Team sports such as basketball are accompanied by numbers. By the way, do you know that this back number is also meaningful?
This time, I will introduce the numbers of the basketball team, their meanings, and the famous numbers. These basketball team numbers are one of the most commonly used motifs for T-shirts. Knowing that it might be more fun when you choose T-shirts.
The number 7 is a star player! ?
Is it the influence of a manga or the like with a basketball team theme? For example, the number 4 is the captain number and the number 7 is the star player number. However, in fact, there are no rules for the captain or star player numbers in the basketball rules. So why is it such beliefs are formed?
The reason is that there is a number assigned to each basketball position.
The position number is determined as follows.
1: Point guard position: to dribble and carry the ball to the opponent’s goal
2: Shooting guard position: to shoot from a long distance
3: Small forward position: the main purpose is to score and score regardless of the distance from the goal.
4: Power forward position: to defense and shoot near the goal
5: Center position: to play under the goal
If you think about it normally, it is not strange that this position number becomes a back number. For example, in high school baseball, a pitcher with the position number 1 should have a number 1 on the back. However, in the case of basketball, it is not so simple.
This is because there is a rule called “3-second rule”.
If you look closely in front of the goal on the basketball court, you will find a rectangular area. This area is called the “paint area” and the offense players must not stay here for more than 3 seconds. In order not to be confused with the judges at this time, the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) has a rule that the numbers from 1 to 3 are missing and the numbers start from 4.
As a result of assigning a number according to the regulations, positions and numbers are often handled as follows.
4, 5: Center or Point Guard
6: Shooting Guard
7: Small Forward
8: Power Forward
In this way, the image of “7, the star player” was formed because small forward players, who plays the essential positions who are the best point makers, often given their number 7.
Numbering rules and rules by FIBA
Next, I will explain the rules for FIBA (International Basketball Federation) in numbering in a little more detail.
According to FIBA regulations, I already mentioned that numbers from 1 to 3 are not assigned to any players while numbers above 4 or more are used. However, it is not okay to use any number. It is decided to use numbers from 4 to 15 sequentially. The reason why is that the number of registered players per team is 12 in FIBA-sponsored matches.
In Japan, there is an organization called JBA (Japan Basketball Association), which also uses the same numbering rules as FIBA. However, since the number of registered members per team is 15 or 18 in a JBA-sponsored game, it is okay to use any number above 16 or more.
Numbering rules and rules by NBA and B-League
There are professional basketball leagues in the United States and Japan. In these professional leagues, there are different rules in numbering.
In the American Basketball League NBA, you can choose 0 or a number from 00 to 99 as you like. However, if you want to choose a number more than 56, you must have a permission from the league. The player’s personality comes out when choosing a number. For example, Michael Jordan numbered 23. The reason is that his older brother numbered 45 when he entered high school. He wished to be better than his brother at playing basketball and chose the number thinking “at least half of his brother.”
In Japan, there is a professional basketball league called the B League. According to the rules of the B League, you can have a number up to 2 digits with no restriction. A single-digit number can be entered with a single digit or a leading zero.
The number assigned to a popular player is an inspiration for a later player. There are many popular numbers such as number 23 by Michael Jordan, number 33 by Kareem Abdul-Jabber, and number 91 by Dennis Rodman. In addition, the numbers of popular players may become permanent numbers. If you have a player you are interested in the NBA or B-League, it might be interesting to see why that player chose that number.
