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Basketball is a limited contact sport played on a rectangular court.
While most often played as

a team sport with five players on each side, three-on-three, two-on-two, and one-on-one
competitions are also common. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in
diameter and 10 feet (3.048 m) high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The
game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith.
A team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the
opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the shooting team if the
player shoots from behind the three-point line, and two points if shot from in front of the line. A team
can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, after the other team is assessed with
certain fouls. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time
(overtime) is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on
the court by passing it to a teammate, or by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling). It is a
violation to lift, or drag, one's pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with
both hands then resume dribbling.
The game has many individual techniques for displaying skillball-handling, shooting, passing,
dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking, and rebounding. Basketball teams generally have player positions,
the tallest and strongest members of a team are called a center or power forward, while slightly
shorter and more agile players are called small forward, and the shortest players or those who
possess the best ball handling skills are called a point guard or shooting guard. The point guard
directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coach's game plan, and managing the
execution of offensive and defensive plays (player positioning).
Basketball is one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sports.[1] The National Basketball
Association (NBA) is the most popular and widely considered to be the highest level of professional
basketball in the world and NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary
per player.[2][3] Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental
championships such as the Euroleague and FIBA Americas League. The FIBA Basketball World
Cup is the major international competition of the sport and attracts the top national teams from
around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for national teams,
like EuroBasket and FIBA Americas Championship.
The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup features the top national women's basketball teams from
continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas
the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Women's Basketball
Premier League.
Contents
[hide]
1History
o 1.1Creation
o 1.2College basketball
o 1.3High school basketball
o 1.4Professional basketball
o 1.5International basketball
o 1.6Women's basketball
2Rules and regulations
o 2.1Playing regulations
o 2.2Equipment
o 2.3Violations
o 2.4Fouls
3Common techniques and practices
o 3.1Positions
o 3.2Strategy
o 3.3Shooting
o 3.4Rebounding
o 3.5Passing
o 3.6Dribbling
o 3.7Blocking
4Height
5Race and ethnicity
6Variations and similar games
7Social forms of basketball
8Fantasy basketball
9See also
10References
11Further reading
12External links
History
Main article: History of basketball
Creation
The first basketball court: Springfield College
In early December 1891, Canadian Dr. James Naismith,[4] a physical education professor and
instructor at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School[5] (YMCA)
(today, 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 wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot
(3.0 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,[6] allowing the balls to be poked out
with a long dowel each time.
Old style basketball with laces
Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. These round balls from "association football"
were made, at the time, with a set of laces to close off the hole needed for inserting the inflatable
bladder after the other sewn-together segments of the ball's cover had been flipped outside-
in.[7][8] These laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable.[9] Eventually a lace-
free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith.
(Whereas in American football, the lace construction proved to be advantageous for gripping and
remains to this day.) The first balls made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in
the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would be more visible to players and
spectators alike, introduced the orange ball that is now in common use. Dribbling was not part of the
original game except for the "bounce pass" to teammates. Passing the ball was the primary means
of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the asymmetric shape of early
balls. Dribbling only became a major part of the game around the 1950s[citation needed], as manufacturing
improved the ball shape.
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. Whenever a
person got the ball in the basket, his team would gain a point. Whichever team got the most points
won the game.[10] The baskets were originally nailed to the mezzanine balcony of the playing court,
but this proved impractical when spectators in the balcony began to interfere with shots. The
backboard was introduced to prevent this interference; it had the additional effect of allowing
rebound shots.[11] 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.
Frank Mahan, one of the players from the original first game, approached Naismith after the
Christmas break, in early 1892, asking him what he intended to call his new game. Naismith replied
that he hadn't thought of it because he had been focused on just getting the game started. Mahan
suggested that it be called "Naismith ball", at which he laughed, saying that a name like that would
kill any game. Mahan then said, "Why not call it basketball?" Naismith replied, "We have a basket
and a ball, and it seems to me that would be a good name for it."[12][13] The first official game was
played in the YMCA gymnasium in Albany, New York, on January 20, 1892, with nine players. The
game ended at 10; 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.
At the time, football was being played with 10 to a team (which was increased to 11). When winter
weather got too icy to play football, teams were taken indoors, and it was convenient to have them
split in half and play basketball with five on each side. By 18971898 teams of five became
standard.

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Basketball is a limited contact sport played on a rectangular court.

While most often played as

The first basketball court: Springfield College

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