Portal:Basketball

The Basketball Portal

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately 9.4 inches (24 cm) in diameter) through the defender's hoop (a basket 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter mounted 10 feet (3.048 m) high to a backboard at each end of the court), while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.

Players advance the ball by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or by passing it to a teammate, both of which require considerable skill. On offense, players may use a variety of shots – the layup, the jump shot, or a dunk; on defense, they may steal the ball from a dribbler, intercept passes, or block shots; either offense or defense may collect a rebound, that is, a missed shot that bounces from rim or backboard. It is a violation to lift or drag one's pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. (Full article...)

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The key, officially referred to as the free throw lane by the National Basketball Association (NBA) (and Euroleague), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), and the restricted area by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), is a marked area on a basketball court surrounding the basket, where much of the game's action takes place.

It resembles a locksmith's key and consists of what is colloquially known as the circle and the post, also known as the lane or the paint, overlapping at the bottom half of the circle. It can be considered a lane showing the path to the basket, and is usually painted in a distinctive color. The post is bounded by the baseline, the free-throw line, and two lane lines connecting free throw line and baseline. (Full article...)

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Image 1Daniel Clark and Luka Žorić competing in 2013
Image 2Navy Midshipmen George O’Garro rounds Army Cadet Steve Stoll in an attempt to score during the Army Navy basketball game in Alumni Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, January 31, 2004
Image 3Image from the first pool tour of the Euroleague wheelchair basketball competition, 9 March 2012
Image 4Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, stands ready to shoot a free throw during a pre-season game against the Golden State Warriors in October 2005
Image 5Michael Jordan playing in 1992

Image 5Michael Jordan playing in 1992
Image 6A three-point field goal by Sara Giauro during the FIBA Europe Cup Women Finals, 2005 in Naples, Italy
Image 7Basketball court at the corner of Manchester Street and Lichfield Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Image 8Streetball in Paris, France near the Eiffel Tower, 2005
Image 9A Kenyan college basketball team practicing, 2016
Image 10The Laker Girls, an all-female National Basketball Association Cheerleading squad that supports the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team in home matches, performing in 2007
Image 11Carl English and Zoran Dragić competing in February 2013
Image 12A Mikasa basketball
Image 13Brice Johnson cuts down the nets after winning the 2016 ACC tournament with North Carolina

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Tatum on a Coca-Cola advertisement, 1954

Reece "Goose" Tatum (May 31, 1921^[a] – January 18, 1967) was an American Negro league baseball and basketball player. In 1942, he was signed to the Harlem Globetrotters and had an 11-year career with the team. He later formed his own team known as the Harlem Magicians with former Globetrotters player Marques Haynes. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. Tatum's number 50 is retired by the Globetrotters. (Full article...)

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... that Matt Mobley set an Atlantic 10 basketball tournament record with nine 3-pointers in a victory over Richmond?
... that President Barack Obama celebrated his 50th birthday by playing basketball with Shane Battier, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Maya Moore, Alonzo Mourning, Joakim Noah, Chris Paul, and Derrick Rose?
... that the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship took place at the Edel-optics.de Arena in Hamburg?
... that the Indiana Hoosiers' victory in the 1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game completed the last undefeated season in NCAA Division I men's college basketball?
... that basketball player Bol Bol received his first NCAA Division I offer at the age of 15?

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The following are images from various basketball-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A diagram of the relative positions of basketball officials in "three-person" mechanics. The lead official (L) is normally along the baseline of the court. The trail official (T) takes up a position approximately level with the top of the three-point line. The center official (C) stands across the court near the free-throw line. (from Official (basketball))
Image 2The first basketball court: Springfield College (from History of basketball)
Image 3Map of NAIA Division II basketball teams. (from College basketball)
Image 4NBA officials Monty McCutchen (center), Tom Washington (#49) and Brent Barnaky reviewing a play. (from Official (basketball))
Image 5A map of all NAIA Division I basketball teams. (from College basketball)
Image 6Israeli basketball player Yam Madar making a blind pass. (from Basketball moves)
Image 7A Spalding basketball from 1922 (from History of basketball)
Image 8Basketball match in Alginet, Land of Valencia, 1956. (from Women's basketball)
Image 9Arctic Sisterhood women's basketball team in Nome Alaska circa 1908 (from Women's basketball)
Image 10The home court of the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. (from Basketball court)
Image 11An illustration of a basketball game that accompanied Naismith's article from The Triangle in 1892 listing his 13 rules. (from History of basketball)
Image 12Most important terms related to the basketball court (from Basketball court)
Image 13Typewritten first draft of the rules of basketball by Naismith (from Rules of basketball)
Image 14Most important terms related to the basketball court (from Rules of basketball)
Image 15Kawhi Leonard at the free throw line during Game 2 of the 2019 NBA Finals. (from Basketball court)
Image 16A map of all NCAA Division I basketball teams (from College basketball)
Image 17Initial jump at the match for the 3rd place in the FIBA Under-18 Women's Americas Championship Buenos Aires 2022 between Argentina and Brazil. (from Women's basketball)
Image 18James Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. (from History of basketball)
Image 19Smith College's class of 1902 women's basketball team. (from Women's basketball)
Image 20University of California-Berkeley women's basketball team, photographed in 1899 (from Women's basketball)
Image 21Freshman Women's Basketball Team - 1914 (from Women's basketball)
Image 22Australia women's national basketball team on winning the 2006 FIBA World Championship (from Women's basketball)
Image 23A map of all NCAA Division II basketball teams (from College basketball)