Coach Glen Hefferman discusses how basketball is truly an American invention that has become a major global sport. It attracts large live and television audiences from high school through the professional levels. The game has also created American sports legends like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. At its core, basketball is played on an indoor rectangular court with two elevated hoops at each end and uses an inflated spherical ball that must bounce between 49-54 inches when dropped on a wooden floor according to regulation.

1. Coach Glen Hefferman
Coach Glen Hefferman knows that basketball can make a true
claim to being the only major sport that is an American
invention.

2. • From high school to the professional level, basketball attracts a large
following for live games as well as television coverage of events

3. • And it has also made American
heroes out of its player and
coach legends like Michael
Jordan, Larry Bird, Earvin
“Magic” Johnson, Sheryl
Swoopes, and other great
players.

4. • At the heart of the game is the
playing space and the equipment.
The space is a rectangular, indoor
court. The principal pieces of
equipment are the two elevated
baskets, one at each end (in the
long direction) of the court, and
the basketball itself. The ball is
spherical in shape and is inflated.

5. • The ball must be inflated to a pressure sufficient to make it rebound to a
height of 49-54 in when it is dropped on a solid wooden floor

6. • The factory must test the balls, and the air
pressure that makes the ball legal in keeping with
the bounce test is stamped on the ball.