How does NBA-style basketball differ from street ball?

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How does NBA-style basketball differ from street ball? image

How does NBA-style basketball differ from street ball? Originally answered on June 7, 2016.

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Answer by James Katz:

The other day I was accidentally punched in the face playing pickup basketball in New York. The guy said, "My bad," I walked it off, and took the ball out from the top of the key. This is illustrative of one of the differences between pickup ball and NBA-style basketball.

To answer this question, I’ll break down the differences between the NBA and street ball into three categories:

  1. Play style
  2. Rules
  3. Energy level

Play style

When you’re playing pickup basketball, you usually don’t know everyone you’re playing with. It’s highly likely that it’s the first and only time your team will ever play together as a unit. Additionally, no one has a set position. Everyone tends to want to be the point guard — anyone who’s played pickup is familiar with the prototypical big guy with no handles who wants to play the one and refuses to crash the boards. These are some of the causes for the following ways street ball playing style typically differs from the NBA:

  • No set plays (pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop, etc.)
  • No off-ball screens
  • Lots of isolation plays and flashy dribbling
  • Fewer 3-pointers than in the NBA (particularly with the rise of the 3 ball over the last few years)
  • More 1-on-1 defense (as opposed to switching/zone)

Street ball is usually a lot more improvisational than NBA basketball — there’s not much structure, and the style of the game will be different every time depending on your teammates and opponents.

Rules

There are no officials in street ball. You’re often playing on just half a court, with less than the full 5-on-5 teams you’d see in the NBA. Those are just some of the differences in rules for street ball, including:

  • Self-called fouls
  • Shots worth 1 point, and 2 points from 3 range (rather than 2 points and 3 points in the NBA)
  • No offensive fouls
  • Rarely called travels and double-dribbles
  • Playing in the half -court
  • Teams less than five people strong
  • Winner's ball (the team that made the shot gets the ball back)

As the saying goes, ‘No blood no foul.' Street ball is generally more physical and less structured than NBA-style play.

Energy level

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Some people who play street ball just don’t try very hard, to a level you’ll rarely see in the NBA. You’ll run into people on the courts who refuse to play defense, and more often than you think. The effort level in street ball is more random than in the NBA, where everyone is competing for their paychecks and next contract.

In general, street ball has different rules, less-planned-out plays and play styles, and more varying effort. The same skills still apply, though, as it’s very much the same game as in the NBA.

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