BASKETBALL

Basketball is the most popular spectator sport in the United States of America. Attendance at high school, college, professional and various amateur and semi-professional games exceeds 150,000,000 every year. College and professional games are also watched by many millions on television.

The game is played on a rectangular court no more than 94 feet long and 50 feet wide. Although many outdoor playgrounds have basketball courts, most regulation games are played indoors.

At each end of the court a bottomless rope-like basket is suspended from a metal ring 10 feet above the floor, attached to a board set parallel to the back line.

The game is played by two teams of five men each who maneuver a round inflated ball, about 30 inches in circumference, so as to toss it through the opponents’ basket. The ball may be passed from one man to the other, or it may be dribbled, or bounced, along the floor by any single player. Running or walking with the ball is illegal.

A player dribbling the ball may not charge into an opposing player, and his opponents may not impede his progress by any form of personal contact. When there is personal contact, the referee calls a foul on the offending player. A player who commits five personal fouls (six in professional play) must leave the game permanently.

In most cases a player who is fouled is given two free shots at the opponents’ basket from a line 15 feet in front of the backboard. His team is awarded one point for each foul shot through the basket. Field goals-legal shots through the basket during the course of play-earn two points. Professional basketball games consist of four 12-minutes quarters. College games have 20-minutes halves.

Basketball was invented by James A. Naismith, a Y.M.C.A official, and first played at Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891. It was almost exclusively an American game until 1936, when it was introduced to the Berlin Olympics. Since then it has gained enormously in popularity and is now widely played in more than 100 Countries.

Spectator interest in the United States centers on college and professional play. Almost every four-year college has a basketball team. The regular college season lasts through the fall and closes with two major post-season tournaments: The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCA) tournament and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The team that wins the NCCA tournament is usually considered the national champion.

There have been professional basketball teams since the late 1890’s. The most famous of these early teams was the ‘Original Celtics’, who dominated the game during the 1920’s. Professional basketball was badly disorganized, however, until 1949, when the National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed.

Professional basketball has become increasingly popular since the introduction of the 24-second rule, which requires a team to attempt a shot to the basket within 24-second after they receive possession of the ball.

Because of the height of the basket, tall players have tended to dominate the game. There has always been a place, however, for similar men who can move the ball swiftly and set up plays. There are so many women’s basketball teams.