Basketball Rules Explained: NBA vs FIBA vs NCAA vs High School

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Your son’s high school game goes to the wire. Down one, eight seconds left, and the other team fouls on purpose. “Why aren’t we shooting two?” someone asks in the bleachers. Then you watch the NBA that night and the rules seem different again: longer quarters, a three-point line way out there, a player still in the game with five fouls. You’re not imagining it. Basketball rules change with the level, and this page puts the four big rulebooks side by side in plain words: NBA vs FIBA vs NCAA vs NFHS (high school), plus the WNBA, 3×3 and youth basketball.

For the big picture of the sport, its levels and staying healthy, start at our basketball hub. This page goes deep on the rules only.

Who writes the rules

• FIBA writes the Official Basketball Rules used in international play, the Olympics and most leagues outside North America. The current edition, the 2024 rules, came into force on October 1, 2024. FIBA also writes the 3×3 rules.
• The NBA and WNBA each publish their own rulebook every season. The G League plays NBA rules with some experiments.
• The NCAA writes separate rules for men’s and women’s college basketball.
• The NFHS writes the rules for most US high schools; each state association can adopt certain options, such as the shot clock.

NBA vs FIBA vs NCAA vs NFHS: the big differences

	NBA	WNBA	FIBA	NCAA men	NCAA women	NFHS (high school)
Game	4 × 12 min	4 × 10 min	4 × 10 min	2 × 20 min	4 × 10 min	4 × 8 min
Overtime	5 min	5 min	5 min	5 min	5 min	4 min
Shot clock	24 s	24 s	24 s	30 s	30 s	35 s where the state adopts it
Fouls to foul out	6	6	5	5	5	5
Free throws for team fouls	From the 5th team foul in a quarter	From the 5th team foul in a quarter	From the 5th team foul in a quarter	One-and-one from the 7th foul in a half; two shots from the 10th	Two shots from the 5th foul in a quarter	Two shots from the 5th foul in a quarter
Three-point line	23 ft 9 in (22 ft in the corners)	22 ft 1¾ in	6.75 m (22 ft 1¾ in)	22 ft 1¾ in	22 ft 1¾ in	19 ft 9 in
Ball	Size 7	Size 6	Size 7 men, size 6 women	Size 7	Size 6	Size 7 boys, size 6 girls

Quarters, halves and overtime

An NBA game is 48 minutes of play; WNBA, FIBA and NCAA women’s games are 40, played as four 10-minute quarters. NCAA men are the odd ones out with two 20-minute halves. High school games are 32 minutes in four 8-minute quarters. If the score is tied, everyone plays overtime until there’s a winner: 5-minute periods at every level except high school, where overtime is 4 minutes. In college, the clock stops after a made basket in the last minute of the game and overtime; in the NBA and FIBA it stops after made baskets in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.

The shot clock

The shot clock is the time a team has to get a shot off; the shot must at least hit the rim. The NBA, WNBA and FIBA use 24 seconds, reset to 14 in many situations, for example when the attacking team gets an offensive rebound. College uses 30 seconds, with a 20-second reset after an offensive rebound or a frontcourt throw-in. In high school, the NFHS lets each state association add a 35-second shot clock (allowed since 2022-23); by 2025-26, 32 states used one in some form, some only in the regular season or at schools that opt in. Check with your state association. 3×3 uses a 12-second clock.

Fouls: personal fouls, team fouls and the bonus

Personal fouls are counted against each player. Pros get six before fouling out (NBA and WNBA); FIBA, college and high school players get five. In high school and college, some technical fouls count toward that total too, and each level treats flagrant fouls its own way.

Team fouls decide when the other team starts shooting free throws on every foul, which fans call “the bonus” or “the penalty”:

• NBA and WNBA: four team fouls a quarter without free throws; from the fifth, the fouled player shoots two. If a team hasn’t used its four before the last two minutes of a quarter, it gets one “free” foul in those two minutes. Overtime allows three.
• FIBA: after four team fouls in a quarter, every further player foul gives two free throws.
• NCAA men: team fouls count by half. The 7th foul gives a one-and-one (make the first to get a second); the 10th gives two shots.
• NCAA women and NFHS: no one-and-one. Two shots from the fifth team foul in a quarter, and team fouls reset after each quarter. That’s what the parent in the bleachers missed: before the fifth team foul of a quarter, a foul on a player who isn’t shooting just gives the ball back on a throw-in.

Under the basket, the NBA marks a restricted area, a half-circle 4 feet from the center of the rim; NCAA men use a 4-foot restricted area too. A secondary defender standing inside it generally can’t draw a charge.

The three-point line

The NBA line is the deepest: an arc 23 feet 9 inches from the middle of the basket, flattening to 22 feet in the corners, where the line runs 3 feet from the sideline. FIBA’s line is 6.75 meters (22 feet 1¾ inches), and the WNBA and both NCAA games now use the same distance: NCAA men moved back to it in 2019-20 and NCAA women in 2021-22. The high school line is 19 feet 9 inches. Youth guidelines from the NBA and USA Basketball skip three-pointers entirely until age 12, so kids learn to shoot from a sensible distance.

Court, basket and ball

The NBA court is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide; FIBA’s is 28 by 15 meters (about 92 by 49 feet). In the NBA the free-throw line is 15 feet from the backboard, and the rim is 10 feet off the floor at every adult level. NBA balls are pumped to 7½–8½ pounds of pressure. Men’s and boys’ games use a size 7 ball (29.5 inches around) and women’s and girls’ games a size 6 (28.5 inches). Young kids use smaller balls and lower baskets, covered on our youth basketball page.

A game ball most high schools know is the Wilson Evolution, an indoor composite ball the maker says is NFHS and NCAA approved, in the official 29.5-inch size; the intermediate Evolution is the 28.5-inch version used for girls’ and women’s games. Both were about $100 on Amazon in October 2026.

Positions

No rulebook names positions; five players are simply on the court. Coaches still use five labels: the point guard (1) brings the ball up and runs the offense; the shooting guard (2) scores from the perimeter; the small forward (3) does a bit of everything; the power forward (4) rebounds, screens and scores near the basket or, more and more, from three; and the center (5), usually the tallest, protects the rim and rebounds. Many teams now play “positionless” basketball with interchangeable players. Each role loads the body differently: guards cut and sprint more, bigs jump and bump more, which our basketball training page takes into account.

3×3 rules in short

FIBA 3×3, the Olympic version, is played on a half court with one basket, three players a side and one substitute. A game lasts 10 minutes or ends when a team reaches 21 points. Baskets inside the arc count 1 point, baskets from behind it (the same 6.75 m line) count 2, and the shot clock is 12 seconds. From a team’s 7th foul the opponent shoots two free throws, and from the 10th they also keep the ball. Tied after regulation? The first team to score two points in overtime wins. The ball is the size of a size 6 with the weight of a size 7.

Rules for younger players

The NBA and USA Basketball recommend: an 8-foot basket and size 5 ball at ages 7–8, a 9-foot basket and size 6 ball at 9–11, no zone defense and no three-pointers at both ages, and equal playing time (the whole game at 7–8, the first three periods at 9–11). They suggest a 30-second shot clock at 12–14 when possible, and FIBA rules with a 24-second clock for grades 9–12. Local leagues decide which of these they use, so ask before the season.

Knowing the rules is part of staying safe, too: a lot of ankle sprains happen in the crowded lane under the basket. See our basketball injuries page, the leagues and associations that write and use these rules, and our ankle brace guide. Curious how another sport handles it? Compare with our soccer rules.

Basketball rules FAQs

How many fouls before you foul out?

Six in the NBA and WNBA. Five under FIBA, NCAA and high school rules. In 3×3 there’s no individual foul-out for personal fouls; team fouls bring free throws instead.

How far is the three-point line?

NBA: 23 feet 9 inches, 22 feet in the corners. FIBA, WNBA and NCAA men and women: 22 feet 1¾ inches (6.75 m). High school: 19 feet 9 inches.

Does high school basketball have a shot clock?

Depends on your state. The NFHS allows a 35-second shot clock by state choice, and 32 states used one in some form in 2025-26. Others still play without.

Why do college men play halves and everyone else quarters?

Tradition. NCAA men kept two 20-minute halves, and their team fouls count by half, which is why they still have the one-and-one. NCAA women switched to four 10-minute quarters, like FIBA and the WNBA.

What is the bonus in basketball?

The point where a team has committed enough team fouls in a period that every further foul sends the other team to the free-throw line. In the NBA, FIBA, NCAA women’s and high school games that’s the fifth foul in a quarter; in NCAA men’s games it’s the seventh in a half (one-and-one), then the tenth (two shots).