Basket (basketball)

The basket or hoop is a piece of basketball equipment, consisting of the rim and net. It hangs from the backboard. The first basket was a peach basket installed by James Naismith.[1] The bottom was eventually cut out of the basket, and the basket was eventually replaced with the metal rim and net.[2][3] Today there are breakaway rims.

A field goal is a shot that goes through the basket.

Rim

A rim, hoop, or basket ring is a piece of basketball equipment in the form of a circular metal ring that supports the net. It hangs from the backboard. A professional rim has a diameter of the 18 inches (460 mm).[4] A slam dunk requires one to jump high enough to get his hand above or over the rim.[5] Today there are breakaway rims.

FIBA's technical specifications

Specifications of FIBA:

  • The vertical distance from the basketball court floor to the center of the rim allowed to be 3,050 ± 6 millimeters.[6][note 1]
  • The vertical distance from the center of the rim to the bottom of the suspended net allowed to be from 400 millimetres (16 in) to 450 millimetres (18 in).[6]
  • The vertical distance from the center of the rim to the bottom of the backboard allowed to be from 148 millimetres (5.8 in) to 150 millimetres (5.9 in).[6]
  • The vertical distance from the basketball rim to the backboard allowed to be 151 ± 2 millimeters.[7][note 2]
  • The thickness of the basketball ring's metal allowed to be from 16 millimetres (0.63 in) to 20 millimetres (0.79 in).[7]
  • The inner diameter of the basketball hoop allowed to be from 450 millimetres (18 in) to 459 millimetres (18.1 in).[7]

NBA's technical specifications

In the NBA, the rim is a metal ring with an interior diameter of exactly 18 inches (46 cm) that has pressure-release mechanism. It is painted orange. The rim's upper edge is positioned exactly 10 feet (3.0 m) from the floor and its closest part to the backboard has a distance of 6 inches (15 cm) from it.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ ≈120.079 ± ≈0.236 inches
  2. ^ ≈5.945 ± ≈0.079 inches

References

  1. ^ "First College Basketball Game". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 3 October 2002.
  2. ^ Wonning, Paul R. (2022). A Short History of Basketball - Indiana Edition. Indiana History Series.
  3. ^ Eitel, Joseph (16 November 2018). "The Basketball Hoop: A History". SportsRec.
  4. ^ Graubart, Science of Basketball, 20.
  5. ^ Martindale Jr., Inside the Cage, 92.
  6. ^ a b c FIBA, 2024 Basketball Equipment, 6.
  7. ^ a b c FIBA, 2024 Basketball Equipment, 8.
  8. ^ NBA, 2024–25 NBA Playing Rules, 9.

Bibliography

  • FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur). 2024. Official Basketball Rules 2024: Basketball Equipment. Approved by FIBA Central Board. PDF.
  • Graubart, Norman D. 2015. The Science of Basketball. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4994-1129-4.
  • Martindale Jr., Wight. 2005. Inside the Cage: A Season at West 4th Street's Legendary Tournament. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4169-0539-4.
  • NBA (National Basketball Association). 2024. 2024–25 Official NBA Playing Rules. PDF.