<human>:  What is the history of basketball in the United States?
<bot>: Basketball was invented in December 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian physical education professor in Springfield, Massachusetts. The game quickly spread throughout the United States, becoming popular at the college level by 1893, and eventually making its way to all levels of competition across the country. In 1946, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded and quickly became the premier basketball league in the U.S. Today, basketball remains one of the most popular and widely-played sports in the United States.