later that year, where in 1891 he designed the game of basketball while he was teaching at the International YMCA Training School. Seven years after inventing basketball, Naismith received his medical degree in Denver in 1898. He then arrived at the University of Kansas, later becoming the Kansas Jayhawks' athletic director and coach. While a coach at Kansas, Naismith coached Phog Allen, who later became the coach at Kansas for 39 seasons, beginning a lengthy and prestigious coaching tree. Allen then went on to coach legends including Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith, among others, who themselves coached many notable players and future coaches.

Naismith was born on November 6, 1861, in Almonte, Canada West, Province of Canada (now part of Mississippi Mills, Ontario, Canada) to Scottish parents. Despite some sources to the contrary Naismith never had a middle name and never signed his name with an "A" initial. The "A" was added by someone in administration at the University of Kansas. Gifted in farm labour, Naismith spent his days outside playing catch, hide-and-seek, or duck on a rock, a medieval game in which a person guards a large drake stone from opposing players, who try to knock it down by throwing smaller stones at it. To play duck on a rock most effectively, Naismith soon found that a soft lobbing shot was far more effective than a straight hard throw, a thought that later proved essential for the invention of basketball. Orphaned early in his life, Naismith lived with his aunt and uncle for many years and attended grade school at Bennies Corners near Almonte. Then, he enrolled in Almonte High School, in Almonte, Ontario, from which he graduated in 1883. Read even more about James Naismith at Wikipedia

Traded items with a signature of James Naismith

In total, we tracked 65 items since 01/01/2008. The chart below shows the trade volume over time.

The most expensive item with a signature of James Naismith (Dr. James Naismith inventor of basketball PSA 9 auto autograph signed index card) was sold in October 2019 for $10099.90 while the cheapest item (JAMES NAISMITH NBA Legend Autograph Handwritten clip Authentic w/ COA *RARE*) found a new owner for $0.99 in May 2022. The month with the most items sold (6) was February 2014 with an average selling price of $9.99 for an autographed item of James Naismith. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in October 2019 with $10099.90 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $0.99 was May 2022. In average, an autographed item from James Naismith is worth $431.00.

Most recently, these items with a signature of James Naismith were sold on eBay - click here for more items.

Picture Item Title Price Store
thumbnailDr. James Naismith Authentic Signed Autographed Return Envelope PSA/DNA$4999.00logo
thumbnailJames Naismith Handwriting Cut from Signed Auto Letter COA Kansas Jayhawks Tough$200.00logo
thumbnailJames Naismith HOF Authentic Handwriting Cut BAS Beckett Not Auto Signed $246.50logo
thumbnailJAMES NAISMITH NBA Legend Autograph Handwritten clip Authentic w/ COA *RARE*$14.99logo
thumbnailJAMES NAISMITH NBA Legend Autograph Handwritten clip Authentic w/ COA *RARE*$14.99logo
thumbnailJAMES NAISMITH NBA Legend Autograph Handwritten clip Authentic w/ COA *RARE*$14.99logo
thumbnailJAMES NAISMITH NBA Legend Autograph Handwritten clip Authentic w/ COA *RARE*$14.99logo
thumbnailJAMES NAISMITH NBA Legend Autograph Handwritten clip Authentic w/ COA *RARE*$14.99logo
thumbnailJAMES NAISMITH NBA Legend Autograph Handwritten clip Authentic w/ COA *RARE*$0.99logo
thumbnailJAMES NAISMITH NBA Legend Autograph Handwritten clip Authentic w/ COA *RARE*$0.99logo

Latest News about James Naismith

On this day: Bird gets dual honor; Naismith publishes 1st rules (01/15/23): On this day in Celtics history, Larry Bird won two prestigious media awards, and basketball inventor James Naismith published the sport's original 13 rules. Go to news article