Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith, a Canadian teacher at a YMCA school in Springfield, Massachusetts. The first goals were two peach baskets nailed 10 feet up, still the height of the hoop today. Today, two teams of five score by shooting a ball through a hoop, earning 1, 2 or 3 points a basket.
basketball quick facts
- Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith.
- The first goals were two peach baskets.
- The first game had nine players on each team.
- An NBA team has 24 seconds to take a shot.
- Wilt Chamberlain once scored 100 points in an NBA game.
What is basketball?
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams try to score by throwing a ball through a hoop. The NBA rulebook says the hoop hangs 10 feet (3.05 m) above the floor.
It is one of the few big sports whose inventor we know by name. A teacher called James Naismith made it up in 1891, as a game students could play indoors during the winter.
Today, basketball is played by children in playgrounds and by professionals in huge arenas, and it is an Olympic sport for both men and women.
| Basketball at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Invented | 1891 |
| Inventor | James Naismith, a Canadian |
| First game | December 1891, Springfield, Massachusetts |
| First goals | two peach baskets |
| Players on court | 5 per team |
| Hoop height | 10 feet (3.05 m) |
| NBA game | four 12-minute quarters |
Who invented basketball?
James Naismith was born on 16 November 1861, near Almonte in Ontario, Canada. McGill University says he studied there, in Montreal, from 1883 to 1887.
He loved sport. At McGill, he played rugby-style football and soccer and did gymnastics. He later became the university’s first full-time teacher of athletics. Springfield College says he also earned a degree in theology, the study of religion.
In 1891, Naismith was a student and teacher at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States. Today, the school is called Springfield College.
The winter challenge
Students needed a game they could play indoors during the long winter. Springfield College says Naismith’s boss, Luther Gulick, challenged the class to invent one.
The new game had to be interesting and easy to learn. It also had to be easy to play in winter, indoors, under artificial light. Naismith took on the challenge.
Peach baskets for goals
Naismith needed goals. The Springfield College athletics department says he asked the school janitor for two boxes. The janitor came back with two peach baskets instead.
The baskets were nailed to the lower rail of the balcony around the gym, one at each end. Springfield College and Mass Moments, a history project run by Mass Humanities, say they hung 10 feet (3.05 m) above the floor.
That height stuck. The NBA rulebook still sets the rim at 10 feet off the floor today, more than 130 years later.
The baskets still had their bottoms. Mass Moments says a goal counted when the ball went into the basket and stayed there.
The first game
Springfield College and Mass Moments say the first game was played on 21 December 1891 at the training school. McGill University tells the story a little differently. It says the game was introduced on 21 December, and the first formal match was played on 29 December.
There were nine players on each team, Springfield College says: three forwards, three centres and three backs. Mass Moments says the ball they used was a soccer ball.
The game began with Naismith tossing the ball up between the two centre players. Springfield College says each half lasted 15 minutes, with a 5-minute break in between.
The first 13 rules
Naismith wrote 13 rules for his new game. Springfield College says they were published in January 1892 in the school’s magazine, which was sent to YMCAs across the country.
Mass Moments sums up some of the most important ones.
Throwing: the ball could be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
No running with the ball: a player had to throw it from the spot where they caught it.
No rough play: tackling, hitting and holding other players were all banned.
Scoring: a goal counted when the ball went into the basket and stayed there.
Notice what is missing. Because players could not run with the ball, there was no dribbling in the very first games.
How basketball spread
The new game was a hit. Mass Moments says that within a few weeks, about 200 people were coming to watch the students play at lunchtime.
Students took the game home with them over the Christmas holidays. The school’s students from other countries carried it back to their home countries too, spreading basketball around the world.
The game soon changed. Mass Moments says that by 1897, teams had settled on five players each, and a six-team National Basketball League formed in 1898.
Springfield College says that by 1905, basketball was officially recognised as a permanent winter sport.
Naismith’s later life
In 1898, Naismith moved to the University of Kansas. McGill University says he ran the gym, served as the university’s chaplain and coached its basketball team.
He kept on learning all his life. He earned a medical degree and collected 11 university degrees in all.
Naismith died on 28 November 1939 in Lawrence, Kansas, aged 78. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, named after him, opened in 1968.
How basketball is played today
Today, each team has five players on the court. They score by shooting the ball through the other team’s hoop, and they move the ball by passing it or by dribbling, bouncing it as they run.
The NBA rulebook sets out the court in detail. The rim is 18 inches (46 cm) across on the inside. The free-throw line is 15 feet (4.6 m) from the backboard, and the backboard is 6 feet wide and 3½ feet tall.
The three-point line curves around the basket, 23 feet 9 inches (7.24 m) from the middle of the hoop. In the corners it runs straight, 3 feet from the sidelines.
| Shot | Points |
|---|---|
| Free throw | 1 |
| Basket from inside the three-point line | 2 |
| Basket from behind the three-point line | 3 |
An NBA game has four quarters of 12 minutes each, with a 15-minute break at half-time. If the score is tied at the end, the teams play extra periods of 5 minutes, called overtime.
A clock keeps the game moving too. The NBA rulebook says a team has 24 seconds to take a shot. If a shot hits the rim and the attacking team grabs the rebound, the clock resets to 14 seconds.
The NBA
The National Basketball Association, or NBA, is a professional league in North America. NBA.com says the first game of the league that became the NBA was played on 1 November 1946 in Toronto, Canada.
The New York Knicks beat the Toronto Huskies 68–66. To bring in fans, the Toronto team said anyone taller than its 6-foot-8 (2.03 m) centre, George Nostrand, could get in free.
Record breakers
On 2 March 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single NBA game, playing for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks. NBA.com says the Warriors won 169–147 in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Chamberlain made 36 of his 63 shots from the field and 28 of his 32 free throws. It is still the most points scored by a player in an NBA game. His own earlier record had been 78 points, set less than three months before.
In February 2023, LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time top scorer. NBA.com says he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s total of 38,387 points, a record Kareem had held since 1984. LeBron did it in his 20th season, in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The WNBA
The top professional league for women in the United States is the Women’s National Basketball Association, or WNBA. WNBA.com says the NBA approved the new league on 24 April 1996.
Its first game was played on 21 June 1997, when the New York Liberty beat the Los Angeles Sparks 67–57 in Inglewood, California.
The league started with eight teams. Sheryl Swoopes was the first player to sign, Penny Toler scored the first basket, and the Houston Comets won the first championship.
A’ja Wilson has been named the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player four times, in 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025. Her team, the Las Vegas Aces, won the 2025 championship.
Basketball at the Olympics
Men’s basketball first appeared at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. NBC Olympics says those games were played outdoors, on clay and sand courts. Women’s basketball joined the Olympics 40 years later, in Montreal in 1976.
NBC Olympics says teams from the United States have won 25 Olympic basketball gold medals: 16 for men and 9 for women. Two American players, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, each won five gold medals, the most by any basketball player.
One of the most famous Olympic teams was the 1992 US “Dream Team”, which included Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. It won all eight of its games by an average of 43.8 points.
Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt holds another record. He scored 1,093 points across five Olympic Games, from 1980 to 1996, including 55 points in a single game against Spain in 1988.
Playing basketball yourself
You do not need a full team or a fancy court to enjoy basketball. A ball and a hoop in a park or playground are enough to practise shooting, passing and dribbling with friends.
Good players practise the basics again and again: dribbling with both hands, passing to a teammate and shooting free throws from the line.
Many great athletes have played more than one sport. Jackie Robinson, for example, played basketball at university before becoming a baseball legend. Read his story in our Jackie Robinson facts.
Three things people get wrong
Basketball was not invented by an American. James Naismith was Canadian, though he invented the game in the USA.
The first game was not five-a-side. There were nine players on each team.
Players could not always dribble. The first rules said you could not run with the ball.
Did you know? At the first NBA game, in 1946, any fan taller than the Toronto team’s 6-foot-8 centre got in free.
Try it
Stand 15 feet from a hoop, the distance of an NBA free throw, and see how many shots out of 10 you can make.
Knowledge check
What did Naismith use as the first goals?
Show answer
Two peach baskets.
How many points is a shot from behind the three-point line?
Show answer
3 points.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented basketball?
James Naismith, a Canadian teacher, invented basketball in 1891 at a YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts.
When was the first basketball game?
The first game was played in December 1891. Springfield College gives 21 December; McGill University says the first formal match was on 29 December.
How high is a basketball hoop?
The rim is 10 feet (3.05 m) off the floor, the same height as the first peach baskets.
How many players are on a basketball team?
Five players from each team are on the court. The very first game had nine on each side.
How long is an NBA game?
Four quarters of 12 minutes each, with a 15-minute half-time and 5-minute overtime periods if the score is tied.
When did basketball join the Olympics?
Men’s basketball joined the Olympics in 1936 in Berlin, and women’s basketball in 1976 in Montreal.
Sources
- Springfield College: the birthplace of basketball — Gulick’s challenge, the first game, the 13 rules and the 1905 recognition; the college athletics page on the peach baskets was also used
- Mass Moments (Mass Humanities): first game of basketball — the date, the baskets, the ball, the rules, the spectators and the move to five players
- McGill University: Naismith invents basketball — Naismith’s life, education, degrees, Kansas, death and the Hall of Fame
- NBA official rulebook: court dimensions — the hoop, lines and backboard; rules 5 and 7 and NBA.com’s history pages on the first game, Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James were also used
- WNBA: history of the WNBA — the league’s founding, first game and firsts; its history page on recent MVPs was also used
- NBC Olympics: basketball Olympic history and records — the 1936 and 1976 debuts, medal counts, the Dream Team and Oscar Schmidt
