Basketball

Basketball was introduced in the Olympic programme at the 1904 Games in St Louis as a demonstration event. Basketball was first contested as a medal event at the 1936 Olympics. Women’s basketball, meanwhile, made its debut at the Montreal 1976 Games.

3x3 basketball made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Who qualifies for Olympic basketball?

A total of 12 teams, each in the men’s and the women’s competition, qualify for the basketball event at the Olympic Games.

While seven teams can gain entry through the FIBA World Cup, four slots are determined through the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament. The last remaining slot is reserved for the hosts.

New Zealand Basketball Teams at the Olympics

The New Zealand Team have represented in basketball at three Olympiads. Both the Men's and Women's Teams qualified for Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The women again qualified for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

What are the rules of Basketball?

To win the game a team must score more field goals than the other team which is done when a player shoots the ball through the opposition’s basket. Teams have a limited amount of time (24 seconds) to shoot the ball during a given possession. If the time elapses, the team in possession must give up the ball and become the team in defence.

Players control the ball with their hands but may only advance the ball by passing or dribbling (bouncing the ball on the floor). If a player stops dribbling, then they can’t resume dribbling. They then must pass the ball or shoot it. A ‘travelling’ violation, resulting in a turnover, is issued if a player runs while holding the ball without dribbling. The ball and ballhandler must remain inside the court during gameplay. If a player steps out of bounds of touches the line with their foot while in possession of the ball, a turnover will be issued.

Field goals are worth a different number of points depending on where the goal is shot from. Baskets shot from inside the arc that denotes the three-point line on the rectangular court are worth two points. Baskets shot from outside the arc are worth three points.

One point can be accumulated through free throws, which are worth a point shot. Free throws are awarded to a team when the opposition team fouls.

Illegal physical contact or obstructions without the intention of winning the ball by a defender when an offensive player is aiming to shoot is regarded as a foul.

Defenders must try and regain possession and can do so by blocking or stealing the ball. However, they can’t interfere with a shot while it is on its downward trajectory into the basket. Another thing for defenders to be aware of is that they can’t stay longer than three seconds inside ‘the paint’ which is a zone directly in front of the basket. The same rule applies to an offensive player. If someone has spent three seconds in the paint, they must most out of the space before they can return.

How long is a Basketball game?

An international basketball game is typically made up of 10-minute quarters meaning a game will last 40 minutes. This is different to the NBA where quarters are 12 minutes. Another point of difference is the length and number of timeouts. For the Games, all timeouts are one-minute long and each team gets two timeouts in the first half and then three in second with just one in overtime.

If the score is tied after four quarters, an overtime period of five minutes is played. The teams continue playing overtime periods until one team wins.