Jose Sanchez
Research expert covering society, economy, & politics for Latin America
Basketball - statistics & facts
It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention. In the case of basketball, gym instructor James Naismith felt that his restless students needed an indoor winter sport to burn up some of their pent-up energy. After some thought about how to utilize the skills his students already possessed, Naismith acquired a couple of baskets as goals and decided that the ball should be passed hand-to-hand. Thus, in Massachusetts in 1891, the sport of basketball was born; little did Naismith know that his invention would become not only one of the leading high school sports programs in the United States, but take root across the globe.
How many people play basketball worldwide?
Basketball might have ranked as the most popular sporting activity in the U.S. in 2025, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) is undeniably the gold standard in terms of sporting quality, nevertheless, its growth outside of the U.S. has been palpable. In December 2024, it was estimated that there were over 600 million basketball players worldwide, with over 200 million in China alone. The 89 countries worldwide with national basketball federations supported by the F茅d茅ration Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) 鈥 basketball鈥檚 global governing body 鈥 in 2024 also exemplifies the sports global scale. The rise of competitions such as the EuroLeague has also provided a platform for talent to develop outside of the NBA. This has in turn seen some of the best players from outside of the U.S. take the NBA by storm, with every winner of the NBA鈥檚 MVP award from 2019 to 2025 being an international player.What are the biggest international competitions in basketball?
Basketball has been a mainstay at the Summer Olympics since its first inclusion as a men鈥檚 event in 1936. Team USA has typically dominated at the Games, with the men鈥檚 team having won gold on 17 occasions; only three other Olympic delegations had claimed gold as of 2024. Included in this list was Argentina, whose men鈥檚 team took home gold at Athens 2004 after beating the United States in the semi-final. The women鈥檚 team for the U.S. has been similarly dominant, winning over 75 percent of possible gold medals since women鈥檚 basketball was included as an Olympic event at Montreal 1976.What does the future hold for basketball?
Financially speaking, professional basketball is currently in a very healthy position. In the NBA, league revenue is at an all-time high, surpassing 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2023/24, and competitions such as the EuroLeague have also seen impressive growth, with attendance growing by over 30 percent between 2018/19 and 2024/25. The Women鈥檚 National Basketball Association (WNBA) has also exploded in popularity in recent years, especially since Caitlin Clark鈥檚 entrance into the league in 2024, which in turn has sparked discussions over the pay gap in the WNBA and NBA. Looking ahead, future growth for the game depends on nurturing it at a grassroots level both within and outside of North America. Promoting the continued globalization of basketball will not only raise the already-high ceiling of talent in leagues such as the NBA, but allow lesser-known leagues to thrive and challenge the hegemony of U.S. basketball.
