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Basketball
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About
Basketball is an internationally popular team sport where two teams with five players each compete to score the most points by throwing a spherical ball through the other team's basket. At the turn of the century, basketball is the world's second most popular sport after football/soccer, played in over 200 countries.[2]
Gameplay
The rectangular court consists of two baskets mounted to a backboard (at a height taller than the players) at the endlines on both sides.[1] The basic objective of the game is to shoot a ball through a netted hoop located at the endline of the opponent's courtside, with varying points for field goals depending on whether it was thrown from behind or in front of the three-point line demarcated on the court. The team with more points by the end of the game wins; if the score is tied, an additional overtime is issued. The sport can be played indoors or outside.
![Composite diagram of a basketball court Baseline (max. 50n, 42) Free throw lane 6 Midcourt line (high school, college, and WNBA) Free throw lane (NBA) Free throw line Center court Basket (18" in diameter) Max. 50- Min, 42 2 Center Backboard (72" wide, 42"tall) 6 Center 3-point line (19'9" high school, college and WNBA; 23'9" NBA) 15. Sideline Max. 94 Min, 74](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/976/502/85c.jpg)
History
In the United States, the professional league for the sport is called the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the sport is played internationally and at the Olympic games. There is also a popular college league, administered by the National College Athletics Association, or NCAA. This sport is often referred to as "College Basketball" in queries. In addition to the two American male leagues, other popular leagues include the Euroleague, for European basketball, the WNBA, for female American basketball, and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
Usenet Era
Within the Usenet era online, basketball was a popular topic of discussion, with different newsgroups oriented around different leagues and NCAA-affiliated school teams. Many of these groups are still active. Newsgroups were categorized under both alt.sport and alt.sports, and some of the most popular include alt.sports.basketball.nba.chicago-bulls with over 240,000 messages as of 2015 and alt.sports.basketball.nba.la-lakers, with over 125,000 messages in the same timeline.
Online Presence
Both the NBA and NCAA maintain large online presences. The official website for NBA was registered under the domain NBA.com in November 1994, followed by the launch of the official website for NCAA in December 1997.
![NBA.com, October 22, 1996 STARWAVE ESPNET SPORTSZONE NBA.COM. NASCAR ONLINE. OUTSIDE ONLINE MR. SHOWBIZ FAMILY PLANET Mostly text front page l What's inside NBA.com? Make NBA.com your startup page! IE-mail "NBA Inside Stuff"! The Official Site of the National Basketbal NBA COM HEDUL RESULT PTAYER TEAM Wild, Wild East The Knicks, Magic, and Bullets all figure to contend in the Atlantic. Here are &A's with audio from all seven Division coaches. NER1996-easro prelew.leanmı previews NBA preseason schedule Review all of the offseason player moves Knicks Coach Jeff WNBA Live Chat! The WNBA will announce its first two signees on Wednesday -- those women will join us that day at 4:30 p.m. ET for a live chat! DAbIUNECVan Gundy includes LJ as one of his three "go-to" guys. 263k way I RA) i love this game](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/976/875/773.png)
![NBA.com, July 10th, 2000 ESPN.COM I ABCSPOR MI NBA.COMI WNBA.COM I NHL.COM I NASCAR ONLINE OFTHE N ATIONAL B A8KETB News Features Stats&Schedules Teams Players .Sights&Sounds .chats&Mailboxes -Global Basketball -US/GlobalTV -History -NBA Store -Tickets CANADA I ESPAĂOLI JAPAN TUK TV TUNE INI WEDNESDAY 7/12 . Monarchs at Comets July 10, 2000 | Daily Glan 0 News From the East 8:30 p.m. ESF FRIDAY 7/14 Comets at Sparks Catch up on free agent negotiations with Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan, and find out the latest news in NBA.com's Eastern LVE SCUREBUl Liferime 9 p.m. TANDINGS SATURDAY 7/15 NBA00MTH Sting at Mystics Conference team-by-team reports. 4 p.m MONDAY 7/17 ·WNBA All-Star Game 8 p.m. ESri NBA Coaches Pass on UNC Tar Heel alumns George Karl of the Bucks and Larry Brown of the 76ers announced Monday that they will not be pursuing the North Carolina coaching vacancy. News from the Wires highlights from around the NBA! Ambassadors Strike First Mike Jones scored 22 points Monday as the NBA Ambassadors beat China 95-78 in the opening game of the Asian Basketball Association League championship the force of a Shaq series. The Ambassadors can clinch the title Tuesday TNT. TBS Turn It Up NTand TBS Superstation CLIPS OF THE DAY VIDEO: Commissioner David Stern announces the Nets selection of Kenyo Martin as the firstWallace's Fresh Start Il dellver In 2000-01 with slam. Each week, the S TO RE broadcast NBA games o three consecutive nights: Tuesday, Wednesday and KER erall pick in Dft Although his acquisition was overshadowed by Dallas' 8.84 l ISDN 2000 many moves and selections on Draft night, John Wallace Widner/NBAE Photos) plans on being a bigger presence with the Mavs than he was with the Knicks Lak AUDIO: Clippers' merchandlse In the NBA](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/976/874/6f8.png)
BleacherReport, another popular central sports blog, is number 95 in the United States according to web rankings, and users often leave upwards of 500 comments on individual posts.[4] Other popular blogs for basketball news and commenter communities include ESPN's TrueHoops, NBC Sports ProBasketBallTalk, Gawker's Deadspin affiliate, and the NBA section of SBNation.
NBA
As of June 2015, the official NBA website, nba.com, was ranked the 187th top site in the United States by Alexa web rankings.[3] The NBA Youtube channel has more than 6.28 million subscribers[5]. The official Twitter account has 15.1 million followers,[6] and their official Facebook page has over 26 million likes.[7] In addition, NBA on ESPN, the NBA-centric cable television channel, maintains its own online presence, including a Twitter account with another 1.52million followers.[11] The official NBA subreddit, /r/nba, was created on November 4th, 2008 and currently has 288,178 readers.[13]
NCAA
The NCAA, distributed through universities, does not maintain such a centralized presence, but the sport is popularly discussed on ESPN and other sports television networks. Despite it's decentralization, in the United States, college-level basketball, in aggregate, is actually more popular than the professional level, as reflected in the search results below. The finals of the NCAA college tournament, referred to as March Madness, and it is one of the largest sporting events in the world, and has its own media presence. On Facebook, the official March Madness page has over 873,000 likes.[8] The March Madness Twitter account has over 408,000 followers and its YouTube page has 13,000 followers.[9][10] The subreddit /r/collegebasketball has more than 57,000 readers. [14]
Fandom
Many fan communities are organized specific players from the 1990s, early 2000s, and today. These players include but are not limited to: Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Jeremy Lin.
On April 14th, 2008, the subreddit /r/basketball was created. It has 9,300 readers, and five partner subreddits, including /r/baskeballdunks, /r/wnba, /r/eurobasketball, /r/basketballtips and /r/anklebreakers.[12]
Fantasy Basketball
There are two central hubs for Fantasy Basketball for professional basketball, ESPN Fantasy and Yahoo Sports. No specific usage statistics exist for the uses of these forums, but fantasy basketball is the third most popular fantasy sport, after football and baseball.[15]
Space Jam
Space Jam is a 1996 childrenâs live-action / animated comedy film starring the legendary NBA athlete Michael Jordan and the characters from the classic cartoon series Looney Tunes. The movie's theme song has become the subject of mashup songs known as Slam Remixes which are often accompanied with a headshot of former professional basketball player Charles Barkley superimposed over the head of a certain character related to the song.
![Space Jam Website PLANET B-BALL AM CENTRAL. LONAR TUNES :s PRESS BOX SHUTTLE THE LINEUP*. UMP STATION ...WARNER STUDIO STORE STELLAR SOUVENIRS.+ EIND THE JAM TE MAP](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/702/143/ed6.jpg)
Video Games
The NBA licenses its logos and player likenesses to two separate video game series, the NBA 2K series (2K Sports), which began in 1999, and the NBA Live series (EA Sports), which began officially in 1995. The games are known for competing to have the most advanced and engaging game play.
NBA 2K15 Facescan FAIL
NBA 2K15 Facescan FAIL refers to poorly-scanned 3D models of players faces using images captured with the PlayStation Eye or Xbox Kinect in the basketball video game NBA 2K15.
![bea.jpg](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/843/750/bea.jpg)
Controversies
Donald Sterling Racism Controversy
The Donald Sterling Racism Controversy refers to an ongoing controversy surrounding Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling after a tape was leaked in which he makes racists remarks against African American athletes in the National Basketball Association.
![1dd.jpg DONALD STERLING'S RACIST LEVEL @NBAMEMES ITSoVER. 9000!!!](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/746/429/1dd.jpg)
Related Memes
Kobe Bryant Related Memes
Kobe Bryant "White Hot" Cover Photo
Kobe Bryant "White Hot" Cover Photo refers to a photoshop meme based on a magazine cover photo of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant posing in an all-white designer suit. Published in May 2010 by the LA Times Magazine, Bryantâs cover photo led to an outpouring of criticism from online sports communities and a slew of photoshopped images featuring Bryantâs âwhite hotâ look.
![2kobe-bryant-white-hood2.jpg Kobe Bryant posing wearing a white hot outfit including some kind of head covering - image was made into a photoshop meme](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/175/793/2kobe-bryant-white-hood2.jpg)
Kevin Durant Related Memes
Kevin Durant MVP Speech
Kevin Durant MVP Speech was a heartfelt speech given by professional basketball player Kevin Durant while accepting his Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in May 2014.
![3cc.png To the person who actully pays for Netflix while everyone uses their account KT YOU THEREAL MVP @angelxcv](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/764/595/3cc.png)
Kevin Durant Can't Watch
Kevin Durant Canât Watch is a photoshop meme based on a picture of American professional basketball player Kevin Durant sitting on the court and facing the opposite direction as his Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Russel Westbrook threw three foul shots during the final seconds of their NBA Playoff game against the Los Angeles Clippers in May 2014.
![a71.png](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/757/018/a71.png)
Lebron James-related Memes
Lelbron
Lelbron is a photoshop meme featuring a picture of James wearing pair of black-rimmed glasses and a smile that involves superimposing a cutout of LeBronâs face into other base images of various contexts.
![a51.jpg](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/371/598/a51.jpg)
LeBroning
LeBroning is a photo fad in which the participant stages an exaggerated dive after intentionally bumping into an unsuspecting passerby and shares the recorded footage on Vine. The fad was named after James, who has earned a reputation for frequently resorting to "flop," or the act of intentional falling upon slightest contact with an opposing player in order to draw a personal foul call.
![286.jpg](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/770/175/286.jpg)
Lance Stephenson Blowing in LeBron James' Ear
Lance Stephenson Blowing in LeBron Jamesâ Ear is a photoshop meme based on a close-up footage of the Indiana Pacers shooting guard trying to taunt the Miami Heat forward by breathing into his ear during the fifth game of the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
![055.gif @SB NATION](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/765/348/055.gif)
"LeBron Travelled"
"LeBron Traveled" is an expression often used in YouTube comments among basketball enthusiasts to mock James for performing the basketball violation known as "traveling."
The LeBron James Kid
The âLebron Jamesâ Kid is the nickname given to a young boy who repeatedly says the name of the famous American professional basketball player in a montage clip uploaded to Vine in June 2014. Similar to other mashup memes on the video-sharing platform, the soundbite of the boy saying âLebron Jamesâ has been paired with various footage from TV shows, music videos and films, mainly for comedic effect.
#Linsanity / Jeremy Lin
#Linsanity is a Twitter hashtag used to describe excitement surrounding New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin following his breakout performance in mid-February 2012.
![236.png](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/251/316/236.png)
LINNING!
Linning is a secret handshake originally done by basketball players Jeremy Lin and Landry Fields. Still images usually consist of the final pose of the meme, making ânerd glassesâ toward a friend or the camera.
Shaquille O'Neal-Related Memes
Shaq Fu
Shaq Fu is a video game developed for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo, released on October 28, 1994. It is a 2D fighting game, featuring O'Neal as the protaganist. The game has gain infamy for it's absurd setting and poor gameplay. A sequel is currrently under development, titled Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn.
Shaquille O'Neal's Epic Fall
Shaquille O'Neal's Epic Fall is a photoshop meme, derived from a still image of O'Neal tripping over a wire during the TNT sport television program Halftime Report.
![Shaq. You wanna build a snowman](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/960/591/79a.jpg)
![Shaq relax](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/960/581/c1b.png)
Other Related Memes
Yao Ming Face
Yao Ming Face (sometimes referred to as âFuck That Guyâ or âDumb Bitchâ) is a rage comic-style contour drawing of the professional basketball player Yao Ming wearing a hearty smile. The image is typically used as a reaction face to convey a dismissive attitude towards someone elseâs input in online discussions, then usually following something that one ups their input.
![89e.gif](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/252/262/89e.gif)
Jim Boeheim's Jacket Removal
Jim Boeheimâs Jacket Removal is a photoshop meme featuring a cut out image of Syracuse University basketball coach Jim Boeheim angrily removing his jacket in protesting a charging foul call made by a referee during a regular season match against Duke University in February 2014.
Jack Blankenship's Face
Jack Blankenshipâs Face, also simply referred to as The Face, is an oversized cutout of University of Alabama student Jackson Blankenshipâs contorted face which he uses during college basketball games as a distraction to the opposing team.
![d93.jpg he Birmingham](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/252/216/d93.jpg)
Villanova Crying Piccolo Player
Villanova Crying Piccolo Player, also known as the Villanova Crying Flute Player and March Sadness, is a photoshop fad based on a video clip of a college marching band mate playing the flute in tears that was displayed on Jumbotron during a NCAA menâs basketball tournament match between Villanova University and North Carolina State University in late March 2015.
![Villanova Crying Piccolo Player @cis Î true EAST REGION NCA NC STATE 71éșARCH MADNESS 68 PITTSBURGH, PA VILLANOVA FINAL](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/936/224/d52.jpg)
Riley Curry's Press Conferences
Riley Curry is the daughter of Stephen Curry, an American professional basketball player and point guard for Oaklandâs Golden State Warriors. Riley gained significant online fame in June 2015, particularly among the NBA fan communities and Black Twitter, due to her comical interruptions in the middle of official NBA press conferences.
Search Interest
External References
[1] Wikipedia â Basketball
[2] BBC â The Canadian who invented basketball
[3] Alexa â Ranking: nba.com
[4] Alexa â Ranking: bleacherreport.com
[8] Facebook â NCAA March Madness
[9] Twitter â @MarchMadness
[10] YouTube â March Madness's Profile
[11] Twitter â NBA on ESPN
[12] Reddit â /r/basketball
[14] Reddit â /r/collegebasketball
[15] Wikipedia â Fantasy Sport
Top Comments
Mimikyu
Jun 11, 2015 at 06:10PM EDT
Bane
Jun 09, 2015 at 03:05PM EDT