Basketball is a team sport played on a rectangular court with the aim of scoring points by shooting a ball through a hoop. Originating in December 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, the game has evolved to become one of the most popular sports worldwide, featuring various scoring methods including two-point and three-point shots. The sport also inspired fantasy basketball, which gained popularity in the 1990s with the rise of the internet.

2. BASKETBALL is a sport played by two
teams of five players on a rectangular
court. The objective is
to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches
(46 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 m)
high mounted to a backboard at each end.
Basketball is one of the world's most
popular and widely viewed sports.

4. In early December 1891,
Canadian Dr. James Naismith
a physical education professor
and instructor at the IYMs or
International Young Men's
Christian Association Training School(YMCA)
(today, Springfield College) in Springfield,
Massachusetts, USA), was trying to keep his gym

7. An attempt to score in this way
is called a shot. A successful shot is
worth two points, or three points if it is
taken from beyond the three-point arc
which is 6.75 meters (22 ft 2 in) from the
basket in international games and 23 feet
9 inches (7.24 m) in NBA games. A one-point shot
can be earned when shooting from the foul line
after a foul is made.

9. The only essential equipment in a basketball game
is the ball and the court: a flat, rectangular surface
with baskets at opposite ends. Competitive levels
require the use of more equipment such as clocks,
score sheets, scoreboards, alternating
possession arrows, and whistle-
operated stop-clock systems.

12. Fantasy basketball was inspired
by fantasy baseball. Originally
played by keeping track of
stats by hand, it was
popularized during the
1990s after the advent
of the Internet. Those
who play this game are
sometimes referred to
as General Managers,
who draft actual NBA players