Q 01/05

What starts a basketball game?

A) A coin toss

B) A free throw

C) A jump ball

D) A throw-in

Answer · why

C) A jump ball

A jump ball starts the game, and in the NBA the team that loses that opening tip gets the ball to begin the second and third quarters.

Q 02/05

How many points is a normal shot from inside the arc worth?

A) One

B) Two

C) Four

D) Three

Answer · why

B) Two

A shot from inside the arc is worth two points; only shots from behind the three-point line are worth three.

Q 03/05

What follows an NBA player's sixth personal foul?

A) Disqualification

B) A suspension

C) Lost points

D) A benched quarter

Answer · why

A) Disqualification

Disqualification follows, but an NBA team can't drop below five players, so with no eligible sub left the player stays in and the team is charged a te...

Q 04/05

Who invented basketball?

A) Abner Doubleday

B) James Naismith

C) William Morgan

D) Walter Camp

Answer · why

B) James Naismith

James Naismith was asked to invent an indoor game to keep students active through the winter, and in December 1891 he wrote 13 rules for it.

Q 05/05

What did the very first basketball hoops actually look like?

A) Laundry baskets

B) Peach baskets

C) Wooden boxes

D) Fishing nets

Answer · why

B) Peach baskets

The inventor nailed two peach baskets to the gym balcony; they kept their bottoms at first, so someone had to fish the ball out after every score.