Basketball is a team sport where two teams of five players each try to score points by throwing a ball through a hoop. The game was invented in the late 1800s by Dr. James Naismith as an indoor game to keep students active. By the 1950s, basketball had become a major college sport played internationally. The basic rules involve dribbling, passing, shooting, defense, and fouls. Each team aims to score points through offense while preventing the other team from scoring through defense. Modern professional basketball is dominated by the NBA, which formed in 1946 and is now the most popular and lucrative basketball league globally.