How to Play Basketball: Explore the Basics of Basketball

Whether you're playing basketball on a high school team or in the NBA, the game’s main rules are still the same:

1. 1. Score a basket: Basketball has one primary objective: shoot the ball through the hoop to score a field goal. Players on the offensive team score points by throwing a basketball into the opposing team's basketball hoop. The defensive team tries to prevent the offense from scoring by stealing the ball, blocking shots, deflecting passes, and collecting rebounds from missed shots. After a team scores a basket, the opposing team receives possession of the ball.
2. 2. Five players per team: Basketball teams typically have 12 or more players on a single roster. In general, five players can play on the court at a time, while the other players sit on the bench awaiting their chance to be substituted into the game in place of any player on the court. Players can play one of five main positions in basketball: center, power forward, small forward, point guard, and shooting guard. Learn more about the different positions in basketball.
3. 3. The court features different components: Basketball is played on a rectangular court with a 10-foot tall basketball hoop on both ends. Markings on a basketball court include a half-court line separating each side, a small circle in the center of the court where the game begins with a tip-off, a three-point arc on each side of the court, a free throw lane on each side of the court, and a free throw line (also called the foul line) at the top of the free-throw lane. The out-of-bounds lines along the court’s length are called sidelines, and the out-of-bounds lines along the shorter ends of the court are called baselines.
4. 4. Every game starts with a tip-off: Every game begins with an opening tip-off (or jump ball) at center court. The tip-off is when the referee tosses the ball in the air between two opposing players, and the player who tips the ball to their teammates gains the first possession of the game.
5. 5. Dribbling: Players move the ball around the court either by dribbling or passing. A legal dribble consists of continuously tapping the ball to the floor and back using only one hand at a time. The most common passes in basketball are the chest pass (a pass using two hands at chest level that travels directly into a teammate’s hands) and the bounce pass (a pass made by bouncing the ball once on the floor before a teammate catches it).
6. 6. Possession: Once a player simultaneously touches the basketball with two hands (excluding when they initially gain control of the ball), the player can no longer dribble or move with the ball. The player's only remaining options are to pass or shoot the ball.
7. 7. The shot clock dictates the offense: A shot clock displays a countdown dictating the amount of time remaining before the offense must attempt a shot (also called a field goal). The shot clock resets when a player either scores a basket or shoots a shot that touches the hoop’s rim. The shot clock counts down from 24 seconds in both the NBA and WNBA, 30 seconds in women's college basketball, and 35 seconds in men's college basketball. Outside the United States, international rules mandate a 24-second shot clock.
8. 8. Games vary in length: In the National Basketball Association, each game is 48 minutes long, split between four 12-minute periods. There's a short rest break after the first and third periods and a longer rest break at half-time. If the score is tied at the end of regulation time, there will be an extra five-minute period to break the tie. (If the score remains tied, teams will play as many extra periods as necessary until there's a winner). Each team has a limited number of timeouts they can use to stop the clock throughout the game.

From high school to the NBA, basketball players of all levels have three primary ways to score points:

1. 1. Field goals: In basketball, a field goal refers to any basket a player scores during regular gameplay, from inside the arc that designates the three-point line on the court. A standard field goal refers to any regulation shot a player attempts from inside the three-point line. Field goals can take the form of jump shots, layups, slam dunks, and tip-ins. While these shots vary in difficulty, the number of points per shot remains the same: they are always worth two points.
2. 2. Three-point field goals: Three-point field goals are better known as 3-pointers. To score three points on a field goal, a player must shoot from behind the arc on the court known as the three-point line without touching the line with their foot. The referees can trigger an instant review of a three-point play if they cannot determine whether a player’s foot was on the line during the act of shooting. Officials may also use instant review to determine if a player should receive two or three free throws for a shooting foul.
3. 3. Free throws: A referee awards a free throw, or foul shot, to a player after they are fouled in the act of shooting by a defender on the opposing team. A free throw is an unguarded shot taken from the free throw line. Each free throw is worth one point. Any personal foul that a player incurs during the act of shooting results in either two or three free throws, depending on whether the player was attempting a two-point field goal or a three-point field goal when the foul occurred.

There are three categories of fouls, each with its own specific penalty.

1. 1. Personal foul: A personal foul is called when the referee witnesses any type of illegal physical contact (holding, pushing, slapping, etc.). If a defensive player fouls an offensive player when they aren't shooting, that player's team is awarded an inbound play at the closest sideline or baseline. If an offensive player is fouled when shooting a two or three-point field goal, the fouled player is awarded two or three free throws, respectively (though if the fouled player's shot goes in, the player instead only receives one free throw). When a defensive player is fouled, it typically results in a change of possession.
2. 2. Flagrant foul: Flagrant fouls are called for particularly violent illegal physical contact. The penalty for a flagrant foul is free throws for the fouled player's team, plus their team keeps possession of the ball after the free throws.
3. 3. Technical foul: A technical foul is called for procedural violations or unsportsmanlike behavior that doesn't involve physical contact, for example, obscene language, obscene gestures, or excessive arguing with the referee. Players on the court, players on the bench, and coaches can all commit a technical foul. As a penalty for committing a technical foul, the referee awards the opposing team with a free throw (the team may select who shoots it) and possession of the ball.

Penalties for committing any of the following violations result in an automatic turnover or a technical foul:

1. 1. Traveling: Also known as walking, traveling is when an offensive player with possession of the ball takes more than two steps after picking up their dribble or if a player moves their pivot foot off the floor once they've stopped dribbling.
2. 2. Carrying: Carrying refers to when a player dribbles the ball with their hand too far to the side or underneath the ball.
3. 3. Double dribble: A double dribble is when a player dribbles, stops dribbling, and then resumes dribbling or when a player dribbles with both hands touching the ball at the same time.
4. 4. Goaltending: Referees will call a goaltending violation when a defensive player interferes with a shot by making contact with the basketball during its downward trajectory to the basket or while the ball is above, on, or inside the rim of the basket.
5. 5. Ten-second violation: Once the offensive team puts the ball in play on their own half of the court, they must advance the ball over the half-court line within 10 seconds, or they will receive this violation.
6. 6. Backcourt violation: Once the offense crosses the half-court line, they can no longer move the ball back over the line again during the same possession.
7. 7. Shot clock violation: When an offensive player fails to attempt a shot before the shot clock expires, the referees will call a shot clock violation.
8. 8. Held ball violation: Once the referee blows their whistle during an inbounds pass, the inbounder must pass the ball in play within five seconds.
9. 9. Three-second rule violation: An offensive player cannot stay in the free throw lane for more than three seconds when their team possesses the ball in the frontcourt. A defensive player cannot remain in the free throw lane for more than three seconds if they aren't actively guarding another player.

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