What is Basketball?
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}} {{nosources|date=December 2014}} [[File:Basketball.jpeg|thumb|180px|A basketball.]] [[Image:Giannis Antetokoummpo (31669424142).jpg|thumb|Giannis Antetokoummpo throws a basketball]]{{Sports}} '''Basketball''' is a team sport where two teams, usually consisting of five players, play against each other on a rectangular [[Basketball court|court]]. The objective is to get the ball through a hoop mounted high on a backboard on the opponent's side of the court, while preventing the opponent from shooting it into your team's hoop. It is a very popular [[sport]] worldwide, played with a round and usually orange (orange-brown) ball that bounces. Basketball players mainly use skills such as dribbling, shooting, running, and jumping. Each made basket is worth two points, while a basket made from beyond the three-point line is worth three points. If a player gets into too much physical contact, they may be given free throws which are worth one point each. The game typically lasts for four-quarters and the team with the most points at the end of the four-quarters win the game. If the score is tied at the end of the game, there will be additional play time, called overtime, to allow one team to win the match. The game is played between men's teams or between women's teams. Basketball has been played in the Summer Olympic Games since 1936. The shot clock rule started in 1954 for professional basketball. The first basketball game took place in 1892, where the court was half the size of what it is today. In 1891 the game was invented by [[James Naismith]]. ==The history of basketball== In early December 1891, [[James Naismith]] (1861–1939), a Canadian physical education teacher at Springfield College in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]], invented an indoor game called basketball. He invented the sport to keep his students from becoming bored during the winter. Naismith wrote the basic rules and then nailed a peach basket onto a 20-foot tall pole. Unlike modern basketball hoops, the bottom of the pe