Basketball, extremely popular around the world, is a court game played by two teams of five players each.  The object is to put a ball through a hoop, or basket, and thus score more points than the opposing team. 
Although basketball can be played outdoors, it was invented to serve as an exciting indoor exercise for the winter months in a northern climate.  It quickly became a spectator sport, however, and now attracts large audiences to gymnasiums and arenas, especially in the United States, South America, and Europe. 
    The sport is played on the amateur level by high schools, colleges, other groups, and, since 1936, by national teams in the Olympic Games.  It also is played by professional athletes, notably in the United States and Europe.  The foremost championships contended for are those of the National Basketball Association (U.S. professionals), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (U.S. colleges), and the Olympic Games. 
HISTORY 
    James Naismith, an instructor in physical education at the International Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Training School in Springfield, Mass., devised basketball in December 1891.  Naismith, who later became a doctor of medicine, hung up two peach baskets, one at either end of the gymnasium, as goals.  His YMCA athletes played the first game with a soccer ball, passing it back and forth until one team was able to throw it into its assigned basket.  That first game was governed by 13 axioms formulated by Naismith.  The rules of basketball, based on those axioms, were established later by the YMCA and the Amateur Athletic Union.  All 13 axioms are still incorporated in today's rule books. 
    Word of the new game spread swiftly, and basketball soon was being played in YMCA gymnasiums throughout the eastern United States.  Its growth was so rapid that the first men's intercollegiate game was played in 1897, the first professional league was founded in 1898, and the first collegiate association--the Eastern Intercollegiate League--was formed in 1902.  Women also took up the game before 1900. 
    The growing popularity of basketball resulted in improvements in equipment and skills.  The metal hoop was introduced in 1893, and backboards in 1895.  The soccer ball was replaced by the first basketball.  As playing skills also became more sophisticated, the game attracted more and more spectators. 
Until the late 1930s, scores were low, sometimes in single digits.  After each score, opposing centers (one of the five positions, the others being two guards and two forwards) lined up in the middle of the court and jumped for the ball.  Then the team that got the ball would pass or dribble until a player was about 3 m (10 ft) from the basket before trying a shot. The slow pace did not inhibit the growth of the game, however. By the 1920s, basketball was being played all over the United States, and tournaments were being conducted in high school and college gymnasiums.  Most states held high school championships for boys. 
Several events in the 1930s spurred the growth of the game as a spectator sport and at the same time made basketball more exciting for the players.  The first of these came in the 1932-33 season (basketball seasons tend to be between football in fall and baseball in spring), when rules designed to speed up play were adopted.  It became mandatory, under penalty of losing possession, to move the ball past midcourt in less than ten seconds.  In addition, no player was permitted to remain within the foul lanes for more than three seconds.  Then in 1934 a New York sportswriter, Ned Irish, persuaded the promoters at New York's Madison Square Garden, a large arena, to schedule doubleheaders between college teams.  These events proved successful, and similar promotions followed in other cities.  Before long, colleges began building their own arenas for basketball. 
    Another significant advance occurred in 1936, when a Stanford University team traveled from California to a Madison Square Garden promotion to challenge the eastern powers in the "cradle of basketball." Opponents and fans were stunned by the Stanford style of shooting--one-handed while jumping, which contrasted to the prevalent method of taking two-handed shots while standing still.  One Stanford player, Hank LUISETTI, was so adept at the "jump shot" that he could outscore an entire opposing team.  The new style gained universal acceptance, and basketball scores rose remarkably. 
    In the 1937-38 season the center jump following each field goal was eliminated.  At the end of the next season, Madison Square Garden brought in college teams from around the nation for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), a postseason playoff that was adopted (1939) on a wider scale by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).  Although the NIT is still held annually, the NCAA tournament serves as the official intercollegiate championship. 
    The University of Kentucky (coached, 1930-72, by Adolph Rupp), St. John's (in New York), the University of North Carolina, Western Kentucky, Kansas University, and Indiana University have been among the leading college basketball teams for years. From 1964 to 1975 the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), coached by John WOODEN and led by the centers Lew Alcindor (see ABDUL-JABBAR, KAREEM) and Bill WALTON, dominated the intercollegiate play-offs, winning the title an unprecedented 10 times in 12 years.  The 1,250 college teams in the United States now draw about 30 million spectators per season. 
Although women have played the game since the 1890s, and even though a few states (Iowa, for instance) have shown great participatory and spectator interest in secondary-school women's basketball for some decades, significant growth and serious recognition of women's basketball in the United States and elsewhere did not occur until the 1970s.  Almost all U.S. states now hold girls' high school tournaments, and basketball is the fastest-growing women's intercollegiate sport. 
 

PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL 
 

    From 1898 on, many attempts were made to establish professional basketball as a spectator sport--but success did not come until 1946.  The best of the early efforts was made by the HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS, an all-black team that toured first only the United States and then internationally to play local professional or semiprofessional teams.  The Globetrotters, founded in 1926, were not affiliated with a league.  Their style was and is often showy because, at least into the early 1950s, they could dominate all opponents. 
    In 1946 serious professional basketball had acquired a following among American sports fans, who wanted to see the former collegians in action.  That year the Basketball Association of America, with teams from the United States and one from Toronto, began competing in large arenas in the major cities.  Another professional league, the National Basketball League, was already in existence, with many franchises in medium-sized midwestern cities.  The two leagues merged in 1949 as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and pared away the weaker franchises. 
    With the signing of the country's best collegians through what was called a player draft, the NBA could display both talent and balance.  The NBA's greatest spurt of growth occurred in the 1960s and '70s.  Although the Boston Celtics, led by Bill RUSSELL, Bob COUSY, and John HAVLICEK and coached by Red AUERBACH, won 11 of 13 NBA titles beginning in 1957, fans also closely followed such stars as Philadelphia's Wilt CHAMBERLAIN, Cincinnati's Oscar ROBERTSON, and Los Angeles's Jerry WEST and Elgin BAYLOR.  The NBA of the 1970s and 1980s exhibited a welcome balance of power:  from 1970 until 1988 no team won consecutive NBA titles, though the New York Knicks (with Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, and Bill BRADLEY) won twice;  the Boston Celtics, 5 times (3 with Larry BIRD);  and the Los Angeles Lakers, 6 times (5 with Magic JOHNSON). 
    In the 1970s the NBA expanded from 9 teams to 22.  Some of the new franchises were acquired when the American Basketball Association (1968-76) merged with the NBA.  Also, a Dallas franchise was added in 1980;  Charlotte, N.  C., and Miami, in 1988;  and Minnesota and Orlando, Fla., in 1989. 
During the late 1970s and early 1980s several women's professional leagues were begun;  all of them failed financially. 
 

RULES AND EQUIPMENT 
 

    Professional, college, and high school games are similar except in length and in range of basic skills.  Professional games are 48 minutes long, divided into quarters;  college games, 40 minutes, played in halves;  and high school games, 32 minutes, broken into quarters.  If a game is tied at the end of regulation time, an overtime (3 to 5 minutes, depending on the level of competition) is played. 
    Although no set of dimensions for a basketball court is universally accepted, the recommended size is 94 ft (28.65 m) long and 50 ft (15.24 m) wide. 
Two points are given for a field goal, which is a shot that goes through the hoop--10 ft (3.05 m) high--while the ball is in play.  The NBA instituted, beginning with the 1979-80 season, the three-point field goal, awarded to a player who scores from beyond a semicircle at a distance of 23.9 ft (7.02 m) facing the basket and 22 ft (6.71 m) at the sides.  The NCAA followed suit, beginning in 1986-87, with a three-point semicircle that averages 19.75 ft (6 m) from the basket.  One point is awarded for a free throw, or foul shot, which is attempted by a player who has been fouled, or impeded physically, by an opponent.  Free throws are attempted, undefended, from a line drawn 15 ft (4.57 m) from the basket. 
On the offensive, a player may advance the ball by passing or even rolling it to a teammate or by dribbling, which is bouncing it along the floor with one-hand taps.      The defensive team can get the ball back by intercepting passes, blocking shots, or even by literally stealing it out of an opponent's hand, provided that no illegal body contact occurs.  After a basket is made, the ball is awarded to the other team, which puts it back in play.  If a field-goal attempt is missed and the ball remains in bounds, it is kept in play by the team that recovers (rebounds) it. 
Louis Sabin 
 
 

Captions 
 

Larry Bird (1956-  ), an American basketball player, is acclaimed as one of the finest forwards and all-round performers in the history of the sport.  Throughout his career, Bird led the Boston Celtics in minutes played, total points and scoring average, field goals attempted and made, steals, and rebounds.  He was named the NBA's most valuable player in 1984, 1985, and 1986. 

Wilt Chamberlain (1936-  ), an American basketball player, broke many scoring records and is ranked among the greatest players of all time. The 7-ft 1-in (216 cm) Chamberlain is shown at right challenging Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics during a scoring attempt. 

Basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson (1959- ), who played for the Los Angeles Lakers, used height (6 ft 9 in/2 m 5 cm), speed, deft ball handling, and court sense to set new standards for the guard position. At the beginning of the 1991-92 season Johnson tested positive for HIV; his basketball career ended soon afterward. 

Basketball star Bob Cousey (1928-  ), one of the first great ball-handling guards, earned Most Valuable Player honors in 1957. 

New York Knicks star Patrick Ewing (1961-  ) led Georgetown University's men's basketball team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship final game in three of his four years of college play; they won the national championship in 1984.  In that year he also played on the gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic men's basketball team.