GWtW B2. Unit 6. Origins of Basketball (conditionals))

The Origins of Basketball

The world would be a sadder place for many people if basketball _____ (not exist).

If you do some research into the origins of the sport, you _____ (see) that it was the invention of one man.

That’s right. If it _____ (not be) forJames Naismith (1861–1939), basketball would never have existed. Naismith was a Canadian PE teacher who worked in the US.

If Naismith _____ (have) a different profession, I imagine he wouldn’t have thought up this new sport. His director gave him 14 days to create a new indoor sport.

It had to be indoors because the weather was bad in the winter where they lived. Of course, if you play indoors, you _____ (not get) cold or wet.

The director also wanted the sport to be non-aggressive. If he hadn’t told Naismith this, perhaps Naismith _____ (not make) basketball a non-contact sport.

Naismith’s original baskets were wooden fruit baskets which didn’t have a hole. If we _____ (have) the same baskets today, we would need a ladder to get the ball back every time a player scored!

If basketball hadn’t become so popular, maybe people _____ (forget) about James Naismith a long time ago. But it’s thanks to him that one of the world’s most popular sports exists.