Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which players throw a ball into a “basket” (a metal hoop with a bottomless net) positioned at a height of 10 feet above the floor (just over 3 meters). Two teams compete, usually consisting of twelve players each, with five players from each team on the court at the same time. The ball may be handled only with the hands. Running with the ball without dribbling, intentionally kicking the ball, blocking it with any part of the leg, or striking it with a fist is prohibited.
Most field goals are worth two points. Successful shots made from beyond the semicircle at 6.25 meters (7.24 meters in the NBA) are worth three points, while a free throw is worth one point. A game consists of four periods of ten minutes each (12 minutes in the NBA). The halftime break between the second and third quarters lasts fifteen minutes. After halftime, the teams switch baskets.
The winner is the team that scores more points by the end of regulation time. If the score is tied at the end of regulation, an overtime period (five minutes) is played. If the score remains tied, additional overtime periods are played until a winner is determined.
Interesting Facts
Approximately 30% of NBA players have tattoos (the average across the United States population is about 4%).Olympic Games
Basketball competitions were held as a demonstration sport by North American athletes at the 1904 Olympic Games and were included in the official Olympic program in 1936 in Berlin. Professional American NBA players were allowed to participate in the Games only starting in 1992.
The men’s Olympic basketball tournament has been held 17 times: the United States won 13 times; Soviet teams became champions twice (1972 and 1988); Yugoslavia and Argentina each won once. Women’s Olympic basketball has been contested nine times: the first two Olympic tournaments were won by the Soviet Union, the Unified Team of the CIS won in 1992, and the United States won the remaining six tournaments.
Russia
The first regular basketball activities in Russia are associated with the St. Petersburg “Mayak” Society and its instructor, the American Moraller, who arrived in Russia in 1907. In the spring of 1908, basketball—alongside football and gymnastics—was included in the program of regular sports activities held at the sports grounds on Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg. Soviet basketball players became Olympic champions twice, in 1972 and 1988.
Our Olympians
