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Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or
"shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules. Basketball is
one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.[1]
A regulation basketball hoop consists of a rim 18 inches (45.7 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.05
m) high mounted to a backboard. A team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the
hoop during regular play. A field goal scores two points for the shooting team if a player is
touching or closer to the hoop than the three-point line, and three points (a "3 pointer") if the
player is "outside" the three-point line. The team with more points at the end of the game wins,
but additional time (overtime) may be issued when the game ends with a tie. The ball can be
advanced on the court by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or passing it to a
teammate. It is a violation (traveling) to walk with the ball, carry it, or to double dribble (to hold the
ball and then resume dribbling).
Various violations are generally called "fouls". Disruptive physical contact (a personal foul) is
penalized, and a free throw is usually awarded to an offensive player if he is fouled while shooting
the ball. A technical foul may also be issued when certain infractions occur, most commonly for
unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of a player or coach. A technical foul gives the opposing
team a free throw.
Basketball has evolved many commonly used techniques of shooting, passing, and dribbling, as
well as specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures (player positioning)
and techniques. Typically, the tallest members of a team will play "center", "small forward", or
"power forward" positions, while shorter players or those who possess the best ball handling skills
and speed play "point guard" or "shooting guard".
While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous variations of basketball have

developed for casual play. Competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport played on carefully
marked and maintained basketball courts, but less regulated variations are often played outdoors
in both inner city and rural areas.
History
The first rules, court, and game
In early December 1891, Dr. James Naismith,[2] a Canadian-born physical education professor
and instructor at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School[3] (YMCA)
(today, Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 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 wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach
basket onto a 10-foot (3.05 m) elevated track. In contrast with modern basketball nets, this peach
basket retained its bottom, and balls had to be retrieved manually after each "basket" or point
scored; this proved inefficient, however, so the bottom of the basket was removed,[4] allowing the
balls to be poked out with a long dowel each time. The peach baskets were used until 1906 when
they were finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards. A further change was soon made, so
the ball merely passed through, paving the way for the game we know today. An association
football was used to shoot baskets. Whenever a person got the ball in the basket, his team would
gain a point. Whichever team got the most points won the game.[5] The baskets were originally
nailed to the mezzanine balcony of the playing court, but this proved impractical when spectators
on the balcony began to interfere with shots. The backboard was introduced to prevent this
interference; it had the additional effect of allowing rebound shots.[6]
Naismith's handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in early 2006, indicate that he
was nervous about the new game he had invented, which incorporated rules from a children's
game called "Duck on a Rock", as many had failed before it. Naismith called the new game
"Basket Ball".[7]
The first official game was played in a YMCA gymnasium on January 20, 1892 with nine players.
The game ended at 1–0; the shot was made from 25 feet (7.6 m), on a court just half the size of a
present-day Streetball or National Basketball Association (NBA) court. By 1897–1898 teams of
five became standard.
Women's basketball
Women's basketball began in 1892 at Smith College when Senda Berenson, a physical education
teacher, modified Naismith's rules for women. Shortly after she was hired at Smith, she went to
Naismith to learn more about the game.[8] Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could
teach, she organized the first women’s collegiate basketball game on March 21, 1893, when her
Smith freshmen and sophomores played against one another.[9] Her rules were first published in
1899 and two years later Berenson became the editor of A.G. Spalding’s first Women's
Basketball Guide.

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Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or

While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous variations of basketball have

The first rules, court, and game

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