How Big Is An NBA Basketball Court? & Equipment

The NBA court’s dimension has gone through some changes throughout the years. For good reason, with 7-foot giants roaming the courts now and athletic freaks dunking from everywhere on the court, the playing field has to be big enough to accommodate these talent stars. But just how big?

How big is an NBA basketball court? An NBA basketball court measures 94 feet in length (28.9 meters) and 50 feet wide (15.38 meters). If you think in terms of football to the 30-yard line(length) by 15-yard line (width). This is longer than a high school basketball court by 10 feet.

Interestingly enough on the TV, it doesn’t appear to be all that big, but as viewers, it is hard to grasp the size of the players and the court from the screen. We will take a look at the dimensions of the court and equipment used in the game and see how it compares to each of the NBA.

Basketball Court & Equipment Measurements

So now that we know the basketball court is 94 feet by 50 feet, what about the free-throw line, 3-point line and the height of the rim. I will go over the most common measurements that people are curious to know. In the chart provided measurements of the court lines and equipment.

Court Lines	Size	Compared To
Court	54 Feet Length x 50 Feet Wide	30 Yards (L) x 15 Yards (W)
Free-Throw Line	15 Feet Length x 12 Feet Wide	Can park a mid-size car in the Key
Three-Point Line	23 Feet and 9 Inches.	Half the size of a telephone pole.
Three-Point line Sideline	22 Feet	3 Times as tall as Shaq

Equipment such as basketballs, rim height and such will be covered also. If your interested in more information click the links in blue in the table chart for more information on that topic.

Equipment	Size
Basketball Rim Height	10 Feet
Diameter Of The Rim	18 Inches
Backboard	6 Feet x 3 1/2 Feet (LxW)
Basketball	29 Inches Around

NBA Court Comparisons

Keep in mind not every high school court is built the same I have seen courts much smaller and played against schools when coaching that use presses to their advantage on smaller courts. You will see why I put an approximation.

League	Dimensions In Feet Length X Width
NBA	94 ft x 50 ft
FIBA	92 ft x 49 ft
WNBA	94 ft x 50 ft
NCAA	94 ft x 50 ft
High School	85 ft x 50 ft
Jr. High	70 to 75 ft x 40 to 45 ft

Three-Point Line Comparisons

From college to the NBA is quite the jump and no wonder players will struggle the first couple years in the NBA to shoot well from the three-point line. It is an extra foot which makes a huge difference. Again Fiba all the way down the list should just make one universal rule for distance from the three, it is a little annoying to me.

League	Distance
NBA	23 ft 9 inches
FIBA	22 ft 1 inch
WNBA	22 ft 1.75 inches
NCAA	22 ft 1 inch
High School	19 ft 9 inches
Jr. High	19 ft 9 inches

If you are looking for more information on the three-point line and statistics, Click Here for the article I wrote.

Basketball Size Comparisons

The basketball used again depends on the basketball league, The NBA uses a ball by Spalding specifically for the NBA called the Spalding Official Ball of the NBA. The WNBA is called the same but with the W.

FIBA also has their own ball for their play, called the Molten BGLX Official FIBA basketball. The NCAA basketball is called the Wilson official basketball of the NCAA ball.

As far as high school and junior high, you guessed it, depends on what the league uses.

League	Basketball Size In Inches
NBA	29 .5″
FIBA	29.5″
WNBA	28.5″
NCAA	29.5″
High School	29.5″
Jr. High	28.5″

If you are interested in more information about the official NBA basketball Click Here!

NBA Official Rules Dimensions and Equipment

The following rules are from the NBA.com.

These are the official measurements that you can view on their website for your reference. I have posted them here for your convenience. They have the rule book posted there for you to view.

RULE NO. 1: Court Dimensions – Equipment

Section I—Court and Dimensions

The playing court shall be measured and marked as shown in the court (See below)
A free throw lane shall be marked at each end of the court with dimensions and markings as shown on the court diagram. All boundary lines are part of the lane; lane space marks and neutral zone marks are not. The areas identified by the lane space markings are 2” by 6” inches.
A free throw line shall be drawn (2” wide) across each of the circles indicated in the court diagram. It shall be parallel to the end line and shall be 15’ from the plane of the face of the backboard.
The three-point field goal area has parallel lines 3’ from the sidelines, extending from the baseline and an arc of 23’9” from the middle of the basket which intersects the parallel lines.
Four hash marks shall be drawn (2” wide) perpendicular to the sideline on each side of the court and 28’ from the baseline. These hash marks shall extend 3’ onto the court.
Two hash marks shall be drawn (2” wide) perpendicular to the baseline on each side of the free throw lane line. These hash marks shall be 3’ from the free throw lane line and extend 6” onto the court.
Four hash marks shall be drawn (2” wide) parallel to the baseline on each side of the free throw circle. These hash marks shall be 13’ from the baseline and 3’ from the free throw lane lines and shall be 6” in length.
Two hash marks shall be drawn (2” wide) perpendicular to the sideline, in front of the scorer ’s table, and 4’ on each side of the midcourt line. This will designate the Substitution Box.
A Restricted Area shall be marked with a half-circle 4’ from the center of the basket ring and then parallel to the lane line to the face of the backboard with a solid two-inch line.

Section II—Equipment

The backboard shall be a rectangle measuring 6’ horizontally and 3 ½’ vertically. The front surface shall be flat and transparent.
A transparent backboard shall be marked with a 2” white rectangle centered behind the This rectangle shall have outside dimensions of 24” horizontally and 18” vertically.
Home management is required to have a spare board with supporting unit on hand for emergencies, and a steel tape or extension ruler and a level for use if necessary.
Each basket shall consist of a pressure-release NBA approved metal safety ring 18” in inside diameter with a white cord net 18” in length. The cord of the net shall not be less than 30 thread nor more than 120 thread and shall be constructed to check the ball momentarily as it passes through the basket.
Each basket ring shall be securely attached to the backboard with its upper edge 10’ above and parallel to the floor and equidistant from the vertical edges of the board. The nearest point of the inside edge of the ring shall be 6” from the plane of the face of the The ring shall be painted orange.
(1) The ball shall be an officially approved NBA ball between 7 ½ and 8 ½ pounds pressure. (2) A minimum of nine balls must be made available to each team for pre-game warmup.
NBA arena backboards must contain four strips of red LED lights, synchronized with the game clock, outlining the inside of the four sides of the backboard to indicate the expiration of time and one strip of an amber LED light to indicate the expiration of the shot clock.

That concludes the article I hope you enjoyed some of the stats like I do, please check out my other content and come and visit as this website is updated regularly.