60 free Basketball Rules trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
57 free Basketball rules trivia questions with answers. Basketball rules trivia for referees, coaches, league nights and anyone who has argued about a call. This quiz covers the rulebook from top to bottom: how the 24-second shot clock was calculated, why goaltending was outlawed, how many fouls send you to the bench, where the three-point line sits in the NBA, FIBA and college, and what happens when a player kicks the ball or shatters a backboard. It also digs into the differences between the NBA, FIBA and NCAA rulebooks: quarter lengths, timeouts, the possession arrow, the bonus and the one-and-one. And it goes back to the beginning, with the peach baskets, the soccer ball and the original rule that banned running with the ball. Questions run from easy to expert, each labelled by difficulty. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and the official rulebooks it cites.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many players from each team are allowed on the court at one time?
Five
Substitutions are unlimited, but they can only be made while play is stopped.
Q 02How high above the floor is the rim of a regulation basket?
10 feet
The height has never changed since James Naismith hung peach baskets from a gym balcony railing in 1891.
Q 03How many seconds does an NBA team have to attempt a shot after gaining possession?
24
The clock was introduced in 1954 to stop stalling; the number came from dividing a 48-minute game by the roughly 120 shots taken in a typical game.
Q 04Which team owner is credited with inventing the 24-second shot clock?
Danny Biasone
The Syracuse Nationals owner said he took 2,880 seconds and divided by 120 shots to get his number.
Q 05Under NBA and FIBA rules, to what does the shot clock reset after an offensive rebound?
14
FIBA made the change in 2014 and the NBA followed in 2018, so a putback chance no longer hands the offense a full new possession.
Q 06How long did the shot clock become in NCAA men's basketball in 2015-16?
30
College started with 45 seconds in 1985-86, cut it to 35 in 1993-94, and to 30 in 2015-16.
Q 07How long is each quarter in an NBA game?
12
FIBA quarters run 10 minutes, and college men play two 20-minute halves instead of quarters.
Q 08How long is an overtime period in basketball?
5
Overtime is the same length at every major level, and games keep adding periods until someone leads at the buzzer.
Q 09How many personals disqualify a player from an NBA game?
Six
FIBA and college players foul out on their fifth, because their 40-minute games are shorter than the NBA's 48.
Q 10How many personals disqualify a player under FIBA and NCAA rules?
Five
The lower limit reflects the 40-minute game those rulebooks use.
Q 11How far is the NBA three-point arc from the center of the basket at its farthest point?
23 feet 9 inches
The arc flattens to a minimum of 22 feet in the corners, which is why corner threes are prized.
Q 12Which short-lived competition, founded in 1961, was the first to institute the three-point shot?
The ABL
The short-lived ABL beat the ABA by six years; the NBA did not adopt the line until a one-year trial in 1979-80.
Q 13In which season did the NBA adopt the three-point line?
1979-80
It began as a one-year trial; the ABA had used the shot since its first season in 1967-68.
Q 21How many free throws does a player get when fouled while missing a shot from beyond the arc?
Three
If the shot goes in despite the foul, the basket counts and the shooter gets one bonus attempt instead: the classic and-one.
Q 22How far is the free-throw line from the backboard?
15 feet
Both feet must stay completely behind the line until the ball leaves the shooter's hands.
Q 23Under FIBA rules, how many seconds does a free-throw shooter have to release the ball?
5
US rules are more relaxed, allowing ten seconds at the line.
Q 24What is the radius of the restricted-area arc under the basket, where no charge can be drawn?
Q 14For three seasons starting in 1994-95, the NBA shortened its three-point line to what uniform distance?
22 feet
The idea was to boost scoring; the league moved the arc back to its original distance in 1997-98.
Q 15How far is the FIBA three-point arc from the center of the basket?
6.75 m
That works out to 22 feet 1.75 inches; the WNBA adopted the same distance in 2013.
Q 16Under NBA and FIBA rules, how many steps may a player take without dribbling before it is traveling?
Two
Moving or changing the pivot foot also counts as traveling, and the penalty is a turnover.
Q 17What is the penalty for goaltending a field-goal attempt?
The shot counts as made
The rule was adopted by the NCAA in 1944 specifically to stop 6-foot-10 George Mikan swatting shots off the rim.
Q 18Which dominant center prompted the NCAA to outlaw goaltending in 1944?
George Mikan
Under FIBA rules a defender may still legally touch a ball above the rim as long as it is on its upward flight.
Q 19How many technical fouls get a player or coach ejected from an NBA game?
Two
A technical is any rules infraction penalized as a foul that involves no physical contact, most often unsportsmanlike conduct.
Q 20How many free throws does a technical foul award the opposing team in the NBA and FIBA?
One
Play then resumes from the point of interruption rather than with a throw-in.
4 feet
The semicircle is measured from directly below the center of the basket.
Q 25What are the dimensions of an NBA court?
94 by 50 feet
FIBA courts are slightly smaller at 28 by 15 meters, roughly 92 by 49 feet.
Q 26What is the diameter of a regulation basketball rim?
18 inches
The backboard behind it measures 6 by 3.5 feet.
Q 27What is the circumference of the official men's basketball?
29.5 inches
The women's ball is an inch smaller at 28.5 inches around.
Q 28Which company has supplied the NBA's official game ball since 2021, as it did from 1946 to 1983?
Wilson
Spalding held the contract for the 38 years in between.
Q 29Under NBA and FIBA rules, how many seconds does a team have to advance the ball past half court?
8
Both used ten seconds until FIBA cut it to eight in 2000 and the NBA in 2001; college men still get ten.
Q 30By how many decades did basketball's 1933 backcourt time limit predate the shot clock?
More than two
The shot clock did not arrive until 1954.