In the early years of outdoor basketball, the number of players on a team varied based on the number in the class and the size of the playing area. In 1894, teams began playing with five players on a side when the playing area was less than 1,800 square feet (167.2 square meters). The number rose to seven when the gymnasium measured from 1,800 to 3,600 square feet (334.5 square meters) and up to nine when the playing area exceeded that. In 1895, the number was occasionally set at five by mutual consent, and the rules stipulated five players two years later. This number has remained ever since.
The first country outside the United States to play the game was Canada, which introduced the sport in France in 1893, England in 1894, Australia, China, and India soon thereafter, and in Japan in 1900. Basketball helped swell the membership of YMCA because of the availability of their gyms. However, within five years, the game was outlawed by various associations, leading many members to terminate their YMCA membership and hire halls to play the game.
Players wore one of three styles of uniforms: knee-length football trousers, jersey tights, or short padded pants, plus knee guards. The courts often had irregular shapes with occasional obstructions such as pillars, stairways, or offices that interfered with play. In 1903, it was ruled that all boundary lines must be straight.
In 1895, the Narragansett Machinery Co. of Providence, Rhode Island, marketed a hoop of iron with a hammock style of basket. The points for making a basket and points for making a free throw were reduced from three to two.
The first college to play the game was either Geneva College (Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania) or the University of Iowa. C.O. BMIs heard about the new sport at Springfield and tried it out with his students at Geneva in 1892. H.F. Wallenberg, who had attended Springfield in 1890, wrote Naismith for a copy of the rules and presented the game to his students. The first college basketball game with five players on a side was played between the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa in Iowa City on January 18, 1896.
Basketball gained popularity in the United States and internationally in the first three decades after World War II. Interest in the game deepened due to television exposure, but with the advent of cable television, particularly during the 1980s, the game's popularity exploded at all levels. With the rise of spectacular players like Marvin "Magic" Johnson, Julius Marvin, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan, basketball moved quickly to the forefront of the American sporting scene, alongside traditional leaders like baseball and football. Four areas of the game developed during this period: U.S. high school and college basketball, professional basketball, women's basketball, and international basketball.
In the early years, games were often won with point totals of less than 30, and the game was slow from the spectator's viewpoint. The NBC instituted several rule changes to discourage slowdown tactics, such as the introduction of a 45-second shot clock in 1985 and the implementation of a three-point shot rule for baskets made beyond a distance of 19.75 feet (6.0 meters).
More noticeable alteration in the game came at both the playing and coaching levels. Stanford University's Hank Loosest was the first to use and popularize the one-hand shot in the late 1930s. The game evolved from a two-handed push shot to a jump shot, which was released at the top of the jump. West Virginia University guard Jerry West and Purdue University's Rick Mount were two players who demonstrated the devastating effectiveness of this shot.
Coaching strategy changed appreciably over the years, with Frank W. Kearney introducing the concept of "fast break" basketball, Adolph Krupp contributing to a quicker pace of play, and Cam Henderson developing the zone defense. Over the years, rules makers' chief concerns were to neutralize the advantage of taller players. Bob Garland led Oklahoma A&M to two NCAA championships in the 1940s and led the nation in scoring in 1945–46. George Mikey scored more than 550 points in each of his final two seasons at DePaul University before going on to play nine professional seasons in which he scored more than 11,000 points.
The dunk shot was banned from collegiate basketball after his sophomore year (1966–67) at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), but it was rescinded beginning with the 1976–77 season, making it an important part of the game. Small- and medium-size players also impacted the game's development, with Bob Cousy being one of the game's first great playmakers and later players like Ernie Di Gregorio, Phil Ford, and Isiah Thomas.
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