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basketball

Ball game between two teams of five players, played on both indoor and outdoor rectangular courts. The object is, via a series of passing moves, to throw the large inflated ball through a circular hoop and net positioned at each end of the court. Players move the ball by passing it or by dribbling it (bouncing it on the floor) while running. Basketball is played worldwide by both men and women and, with soccer, is one of the two most popular sports.

The court

In the USA the standard court is 94 ft/28.7 m long and 54 ft/16.5 m wide, with a backboard at the center of each end of the court. A circular metal hoop, whose rim is 10 ft/3.05 m from the floor, is attached to each backboard.

Rules

The object of the game is to score the most points by throwing the ball through the hoop, also called a basket, with two points scored for each field goal, or basket, shot from the field. Under certain rules, three points are awarded for field goals made beyond a specified distance from the basket. One point is scored for each foul shot (awarded after certain types of rules infractions by the opposing teams). Foul shots, also called free throws, are taken from a line 15 ft/4.6 m from the backboard. The court has lines from the foul line to the court's base line. The lane between the lines cannot be entered by players until the foul shot has been released by the shooter. During regular play, offensive players may remain in the lane for only three consecutive seconds. The court dimensions and markings vary slightly among US amateur, US professional, and international rules. If a regulation game ends in a tie, overtime periods are played until one team wins.

Time limits for games vary: 8-min quarters in high school; 20-min halves in college; 12-min quarters in professional contests; 10-min quarters in international competition. Under some rules the team with possession of the ball must shoot within a certain time period: 24 sec in professional games; 35 sec in college. A player must leave the game after accumulating five (high school, college, and international amateur) or six (professional) fouls.

History

Basketball was invented by James Naismith, a Canadian who was a physical education instructor at what is now Springfield College (Massachusetts). The first game was played in 1891, and the first formal rules were set out in 1892. It rapidly became popular, especially in the eastern USA, and the first college and professional games were played before 1900. Today, the premier professional league is the National Basketball Association (NBA), formed in 1949 and divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. The NBA Championship is the end-of-season contest, first held in 1947, between the top team of each Conference. Perhaps the most famous professional team is the Harlem Globetrotters, an independent team founded in 1927. Its tours of the world have greatly increased basketball's popularity.

Basketball outside the USA

Canada was the first country outside the USA to take up the game, and now nearly all European countries have their national leagues, with the various European cups forming major competitions. Over 140 countries are affiliated to the International Amateur Basketball Federation (FIBA). Basketball has been played in the Summer Olympic Games since 1936.

Barry, (Richard Francis Dennis III) Rick Jordan, Michael Jeffrey Lapchick, Joe

Luisetti, 'Hank' Mikan, George (Lawrence)