One of the most important requirements of sports officiating is to know the rules, so that you can apply them properly. After all, as the saying goes, you can’t enforce what you don’t know.

So, here’s a pop quiz for all current and future basketball officials.

Question 1) How many rules are there in today’s game of high school basketball?
That’s easy. Your rulebook has 10 rules – plus, of course, a large number of articles and sub-sections. But still,10 basic over-arching rules are at the heart of the game.

Question 2) How many rules were there in the original game of basketball?
If you said 13, you’d be correct. Congratulations for either knowing the answer or at least Googling the question.

Question 3) How many of those original 13 rules of basketball are still in force today?
I won’t give you the answer until the end of the article, which is a cheap way of getting you to read the whole thing. Suffice it to say, a surprisingly large number of the original 13 rules of basketball still apply. Which is remarkable when you consider that basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith way back in 1891, or 123 years prior to my writing this article. How is that for foresight?

Dr. Naismith was originally from Ontario. He attended McGill University in Montreal where he later became the athletic director. But it wasn’t until he went over to the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, that he created the game of basketball. He did so because the school wanted a game that students could play indoors during harsh Massachusetts winters. Plus, it had to be a game that could be played in a relatively small space. Dr. Naismith also wanted his game to be a game of skill, not a contest that relied solely on physical strength. The game he invented involved the use of a soccer ball and two peach baskets as the goals -- hence the name “Basketball.”

Today, we still have two baskets, though not the peach baskets of old. And as noted above we still have many of Dr. Naismith’s original rules. Let’s go through them and you’ll see the incredible staying power of Dr. Naismith’s ideas.

Rule #1: The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands

That is still legal in today’s game.

Rule #2: The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands.

This is also still legal in today’s game. See 4.15.1 for the definition of a dribble. But be careful about the two-hands aspect, as touching the ball simultaneously with both hands ends the dribble (4.15.4.c)
NOTE: Dr. Naismith’s original Rule # 2 also states that the ball can never be batted with the fist. Also a violation in today’s game (9.4)

Rule #3: A player cannot run with the ball

Still true today. We call it “traveling.” (4.44)

Rule #4: The ball must be held in or between the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.  

That rule no longer applies today.

Rule #5: No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a “foul.”

This is very much like the fouls and illegal contact that we have in our rulebook today (4.19). There are some differences in enforcement, however. According to Dr. Naismith’s Rule #5, if a player commits a second foul, he is disqualified -- and no substitute may be entered in his place -- until the next goal is scored. Not unlike a penalty in ice hockey today.

Rule #6: A foul is striking the ball with the fist or violating rules 3 and 4 as described in Rule 5.

This may be a matter of semantics. Striking the ball with the fist today is a violation as noted earlier (9.4). Dr. Naismith called it a foul.

Rule #7: If either side makes three consecutive fouls, it shall count as a goal for the opponents.

Today, we have no such rule, so this one did not stand the test of time.

Rule #8: A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the ground into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edge and an opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.

There are several moving parts here in the original rule, but in some form they still apply today, including our current definition of a try or tap (4.41). Plus, Dr. Naismith’s rule also sounds a lot like our rule for basket interference (4.6).

Rule #9: When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it.

Today, we call that a throw-in (4.42.2). Dr. Naismith’s original Rule #9 goes on to say that the thrower is allowed five seconds (to release the ball on a pass) -- the same rule we have today (9.2.4). Of course what the good Doctor called a “field”, we call a “court”.

Rules #10 and #11 (definition and duties of officials)

The only real similarity between these original rules and today’s rules is that Dr. Naismith called for a crew of two officials – a referee and an umpire (just as in our current crew of two). However, the duties of each were vastly different in Dr. Naismith’s rule set. For example, the umpire was in charge of monitoring fouls, while the referee judged possession and kept track of field goals.

Rule #12: The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes’ rest in between.

That’s not far off from what we do today. Some high schools play two 16-minute halves. Others play four 8-minute quarters. A 10-minute halftime is standard in our rules book.

Rule #13: The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner.

This is another way of saying, as we do today, that the team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

So, let’s total up the score. By my count, nine of Dr. Naismith’s original 13 rules of basketball still apply in some form in today’s game. That’s extraordinary. Over time, basketball rules have evolved considerably to make the game more fluid, up-tempo, and entertaining. Every year there are a few rule changes, and keeping up with those is one of our challenges as officials. But the basic infrastructure of the original rule set is still in place. It has survived 123 years and counting. How many things in life can you say that about?