New York ( CNN ) -- The first 13 rules of basketball sold Friday for more than $ 4 million , setting a record for the highest sales price for sports memorabilia , according to Sotheby 's , which conducted the auction . The auction house had estimated that Dr. James Naismith 's two-page `` Founding Rules of Basketball '' would bring less than half the $ 4,338,500 that David and Suzanne Booth bid for the 119-year-old document . `` This is the birth certificate . It started here , '' said Selby Kiffer , Sotheby 's vice president for manuscripts and books department . Naismith , a Canadian physical education instructor working at a New England YMCA , created the game of `` Basket Ball '' so students could play a sport indoors in winter . Naismith had no idea his invention would catch on so rapidly after the YMCA movement introduced it on an international level . But the game has changed considerably since Naismith 's days . Naismith wanted the game to have no physical contact between players and to encourage sportsmanship . How far it 's come : After a recent pickup game , President Barack Obama received 12 stitches on his lip , proving that the contemporary game of basketball is tougher than it was in 1891 . The first game was played with nine players on each team and a soccer ball they lobbed into peach baskets secured about 10 feet off the floor on either end of a gymnasium . Players could only pass the ball , no dribbling . A foul was called for carrying the ball , holding it against the body or hitting it with a fist or for any physical contact with an opposing player . And contact with an opposing player with `` evident intent to injure the person '' resulted in the offending player being `` disqualified '' for the rest of the game , with no substitution . The Booths hope to bring Naismith 's rules to the University of Kansas , inspired , they said , by lifelong Jayhawk basketball fan Josh Swade and his campaign to return the rules the university , where Naismith spent the last 41 years of his life and is buried . David Booth , a billionaire who is chairman and co-CEO of a Texas mutual fund company , said the purchase is a `` challenge to the University of Kansas . '' `` As soon as they create a venue to house it and persuade us that they will maintain it , we will give them the papers , '' said Booth , who has an undergraduate degree from the school . `` In the meantime , we will keep them in a vault . '' Booth , who said college basketball is his favorite sport , said the $ 4 million-plus he is spending for the rules is `` absolutely worth it . '' `` It is an incredibly important document , '' he said . `` I am donating it because it is the right thing to do . '' Naismith `` invented the game , and so these papers should be there , '' he said . `` I hope there is enough support at KU that they really want it . '' Naismith came to Kansas in 1898 after earning a medical degree in Colorado . He coached the first Kansas basketball teams and later became the school 's athletic director . He coached the legendary Forrest `` Phog '' Allen , who succeeded Naismith as Kansas coach in 1920 , remaining at the helm through 36 years and three national championships . At Kansas , Allen , in turn , coached other legendary basketballers : Dean Smith , head coach at the University of North Carolina for 36 years , and Adolph Rupp , head coach at the University of Kentucky for 42 years . Ironically , Naismith is the only Kansas basketball coach to compile a losing record . After Naismith 's death in 1939 , the family held onto the 13 rules of the game in a safe deposit box at various locations . In that time , basketball has become one of the biggest businesses in sports . Players earn millions of dollars in salaries . `` The greed factor is getting quite strong . People are making an awful lot of money in the game and have a tendency to lose , in our opinion , the values , '' said Ian Naismith , the founder 's youngest grandson . The family has always been involved in the game of basketball , but after many offers , it is `` time to move forward , '' said Naismith , now living outside Chicago . CNN invited Sotheby 's to bring the rules Thursday to New York 's Madison Square Garden , where the New York Knicks were preparing to take on the Charlotte Bobcats . `` They 're cool , '' exclaimed Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni . `` It 's a game that 's been awfully good to me and a lot of other people . So the rules are special , '' said former Knicks coach Larry Brown , now with the Bobcats . The proceeds from the auction will go to the James Naismith International Basketball Foundation . The humanitarian foundation promotes Naismith 's legacy of encouraging good sportsmanship , positive role models , higher education and services for underprivileged children . CNN 's Lejla Radoncic contributed to this report .
NEW : Winning bidders want to donate document to University of Kansas . Naismith coached at Kansas and is buried there . Winner pays more than $ 4 million for original rules of basketball . There initially were just 13 rules for the game .