Naismith's Original 13 Rules

Now, before we get into the actual rules, let me talk a bit about what is not in the rules.

It did not say how many players were supposed to be on the court.

The first game ever played had nine players on the court for each team.

That is 18 total players on the court at the same time.

The only reason he did that was because there were 18 students in his class, and he just put everybody out there together.

It would take about another year for the game to normalize at five players per side, with everyone playing offense and defense.

When he did have nine players per side, they organized themselves the way a soccer team does.

They had three backs, three midfielders, and three forwards.

In soccer, that would be described as a three-three-three formation.

Since no one had ever played the game before, and they had no other point of reference, the players just naturally organized themself based on soccer.

The backs would pass the ball up to the midfielders, who would then pass the ball up to the forwards for a shot attempt.

So let us get into the actual rules.

Some of these will take a little bit longer than others to unpack, but let's go ahead and get into it.

Now, before we get into the actual rules, let me talk a bit about what is not in the rules.

It did not say how many players were supposed to be on the court.

The first game ever played had nine players on the court for each team.

That is 18 total players on the court at the same time.

The only reason he did that was because there were 18 students in his class, and he just put everybody out there together.

It would take about another year for the game to normalize at five players per side, with everyone playing offense and defense.

When he did have nine players per side, they organized themselves the way a soccer team does.

They had three backs, three midfielders, and three forwards.

In soccer, that would be described as a three-three-three formation.

Since no one had ever played the game before, and they had no other point of reference, the players just naturally organized themself based on soccer.

The backs would pass the ball up to the midfielders, who would then pass the ball up to the forwards for a shot attempt.

So let us get into the actual rules.

Some of these will take a little bit longer than others to unpack, but let's go ahead and get into it.