Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another, have a look on basketball history.
Basketball: History, Game Rules, Court, Players
A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three.
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Contact | Limited |
| Team members | 5 per side |
| Mixed-sex | Yes, separate competitions |
| Type | Indoor/Outdoor |
| Equipment | Basketball |
| Venue | Indoor court (mainly) or outdoor court (Streetball) |
| Glossary | Glossary of basketball |
After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws.
The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.
Players advance the ball by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or by passing it to a teammate, both of which require considerable skill.
Basketball history
In December 1891, James Naismith, a Canadian professor of physical education and instructor at the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, was trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day.
He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New England winters.
After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he invented a new game in which players would pass a ball to teammates and try to score points by tossing the ball into a basket mounted on a wall. Naismith wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto an elevated track.
Naismith initially set up the peach basket with its bottom intact, which meant that the ball had to be retrieved manually after each “basket” or point scored.
This quickly proved tedious, so Naismith removed the bottom of the basket to allow the balls to be poked out with a long dowel after each scored basket.
Basketball Game Rules
Basketball is a popular sport able to be played at multiple skill levels.
Learn more about the rules of basketball and the penalties for breaking them.
- Only five players per team on the court.
- Score more than your opponent to win.
- Score within the shot clock.
- Dribbling advances the ball.
- The offense has five seconds to inbound the ball.
- Ball and ballhandler must remain inbounds.
- Defenders can’t interfere with a shot on a downward trajectory.
Like all sports, basketball has a unique set of rules that establish guidelines for personnel, penalties, and gameplay.
Court
In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end.
Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with 3.048 metres (10.00 ft)-high rims on each basket.
Outdoor surfaces are generally made from standard paving materials such as concrete or asphalt.
Basketball courts come in many different sizes. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), the court is 94 by 50 feet (28.7 by 15.2 m).
Under International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules,[1] the court is slightly smaller, measuring 28 by 15 meters (91.9 by 49.2 ft).
In amateur basketball, court sizes vary widely. Many older high school gyms were 84 feet (26 m) or even 74 feet (23 m) in length.
The baskets are always 3.05 metres (10.0 ft) above the floor (except possibly in youth competition).
Players
There are billions of basketball fans worldwide. This is not surprising because basketball has evolved drastically throughout the years; it now belongs at the forefront of sports entertainment.
Top 10 Basketball Players of All Time :
- Michael Jordan
- Magic Johnson
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Larry Bird
- Hakeem Olajuwon
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Kobe Bryant
- LeBron James
- Kevin Durant
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