Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams try to score by shooting a ball through an elevated hoop. It was invented in December 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, and it is now governed worldwide by FIBA. Under FIBA rules each team puts five players on the court, and a field goal is worth two points, or three from beyond the three-point line.

History of basketball

James Naismith, a Canadian physical educator, invented basketball while teaching at what was then the School for Christian Workers in Springfield, Massachusetts, now Springfield College. The school’s head of physical education, Luther Halsey Gulick, asked him to create an indoor game for a restless winter gym class.

FIBA says Naismith tried soccer, lacrosse, American football and rugby before settling on something new. He wrote 13 original rules in December 1891, and they were printed in the school magazine, The Triangle, in January 1892. The rules barred running with the ball, and dribbling was added later.

The first goals were peach baskets nailed to a balcony rail ten feet above the floor, and the ball was a soccer ball. The baskets had closed bottoms, so someone had to fetch the ball after every score. The bottoms were cut out a few years later, and Basketball Canada notes that the peach baskets stayed in use until 1906.

Early games used nine players a side and two 15-minute halves, and play began with a jump ball at center court. Students took the game home to their own YMCAs within weeks, and the rules were mailed to YMCAs across the United States. The school’s international students helped it travel abroad quickly.

FIBA dates the game’s arrival in Mexico to 1892, in France to 1893, and in China and India to around 1895. Larger numbers of players followed in Asia, Australia, South America and Europe after 1900. FIBA itself was created in 1932, with Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland as founding members.

Rules and how basketball is played

The figures in this section describe FIBA play, and other organizations set their own variations. A game has four 10-minute quarters, and a tied game goes to five-minute overtime periods. Each team may list up to 12 players, and five of them are on the court at a time.

Players move the ball by passing and dribbling, and they score by shooting it through the opponent’s basket. A field goal counts two points, a shot from beyond the three-point line counts three, and each free throw counts one. In FIBA competition the three-point line is an arc with a radius of 6.75 meters, measured from the point on the floor beneath the center of the basket.

Several clocks keep play moving. A team has 24 seconds to attempt a shot, and the clock resets to 14 seconds in certain frontcourt situations. After gaining control in its own half, a team must advance the ball into its frontcourt within eight seconds.

A player who commits five fouls is no longer entitled to play. The early rules were far simpler. Naismith’s Rule 9 handled out-of-bounds play: the player who first touched the ball out of bounds threw it back in and had five seconds to do so.

Equipment and venues

Basketball needs little equipment: a ball, two baskets and a rectangular court. A FIBA court measures 28 meters long and 15 meters wide, measured from the inner edge of the boundary lines. Naismith’s first baskets hung ten feet, about 3.05 meters, above the floor.

The earliest games used a soccer ball, and players wore black, full-sleeve woolen jerseys and long gray trousers. Competitions that apply FIBA rules also need a shot clock set to 24 seconds alongside the game clock.

The sport began in a school gym. FIBA’s Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland, has displayed a bronze statue of Naismith since June 18, 2022. FIBA also sanctions 3×3, a streetball-inspired version of the game that is played around the world.

Governing bodies and major competitions

FIBA is the international federation for basketball. Encyclopedia.com’s entry on the federation says it has more than 200 national basketball associations. FIBA stages the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men’s national teams, the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, 3×3 Basketball and eFIBA competitions, and elite players also meet at the Olympic men’s and women’s tournaments.

The winner of the FIBA Basketball World Cup receives the Naismith Trophy, named after the inventor. Rules differ among leagues and organizations, so a figure such as game length depends on the competition being played.

Notable moments in basketball history

The first game was played in the winter of 1891 and 1892, and Basketball Canada gives December 21, 1891 as the date of the invention. Basketball reached the Olympic Games in 1936, when the first Olympic tournament was held in Berlin. Naismith attended, and his family says it was the highlight of his life.

FIBA named Naismith its Honorary President in 1936, 45 years after he invented the game. He never profited from basketball, and his family describes it as a game developed for human development, both spiritual and physical.

At Paris 2024, FIBA reports that 12 teams competed. The United States came from behind to beat Serbia in the semifinals and then defeated France in the gold medal game.

Basketball around the world

FIBA says the game is now played in more than 200 countries. It describes basketball as one of the most popular and widely followed sports in the world, with over 3.3 billion fans. That fan count is FIBA’s own estimate, so readers should treat it as a promotional figure rather than an audited one.

Volleyball, invented in Massachusetts four years later, was designed as a less strenuous alternative to basketball, and the YMCA network carried both games abroad. The game’s spread followed the YMCA network and Springfield’s international students before national federations took over. The same rules now shape grassroots play and the World Cup, which is why the five-player, four-quarter format looks familiar almost everywhere the sport is played.

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 4, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue