140 Interesting Facts about basketball

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world, played by millions of people of all ages and skill levels. Whether you're a casual fan or a die-hard enthusiast, there's no denying the excitement and thrill that comes with watching or playing a game of basketball. With 140 fascinating facts about basketball, this article will take you on a journey through the history, rules, and culture of this beloved sport.

Interesting Facts about basketball

The first backboards were made of wire.
Adidas manufactures all the NBA uniforms.
The average NBA player weighs 220 pounds.
Air Jordan 1 shoes were banned in the NBA.
A basketball team consists of five players.
Basketball is played with a ball and a hoop.
Peach baskets were used as the first “hoops”.
Karl Malone holds the record for free throws.
The shot clock was invented by Danny Biasone.
Slam dunks were illegal for almost nine years.
Kobe Bryant was only 17 when he entered the NBA.
Basketball was invented in 1891 by Jim Naismith.
Muggsy Bogues was the shortest basketball player.
Basketball was first played on December 21, 1891.
Earlier, The basketball used to be brown in color.
Women’s basketball was added to the Olympics in 1976.
The Basketball was first played on December 21, 1891.
Basketball was played by using a soccer ball until 1929.
Kobe Bryant was the youngest player to start an NBA game.
When a team shoots the ball into the basket, a goal is scored.
Salt Lake City is the smallest city that has an NBA franchise.
The average height of all NBA players is just under 67 inches.
Michael Jordan has scored more playoff points than anyone else.
Wang Zhizhi was the first Chinese player to compete in the NBA.
The average NBA player can jump about 28 inches off the ground.
One of the most superstitious basketball players was Jason Terry.
The world record for the highest basketball shot is 415 feet high.
Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan were the tallest basketball players.
The highest-scoring game in NBA history occurred on December 13, 1983.
The NBA and the BAA were two different basketball associations in 1949.
The Chicago Bulls have won all six NBA Finals in which they've appeared.
The first basketball game in Europe was arranged by Mel Rideout in Paris.
Lynette Woodward was the first female Globetrotter basketball team player.
Cal Hubbard is the only member of the football and basketball hall of fame.
The steel rim of the basket has a diameter of 18 inches and is 10 feet high.
Jeremy Lin held the record of the high points scored in their first 3 games.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Mass.
Officially approved NBA balls should have between 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 pounds of pressure.
Michael Jordan, a basketball player, is one of the most famous sportsmen on the planet.
The game became an official Olympic event at the Summer Games in Berlin, Germany in 1936.
The official rim height for NBA, WNBA, FIBA, and NCAA courts is set at 10 ft or 3.05 meters.
Current Atlanta Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens has won more basketball games than any other coach.
The first “hoops” were actually just peach baskets and the first backboards were made of wire.
As per NBA rules, a minimum of nine balls are to be provided for each team for pre-game warmups.
In International Basketball Federation rules, the court surface should be around 28 by 15 meters.
The NBA instituted the three-pointer before the 1979-80 season, an idea it borrowed from the ABA.
Harlem Globetrotters Corey ‘Thunder’ Law made a shot from 109 feet, 9 inches, setting world record.
Ringball, a traditional South African sport that stems from basketball, has been played since 1907.
The Boston Celtics have won the most NBA championships (17), including seven straight from 1960 to 1966.
NBA rules state that the cord basketball net should not be less than 30 thread and not more than 120 thread.
James Naismith, a teacher at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, is credited with inventing basketball in 1891.
The official basketball size for men’s competitive basketball is size 7, having a circumference of 29.5 in or 75 cm.
The official basketball size for women’s competitive basketball is size 6, having a circumference of 28.5 in or 72 cm.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played 20 seasons in the NBA, holds the record for most points scored in a career with 38,387.
The positions of players in a basketball game are: Point guard, Shooting guard, Small forward, Power forward and Center.
Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner (now Caitlin) was drafted in the 7th round of the 1977 NBA draft by the Kansas City Kings.
Contrary to their name, the Harlem Globetrotters were not from Harlem, New York. Their origins stem from Chicago, Illinois.
The American Basketball League (ABL) was the first organized professional basketball league to use the three-point line in 1961.
The first NBA national television contract was signed during the 1953-1954 season between the NBA and Dumont Television Network.
Coach Paul Westhead is the first coach to win championships in both the NBA (Los Angeles Lakers) and the WNBA (Phoenix Mercury).
Los Angeles Lakers guard Jerry West’s silhouette is featured in the NBA Logo. He was elected on the basketball hall of fame in 1979.
Michael Jordan, who retired in January 1999 but returned to the league in 2001, has scored more points (5,987) in the playoffs than any other player.
San Antonio Spurs Coach Greg Popovich has the record for the fastest ejection in NBA history. He was ejected 63 seconds into a game against the Denver Nuggets.
On March 2, 1962, Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in one game against New York. That is the most one player has ever scored in one game.
The record for most missed field goals in a postseason game is also held by Jumping Joe Fulks. He missed 38 field goals in a game against the St. Louis Bombers.
Back in 1940, the Harlem Globetrotters were still a highly competitive team. They won the 1940 World Professional Basketball Tournament beating the Chicago Bruins.
Basketball first became an official Olympics event during the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. The Olympic basketball games were held outdoors, in modified tennis courts.
The average distance an NBA player runs per game is around 2.5 miles. During the 2019-20 NBA season, Blazers Guard CJ McCollum covered an average of 2.75 miles per game.
The Moneyball worth two points in NBA’s three-point shooting contests is modeled after the coloured red, white, and blue ball used by the American Basketball Association.
All NBA floors are made from hard maple (Acer saccharum) from board cut 3/4ths of an inch thick. The only exception is the floor in Boston’s TD Garden, which is made of red oak.
In 1967, slam dunks were banned from the game due to safety reasons and the fact that many didn't think it was a so-called "skillful shot"; nine years later it was allowed again.
The 24-second shot clock was the brainchild of Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone and general manager Leo Ferris. The NBA first adopted the shot clock during the 1954-1955 season.
Basketball is the national sport of Lithuania. Lithuania has produced numerous great basketball players like Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Jonas Valančiūnas, and Domantas Sabonis.
The longest game in NBA history lasted 78 minutes and had 6 overtimes. It was a January 6, 1951 game between the Indianapolis Olympians and the Rochester Royals. The Olympians won 75 to 73.
Gene Conley won 3 championships with the Boston Celtics and 1 with baseball‘s Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 World Series. He is the only player to win an NBA championship and a World Series.
Two leagues called the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) merged after the 1948-49 season to become today's National Basketball Association (NBA).
Prior to 1966, the NBA had territorial draft picks. These were special picks that allowed teams to forfeit their first round picks and instead select a player within a 50-mile radius from the city.
Steals and blocks only became official (recorded) stats in the NBA starting from the 1973-1974 season. During that season, Elmore Smith recorded the most blocks in an NBA game with 17 on October 28, 1973.
Five international players have won the NBA’s MVP award. These are Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria), Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands), Steve Nash (Canada), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece).
The official FIBA court dimensions are smaller than that of the NBA. The official NBA court length is 94 ft compared to 91.86 ft for FIBA courts. Court width is 50 ft for NBA courts and 49.21 ft for FIBA courts.
The eight founding nations of FIBA (Fédération internationale de basketball amateur) are Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. FIBA was founded in Geneva on June 18, 1932.
Abe Saperstein founded the Harlem Globetrotters in 1926. He was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971. Standing at 5’3″, Saperstein is considered to be the shortest male inductee of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The first basketball hoops were like a peach with a bottom, and every time the team scored, the referee would climb a ladder to get the ball. A hoop with a bottom cut out to allow the ball to fall through was introduced in 1906.
Goaltending was only considered a violation in 1944, due to its use by Hall of Famer George Mikan against opponents. Prior to 1944, goaltending was considered legal since there were relatively few players that were able to execute it.
The first basketballs were colored brown. However, a brown ball can be difficult for both players and fans to see. To increase ball visibility, Coach Tony Hinkle of Butler University came up with an idea to develop an orange ball in 1957.
There have been two women drafted in the NBA. The first was Denise Long who was drafted in the 13th round by the San Francisco Warriors. The second was Luisa Harris, who was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz as the 137th overall draft pick.
Philadelphia Warriors forward Joseph “Jumping Joe” Fulks holds the record for the most missed field goals in a regular season game with 42 set during a game against the Providence Steam Rollers. He attempted 55 field goals, making only 13.
The first three-point shot in the National Basketball Association (NBA) was made by Boston Celtics guard Chris Ford on October 12, 1979, against the Houston Rockets. This was the same game that marked the debut of Celtics legend Larry Bird.
Women´s basketball was developed the same year as its men´s counterpart. However, some rules were modified to fit women. 1896 marked the first intercollegiate women's basketball game between Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.
The first basketball game took place in 1892, where the court was half the size of today's courts. The sport was invented by Canadian-American sports coach James Naismith. The first game was played for 30 minutes, and only one point was scored in the match.
Basketball was first played by a soccer ball until it was changed in 1929. At first, the official basketball was brown and it wasn't until in the late 1950s that an orange ball was introduced in order to make the ball more visible for players and spectators.
A study that looked at 17 years of data from the medical records of NBA players showed that lateral ankle sprain was the most common injury in the league. Also, Patellofemoral inflammation or knee pain was the most common reason players miss games in the NBA.
Since the 1936 Summer Olympics, the United States has only failed to win the gold for men’s basketball four times. The Soviet Union won the gold in 1972 and 1988, Yugoslavia in 1980 (the 1980 Olympics was boycotted by the United States), and Argentina in 2004.
Michael Jordan is considered to be one of the best basketball players in history. His record score of 32,292 points during his career made him a legend in the world of basketball. As of July 2021, the all-time scoring leader is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 38,387.
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a 10-team rival league to the NBA that began play in the 1967-68 season and folded nine years later after the 1975-76 season. Four current NBA teams – Indiana, Denver, New York, and San Antonio – originated in the ABA.
The league we now know as the NBA was originally called the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and was founded on June 6, 1946. Following a merger with rival National Basketball League on August 3, 1949, it changed its name to the National Basketball Association.
The Denver Nuggets play at a home stadium that is one mile (5280 ft) above sea level. Studies have shown that this high elevation gives not just the Nuggets but all Denver home teams across major American sports a distinct advantage when it comes to playing home games.
Women’s basketball was officially added as an Olympic medal sport during the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. The Soviet team won the first women’s basketball Olympic Gold medal with the United States placing silver. A total of 6 countries participated in the tournament.
In the very beginning of basketball, the color of most basketballs was brown, but lately, it's more common to see an orange basketball. The first company to produce a basketball for official use was Spalding, and they have produced the official NBA game ball since 1983.
Prior to the founding of FIBA, basketball was under the purview of the International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF). The federation at the time handled all ball games played by hand. The treaty that transferred oversight of basketball to FIBA was called the Protocol of Stockholm.
The game became an Olympic game in 1936, at the Berlin Olympics. 21 teams competed and the very first Olympic gold medal was awarded to the United States. There have been 16 gold medals won by the United States since then, 14 more than the Soviet Union, the second-most gold medal winner.
Sergei Belov is the first international player to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. He is considered to be among the best European players to have played basketball and was part of the Soviet team that beat the United States for the gold medal in the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics.
The NBA (National Basketball Association) was founded in 1949, after the combination of the NBL (National Basketball League) and the BAA (Basketball Associate of America). 70 years later, the NBA generates more than $7 Billion in revenue and the average team in the NBA is worth around $1.25 Billion.
Basketball was invented by International YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) Physical Education teacher James Naismith in 1891 as a way for students to keep fit and busy indoors during winter. The first hoop was made from a peach basket provided by the school janitor and nailed to a balcony ledge.
On December 13, 1983, the regular season game between the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets set multiple NBA records. The game ended after three overtimes with Detroit winning 186 to 184. The game set the NBA record for the most total points scored in a single game, and the most and second-most points scored by a team in a game.
A 2017 study showed that Eastern Conference teams in the NBA may suffer from a disadvantage by traveling for away games westward. The disruption in the circadian rhythm brought about by East to West travel, which counters the West to east rotation of the Earth, affects individual stress and fatigue levels and may impair performance of visiting teams.
At first, the game was played without backboards. But they were later added as the audience balcony used to interfere with the game by trying to punch the ball out of the basket. The backboards were originally made out of chicken wire but wooden backboards were added in 1904 due to safety reasons as spectators who still tried to interfere with the game hurt themselves on the chicken wire.
The New Jersey Nets protested the result of their November 8, 1978 game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The final 17:50 minutes of the game was replayed on March 23, 1979. A trade had already occurred between both teams prior to the game replay. Thus, three players, Eric Money, Harvey Catchings and Ralph Simpson, are officially listed as having been members of both teams for the same game.
The traditional basketball jersey consists of a sleeveless jersey and shorts. In 2013, the NBA experimented with adding sleeves to their jerseys, making them look similar to t shirts. This prompted a wave of complaints from players and fans. The experiment lasted until 2017, when Nike took over the uniform contract of the NBA and declared that they would no longer push through with using sleeved jerseys.
The San Antonio Spurs the highest franchise regular season winning percentage, winning 61.8% of their games in the regular season for the entire history of the franchise (2,189 wins — 1,352 losses). The Spurs are also tied with the Philadelphia 76ers in terms of having the longest playoff streak, both making the playoffs for 22 consecutive years. The Spurs streak is currently still active and is the longest active playoff streak of an American sports team.
Two players are tied for the NBA record for most turnovers in a regular season game. Atlanta Hawks player John Drew set the record with 14 turnovers committed during a March 1 1977 game against the New Jersey Nets. Phoenix Suns guard Jason Kidd matched the record by also committing 14 turnovers in a November 17 200 game against the New York Knicks. The record for most turnovers in a playoff game goes to Houston Rockets star James Harden who committed 13 turnovers on Game 5 of the playoffs against the Golden State Warriors.
Only four players in the NBA have registered a quadruple-double. Warriors star Nate Thurmond was the first player to register a quadruple-double when he scored 22 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, made 13 assists and blocked 12 shots in a game against the Hawks in 1974. Two Spurs players registered a quadruple-double. Alvin Robertson had 10 steals and 10 assists to go with 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 1986 game against the Suns while David Robinson scored 34 points and 10 blocks, assists, and rebounds in a 1994 game against the Pistons. Hakeem Olajuwon was almost the first person to register two quadruple doubles though he was short an assist on his second try.

From its humble beginnings in a small gymnasium in Massachusetts to its status as a global phenomenon, basketball has come a long way in its nearly 130-year history. With 140 fascinating facts about the sport, we've only scratched the surface of what makes basketball so special. Whether you're a player, fan, or simply someone who appreciates the game's unique blend of athleticism, strategy, and teamwork, there's no denying that basketball is truly one of the world's greatest sports. So the next time you step onto the court, remember the rich history and culture that surrounds this amazing game.

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