Basketball is a team sport in which two sides of five players try to score by shooting a ball through an elevated hoop. It is unusual among major sports for having a single documented inventor, date and place: the Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith invented the game in December 1891 at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he needed an indoor game his students could play during the winter, and he wrote the original thirteen rules that still shape the modern sport. A field goal scores two points, or three if the shooter's feet are behind the three-point arc when the ball leaves their hands, and a free throw awarded for a foul scores one point; the side scoring more points over four quarters (ten minutes each under international FIBA rules, twelve minutes each in the American NBA) wins. The five on-court positions are conventionally named point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center, though the roles have blurred considerably in the modern game as players are asked to handle, shoot and defend more interchangeably than the traditional names suggest.
Facts
Originating RegionSpringfield, Massachusetts, United States 2 International Governing BodyFIBA, the International Basketball Federation, founded 1932, headquartered in Mies, Switzerland. 2 Identity
SymbolA round ball shot through an elevated hoop at each end of the court. 1 Connections
Ancestor Of
Source Wikipedia, Netball
Associated With
Source Wikipedia, Volleyball
Featured In
Source Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia, 1980 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia, 1984 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia, 1988 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia, 1992 Summer Olympics
Source Wikipedia, 1996 Summer Olympics
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source International Olympic Committee, Official Olympic History Reference
Source International Paralympic Committee, Official History
Governed By
Source Wikipedia, FIBA
Source Wikipedia, Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB)
Source Wikipedia, USA Basketball
Long-Form Articles
Played By
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Basketball
Wikimedia Foundationlead sectionQuote, lead section
shooting a basketball through a hoop at each end of the court.
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
International Olympic Committee, Official Olympic History Reference
International Olympic CommitteeFeatured In: Olympic Games
International Paralympic Committee, Official History
International Paralympic CommitteeFeatured In: Paralympic Games
Wikipedia, FIBA
Wikimedia FoundationGoverned By: FIBA (International Basketball Federation)View the Source Wikipedia, Netball
Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Netball, History sectionQuote, Ancestor Of: Netball, History section
Her mistake marks the beginning of netball.
Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1948 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1948 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics was the second appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event.
Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1952 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1952 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics was the third appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. 23 nations entered the competition.
Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1956 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1956 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics was the fourth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event.
Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1968 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1968 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Basketball contests at the 1968 Summer Olympics was the seventh appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event.
Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1972 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1972 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Basketball contests at the 1972 Summer Olympics was the eighth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event.
Wikipedia: Basketball at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1976 Summer Olympics, Lead sectionQuote, Featured In: 1976 Summer Olympics, Lead section
Basketball events at the 1976 Summer Olympics was the ninth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event.
Wikipedia, 1980 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1980 Summer Olympics, Article textQuote, Featured In: 1980 Summer Olympics, Article text
impacted the competitiveness of swimming, track and field, boxing, basketball, diving, field hockey and equestrian sports
Wikipedia, 1984 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1984 Summer Olympics, Venues list, The Forum, Inglewood, CaliforniaQuote, Featured In: 1984 Summer Olympics, Venues list, The Forum, Inglewood, California
basketball and team handball finals
Wikipedia, 1988 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1988 Summer Olympics, Venues list, Jamsil Gymnasium[E]Quote, Featured In: 1988 Summer Olympics, Venues list, Jamsil Gymnasium[E]
basketball, volleyball (final)
Wikipedia, 1992 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1992 Summer Olympics, HighlightsQuote, Featured In: 1992 Summer Olympics, Highlights
The Dream Team won the gold medal and was inducted as a unit into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Wikipedia, 1996 Summer Olympics
Featured In: 1996 Summer Olympics, Sports contested list with event countsQuote, Featured In: 1996 Summer Olympics, Sports contested list with event counts
Basketball (2)
Wikipedia, Volleyball
Associated With: Volleyball, HistoryQuote, Associated With: Volleyball, History
He was a one-time student of basketball inventor James Naismith and invented the game for his clients at the YMCA, most of whom were middle-aged businessmen for whom the physical demands of basketball were too great.
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