Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop (a basket 18 inches in diameter mounted 10 feet high to a backboard at each end of the court, while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play is mandated.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. It is the premier men's professional basketball league in the world.
James Naismith was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, sports coach, and inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote the original basketball rule book and founded the University of Kansas basketball program. Naismith lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as well as the birth of the National Invitation Tournament (1938) and the NCAA Tournament (1939).
Stephen John Nash is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, where he was an eight-time All-Star and a seven-time All-NBA selection. Nash was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player while playing for the Phoenix Suns.
U Sports is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Some institutions are members of both bodies for different sports.
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations, and many other disabilities. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the sole competent authority in wheelchair basketball worldwide. FIBA has recognized IWBF under Article 53 of its General Statutes.
William Percey Wennington is a Canadian former professional basketball player who won three National Basketball Association (NBA) championships with the Chicago Bulls. A center, he represented Canada in the 1984 Olympics and 1983 World University Games, where the team won gold. He was also on the Canadian team that narrowly missed qualification for the 1992 Olympics. Wennington has been inducted into the Quebec Basketball Hall of Fame and the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame.
Robert J. Houbregs was a Canadian professional basketball player. Houbregs was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987
Tristan Trevor James Thompson is a Canadian-American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns before being drafted fourth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2011 NBA draft. He has also played for the Canadian national team. Thompson won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016.
The National Basketball League of Canada is a Canadian professional men's basketball league.The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three teams formerly of the Premier Basketball League joined with four new franchises to form the NBL's "Original Seven". The league has changed in size multiple times and has four active teams for the 2022 season, all in Ontario, but historically has had several located in the Atlantic provinces. The league's season typically begins in November and ends in April of the following year. The most recent champions are the London Lightning, having defeated the KW Titans 3–0 in the 2022 NBL Finals.
Canada competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. A total of 145 athletes were sent by the Canadian Paralympic Committee to compete in 15 sports. The country won 31 medals in total and finished twentieth in the medals table, below the CPC's goal on a top eight finish in total gold medals. The total medals and total golds are the lowest totals for Canada since the 1972 Games.
Anthony Harris Bennett is a Canadian professional basketball player for Kaohsiung Steelers of the P. League+. He played college basketball for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He was the first overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, becoming the first Canadian to be drafted number one overall. Bennett is also a member of the Canadian national team.
The Canadian women's national basketball team is currently ranked 4th by FIBA. Athletes for this team are selected by Canada Basketball.
Andrew Christian Wiggins is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers after one year of college basketball with the Kansas Jayhawks.
Slobodan Kuljanin was a Bosnian Serb footballer and coach.
Kia Nurse is a Canadian basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is also a basketball pundit featured on The Sports Network.
Rowan Alexander "RJ" Barrett Jr. is a Canadian professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected third overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks after one year with the Duke Blue Devils.
The Basketball League (TBL), formerly North America Premier Basketball (NAPB), is a minor league basketball organization. The league began operating in North America in 2018 with eight teams, and expanded to over 30 teams as of 2021.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a men's professional minor league basketball organization. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams competing all owned and operated by ownership group Canadian Basketball Ventures.
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