Basketball is a ball sport invented in 1891 by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts (United States). Today's basketball is played by both men and women on almost every continent, but it was originally an American men's sport.
Two teams of five players each participating in the game and a maximum of seven substitutes compete against each other. Each team tries to win the ball and throw it through an iron ring - the basket. On each of the short sides of the rectangular basketball court there is a basket with a net at a height of three meters. Indoors the surface is usually made of hardwood or plastic and outside the game is played on asphalt. International basketball matches are played according to the official rules of FIBA