In a YMCA physical education class in 1891, a game that would become an obsession for many at all levels of play was born. Basketball, the invention of Dr. James Naismith, was a new indoor activity that originally had 13 rules for play. Today's game looks very similar in rules and regulations, although it has since left the peach basket hoops behind.
Teams
Basketball is a team sport. The rules state each team will have five players on the court at one time. The team that has the ball is the offensive team, and the team without the ball is the defensive team. Teams can substitute players off their bench during the game when the action has stopped. A player cannot enter the floor during play.
Ball Movement
The basketball is moved down the court by being either passed, shot or dribbled. Passing is throwing the ball from player to player, shooting is advancing the ball to the target with an arc, not a straight throw, and dribbling is moving while bouncing the ball off the floor. A player cannot hold the ball and move in any direction, and the ball can't be kicked.
Scoring
When a player shoots the ball in the hoop, it is worth two points. If the shot is from the 3-point line or further back, it is worth three points. A free throw, which results from a foul to the other team and is shot while play has stopped with just the fouled player at the foul line, is worth one point.
Fouls
A foul occurs when a player tries to cause another player to be at a disadvantage by using illegal body contact. Illegal contact includes hitting, slapping, holding, pushing or an illegal screen. An intentional foul is when there is contact without intent to steal the ball. A technical foul can be on a coach or a player and refers to the sportsmanship of the game with the offender using something like obscenity or improper gestures. Players are allotted five fouls per game in levels under the NBA, which allows six.
Violations
Other violations of basketball rules include walking, which is taking more than a step and a half without dribbling; traveling, which is moving the pivot foot without dribbling; carrying the ball where a hand is too far to the side or under the ball; and double dribble, which means using both hands to dribble or dribbling, stopping and dribbling again. Goaltending occurs when a defensive player interferes with a shot that is on its way down the basket, while it is on the backboard or on the cylinder of the basketball hoop rim.
Court Dimensions
A junior high school court measures 74 feet long and 42 feet wide; while a high school court measures 84 feet long and 50 feet wide. NBA and college courts measure 94 feet long and 50 feet wide. Each court has a foul line, key and, in high school on up, a 3-point line. The foul line on all courts is 15 feet from the front of the backboard and is used for shooting foul shots. The key is 12 feet wide on all courts with a 6-foot arc from the foul line to the basket. In high school and college, the 3-point line is 19 feet 9 inches with a straight line that goes out 5 feet 3 inches from the baseline. In the NBA, the 3-point line is 22 feet to the center of the rim with a straight line that goes out 16 feet 9 inches from the baseline.
Clocks
Basketball games in the NBA have four, 12-minute quarters. At the college level, there are two, 20-minute halves. For high school and junior high, there are two halves with either eight- or six-minute quarters. Halftime is 15 minutes; overtime in college and the NBA is 5 minutes. The shot clock, which measures how long the team with possession has to shoot, is 35 seconds in college and 24 seconds in the NBA.
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