Basketball is a non-contact sport played on a rectangular court.
While most often played as a team sport with five players on each side, three-on-three,
two-on-two, and one-on-one competitions are also common. The objective is to shoot a ball
through a hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.048 m) high that is mounted to
a backboard at each end of the court.
James Naismith, a teacher at a YMCA in Springfield,
Massachusetts, is credited with inventing basketball
in 1891.
The first “hoops” were actually just peach baskets and
the first backboards were made of wire.
The game became an official Olympic event at the Summer Games in Berlin,
Germany in 1936.
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.
