Abstract: Naismith is a famous sports educator in American history, and world-renowned for being the basketball inventor. He developed a complete sports thought system through his career pursuit to combine physical education and mental education, and his spirit pursuit to combine service and dedication. Naismith’s thought of physical education comes from his childhood life experience, the infiltration of Christian thought, his experience of sports practice, the encouragement of excellent thoughts and the influence of social environment. Naismith believes that physical education is a process which should combine with the sports spirit, the aim of this process is to pursue fun rather than benefits; the ultimate goal of this process is to educate people and create a better life. His physical education thought is of great importance for us to reflect on modern sports violence, embodiment of modern sports spirit, strengthening of the educational and nurturing function of modern sports, and return of sports essence.

Key words: Naismith, sports thought, basketball