ORIGINS

Although typically thought of as an American sport, the game was actually invented by a Canadian, Dr James Naismith, a YMCA PE teacher in Massachusetts who needed an indoor sport to occupy his students during the long New England winters. He used peach baskets for goals, nailed to an elevated track an arbitrary ten feet high, used a soccer ball and named his sport “Basket Ball.”

The first official game took place at the YMCA in January 1892 and the sport quickly spread through the American collegiate system, Naismith himself introducing the game when he moved to the University of Kansas, an American college power to this day.

RULES

Second only to football in its global popularity, basketball features teams of five active players who attempt to throw a ball through a 10-foot high basket. Games last 48 minutes (40 in college and international basketball) divided into four quarters.

The ball can be advanced by bouncing the ball (“dribbling” without running with the ball) or passing although once over the halfway line, the ball is not allowed back into a team’s half. Teams have a 24-second “shot clock,” a time limit in which they must take a shot or hand over possession.

Two points are awarded for a standard basket, three for a shot taken beyond the three-point line and one for a free-throw, awarded for an infringement, generally a foul on an opponent who is in the act of shooting.

Although often described as a “non-contact” sport, the game is intensely physical and a great deal of contact is allowed by the referees. Fouls are generally awarded for disruptive physical contact and a player is allowed to make six (five in college and international) before “fouling out” of the game.

Unlimited substitutions not only add to the pace of the game but add a huge tactical element to the sport.

US BASKETBALL

Formed in 1946, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is today the world’s leading league in terms of finance and standard of play. Average player salary is $3.8 million, Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves was the game’s highest earner last season on $28 million for a year’s work.

The NBA consists of 30 clubs divided into two Conferences (East and West). After an 82-game regular season eight from each qualify for the play-offs with each tie decided on a best-of-seven game format. The champion from each Conference competes for the NBA Championship.

As it was in Naismith’s day, college basketball remains intensely popular and the annual NCAA college basketball tournament is one of the highlights of the American sports calendar. Dubbed “March Madness” it culminates in the Final Four weekend at the start of April.

WORLD AND EUROPEAN BASKETBALL

Structured similarly to football, FIBA run the world game and every four years stages the World Championships – the equivalent of the World Cup – won by Spain in Japan in 2006.

The European Championships, staged every two years, takes place in Spain in the summer of 2007. Greece won Eurobasket 2005 in Serbia and Montenegro.

On the club level, the Euroleague is the equivalent of the Champions League and was won by Panathinaikos in Athens in May 2007. The ULEB Cup is the equivalent of the UEFA Cup and was won in 2007 by Real Madrid.