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How many basketball players in the world


How Many People In The World Play Basketball? – Basketball Word!

Basketball is played by millions of people around the world and it is considered the fastest-growing sport with its popularity rising each year globally.

How many people in the world play basketball? FIBA states that at least 450 million people worldwide are playing basketball today. There are 213 countries that have professional basketball leagues and national teams and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. It is also estimated that China has over 300 million Chinese people playing the sport as of right now.

Although these are just estimates, the game of basketball is fairly cheap and easy to get a game going. The popularity of basketball has grown also due to the way the National Basketball Association (NBA) markets its product Internationally.

Quick Fact: F.I.B.A stands for Fédération Internationale de Basketball

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Why basketball is so popular?

Basketball is one of the few team sports that you can watch then get off your butt, head over to the court where people are playing, and join in. People young and old take up playing basketball because its fun, challenging and you get a great workout without even realizing it. You don’t need any special equipment or a certain amount of players to get a game going. There are so many games you can play and even create.  From 1 on 1 to five on five there’s always a game ready to be played. You can even go to a hoop and play by yourself.  Yeah, I know maybe not as much fun as with some friends but try creating some games on your own if there’s no one to play with. Need some ideas click here for basketball games you can play on your own.

 The game of basketball is an easy game to learn the rules but difficult to play, that’s the challenge for us all. But the game is nothing short of exciting, as you can be right in the action immediately. The best part about basketball is that you can learn to play while having fun, the health benefits are great to get you in shape and lose a couple of extra pounds while you play without even realizing it. For every hour of play, you can burn anywhere from 200 to 800 calories depending on how hard you work your body. It’s an excellent way to meet new people when you are on a basketball team with four other players. I can’t tell you how many people I met through the game of basketball.

 But what exactly makes the sports so popular as it’s a difficult sport to excel at and play?

 Growing up I love the game of basketball, as kids, we would shoot the ball at anything a street sign, a garbage bin, it didn’t matter we just love to play the game. I couldn’t afford to play any sport that involved a lot of money.  Basketball was the cheapest sport for me to play, it was free all you needed was a basketball. We had basketball hoops and courts everywhere. My friends also had back yard hoops, the adjustable kind that I would go play on all the time and do all sorts of dunks on. Going to a park and getting a game going was relatively easy. 

My love for the game grew further watching the NBA in an era where Michael Jordan was dominating his competition and winning title after title. As kids, we would replicate his moves whether it be dunks, fadeaways, or impossible layups, that was the fun of it. We would have games where I was Jordan and my friend was Charles Barkley and vice versa. Usually, you would do the moves that the player you were mimicking was known for.

 The NBA is very smart and how they promote their product. They are constantly finding ways to entertain and create new fan bases in different countries. Especially to young kids, the Superstar players in the N.B.A. alone are some of the most popular athletes in the world. This alone attracts spectators to the sport and these players are celebrities by default. Every kid wants their shoe and every kid wants to be them.

The Growing of International stars in the NBA

According to the N. B.A., there are 108 international players from 38 countries and territories. While there are 450 players in the N.B.A across all teams in the league, International players account for just over 25 percent. That is remarkable in which at a time most of the NBA thought scouts were wasting their time overseas or across the border searching for International talent. This is just not the case anymore. Click here for the list of International Players that play in the N.B.A. and you will be taken to the N.B.A. website.

This has me thinking about what one player can do to change a country’s interest in the game if he becomes successful and makes it into the league. Because now that player’s home country has a reason to follow their the game and track these players moves hoping he has success. This gets more people interested even kids, this player is a role model.

Making it into the NBA is an Impossible Dream just based on statistics alone, it’s 3 in 10000 chance or 0.03 %. That’s 10000 really good players I would imagine. The odds of making the N.B.A from overseas is even greater, if you are not playing Division 1 basketball you must dominate the professional league as someone who is very young or at least someone who shows promise. Scouts are constantly looking for the next Greek freak and they will go far and wide to find him. Are you him?

 Will the N.B.A have an International team in the league?

There have been rumors for years that the NBA was going to add a foreign team to the league.  But it was quite obvious that traveling would be an issue for players and teams especially for the foreign teams as most of the games away would be in the United States.  It would have to make sense to have stretches of games away overseas and stretches of games at home in the U.S. Either way the solution would be difficult to make simple with the schedule of an 82-game season.

Quick Fact: The NBA has been playing exhibition games in Europe since 1978.

But if they somehow could make this work it would be the reason for many new fans to watch the N. B.A. and alongside with and more kids would picking up the game of basketball to play.

In Canada, we have one team the Toronto Raptors and every province in Canada is cheering for them to win the championship every year. 38 million people 10 different provinces cheering for the Raptors, now if this was hockey it’s a completely different story. I could imagine that if you had one European team it would be the same as many of the other countries would cheer their European friends on.

Yao Ming Effect

 Yao Ming is a classic example of a successful basketball player that stood at seven-foot five inches tall, all the way from the other side of the world, China. He became the first Chinese basketball player to make the NBA. Soon followed was a huge market for the NBA. Yao Ming had the whole country of china on his back of almost 1.4 billion following his every move. Do you know how many jerseys he probably sold?

Yao Ming played for the Houston Rockets, while every basketball game Houston played it was broadcasted on tv in China. Although it would be early in the morning because of the different time zones. Yao was actually really good and Houston was making the playoffs almost every year, how they did is another story.

 The success of Yao Ming has the NBA forming and funding academies in China and in India, you could probably guess that the reason for this is the number of people that reside in China and India. If they could just get a drop of the market in India it’s big money. These academies are where the best players in those countries play, train, go to school and live basketball.

You could imagine what the NBA is trying to do, billions of people in China and India if they can just get another player to be good enough to make it to the NBA you get the Yao Ming effect. China already loves the game.  But India is still far behind they have their cricket and soccer which makes it two of the most popular sports in the world.

If the NBA can find that one player in India to uplift the country, it will spark a trend of one of their own playing basketball at the highest level. The NBA would love to capitalize on this as it did with Yao Ming.

India almost had their man but he fell short in 2016, but he was a 7’2 basketball player named Satnam Singh who almost fulfilled a dream. You can check out this documentary on Netflix called “One In A Billion”. The issue with the academy that he was in is they don’t always have the best coaches and we are talking about coaches that have coached at a high level. A Coach that knows what it takes to get to the pros. While also playing someone his own height to gain that experience.

The days are over for just being tall in the NBA, at 7 foot five with little to no skill isn’t going to happen, as players who are over 7 feet seem to be able to dribble and shoot better than the smaller guards in today’s N.B.A.

 

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Top 10 Most Popular Sports In The World By Participation

It’s near-impossible to put a definitive number on participation in different sports around the world when picking out the most popular sports. In this list we’ve based our rankings on the number of players registered to clubs or leagues, so rather than including everyone who kicks a football in their back garden, we’re only counting those who play for a team etc.

Even at that, we acknowledge that the list is open for debate, and because of that we’d love to hear your thought/suggestions. you can get in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter.

As the world’s number 1 crowdfunding site for sports,  we have worked with nearly every sport known to man to raise money through sports crowdfunding. The list below is the 10 most popular sports in the world.

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10. Golf

Easily one of the most popular sports in the world, 60 million people around the world regularly play golf according to Golf Today magazine.

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The definition of regularly playing golf in the above figure refers to playing at least one round of golf per year.

9. Baseball

For many years, baseball was most popular in America than anywhere else, but nowadays it’s one of the most popular sports in the world with participation rising rapidly in countries like Japan.

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The sport’s international governing body, World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), estimates that 65 million people play either baseball or softball in over 140 countries.

8. Table Tennis

Table tennis has become one of the most popular sports in the last decade following its integration in schools, social clubs, and sports centres around the globe. Topend Sports estimate 300 million people worldwide play table tennis.

7. Cricket

The majority of participants of this sport come from Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, and the UK, but cricket is also on the rise in other countries all over the world.

The world’s most popular sports

The International Cricket Council (ICC) states an incredible 125 countries around the world play the sport.

6. Tennis

Widely recognised as one of the most popular individual sports in the world, tennis is played by an estimated number of 60 million men and women according to Topend Sports.

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The sport is growing at serious speed in Asia, so don’t be surprised to see tennis rank higher among the most popular sports in years to come.

5. Basketball

The Federation of International Basketball Associations estimates a minimum of 450 million people play the sport around the world.

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Thanks to global superstars like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, basketball is very marketable and that is reflected in its top 5 ranking among the world’s most popular sports.

4. Volleyball

With its origins in America, volleyball has grown to an estimated global participation figure of 998 million people. Indoor and outdoor versions of the sport are played all over the world, with over 220 affiliated national federations registered to volleyball’s global governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball.

3. Field Hockey

This fast-paced sport is played by men and women in over 100 countries on 5 continents around the world.

Hockey is also one of the most watched sports

A firm favourite at the Olympic Games, field hockey is a highly technical sport, played by 10 outfield players plus a goalkeeper and its rules differ from the Ice Hockey variation of the sport.

2. Badminton

It may come as a surprise to some people that badminton is among the world’s most popular sports. However, it is extremely popular and played regularly by an estimated 220 million people around the world. It is particularly popular in Asia, with many of the best players ever to grace the game hailing from the continent.

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1.

Soccer

Be it at grassroots level, 5-a-side leagues or at the top level, no sport rivals soccer for participation.

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In the last global census undertaken by the sports governing body FIFA, it was estimated that there are 265 million people who play the sport along with more than 5 million referees, which equates to 4% of the world’s population, thus cementing its place atop the list of the world’s most popular sports.

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PledgeSports is the global leader in crowdfunding & sponsorship for sport.

For all the latest sports news follow PledgeSports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The tallest basketball player, the largest basketball players

If you are lucky with your height, then remember how many times have you heard that you need to go to basketball? Of course, in this sport, high growth only plays into the hands. But who is the tallest of the world famous basketball players?

The tallest basketball players in the NBA

Of course, an athlete with this height will be immediately noticed, and if he also makes great strides in the game, then it is quite possible that he will be invited to the National Basketball Association. The list of the highest NBA basketball players includes only twenty players. Their height exceeds 220 cm. Two of them entered the Basketball Hall of Fame - Arvydas Sabonis with a height of 221 cm and Ralph Simpson, 224 cm. But let's dwell on the tallest NBA players.

Arvydas Sabonis - one of the tallest basketball players in the NBA

Montenegrin basketball player Slavko Vranesh was born in 1983. He is 230 cm tall and is also one of the tallest basketball players in the world. Throughout his career, Slavko played for Serbia, Turkey, Iran, and spent one season even in UNICS Kazan. In the NBA, this athlete played only one match, and in it his stay on the field was only three minutes.

Now Vranesh plays for the Serbian team Metalac.

The height of the basketball player Slavko Vranesh is 230 cm

The Sudanese basketball player Manute Bol overtook him by one centimeter in height. Unlike most very tall people, Manute did not have pituitary disorders, and owes his height to his parents, whose height was slightly more than 2 meters. Moreover, this basketball player is also one of the worst players in the NBA. If the weight of his colleagues is much higher than 100 kilograms, then Manute Bol weighs only 95.

Well, the title of the tallest NBA player deserves Gheorghe Muresan from Romania with a height of 232 cm. In addition to his sports career, Gheorghe masters other activities. For example, she acts in films and music videos. You can see the acting talents of this athlete in the comedy "My Giant".

The tallest basketball player in the USSR

But our country also has something to be proud of! In 1959, the highest basketball player of the USSR, Alexander Sizonenko, was born. In 1990, his name was included in the Guinness Book of Records, because his height reached 2.39 cm. He set a record as the tallest person not only in the USSR, but throughout the world.

Alexander Sizonenko was the tallest basketball player in the USSR

During his life, Alexander played for Spartak Leningrad, Stroitel Kuibyshev, and was also a candidate for the USSR national team. His game was distinguished by a very developed positional instinct, he was good at passing passes, but experts believed that due to his height he was not as fast as the game required. At 19In 86, he had to leave the sport due to health problems. Subsequently, he also starred in the film, the Czechoslovak fairy tale "The Brave Little Tailor", where he played the role of a giant.

Alexander Sizonenko continued to grow throughout his life. Problems with the pituitary gland did not recede, although the doctors performed Alexander's brain surgery twice. In the seventies, he was told that Alexander would last a maximum of twenty years. But he lived much longer and passed away on January 5, 2012. By this time, his height was already 245 cm.

Before his death, the height of basketball player Alexander Sizonenko was 245 cm

By the way, the tallest woman playing basketball was also a Soviet athlete, Uliana Semyonova. Her height is 210 cm, and her weight is 127 kilograms. The merits of Ulyana Semenova can hardly be overestimated, because she repeatedly won the titles of world champions and the USSR, is the owner of numerous cups, and was also awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples and others.

And in modern Russia, the first place in height was taken by Pavel Podslezin. He is also one of the ten tallest NBA basketball players. His height is 224 cm. Now he plays for various Russian clubs, setting an example of high sports training for young basketball players. The athlete cares about the development of Russian clubs and their achievement of the highest results.

Ulyana Semenova - the tallest female basketball player

The tallest basketball player in history

Well, the tallest basketball player in the history of basketball is recognized as Suleiman Ali Nashnush. The growth of this Libyan athlete was 245 cm. Back in 1962, he played for the Libyan basketball team. But Suleiman was never able to build a good sports career. Health problems made themselves felt, and he had to go under the surgeon's knife.

Suleiman was also given iron supplements to stop his abnormal growth. The athlete lived only 47 years, having died at 1991 year. But there was another significant event in his life - in 1969 he starred in the film by Federico Fellini himself "Satyricon".

Suleiman Ali Nashnoush is the tallest basketball player in history

As we can see, height is not a guarantee of success in basketball. The most striking example here is the famous basketball player Michael Jordan. His numerous sporting achievements are the merit of being the most jumping basketball player in the world. For this feature, Michael was nicknamed the Air Jordan. By the way, his height for a basketball player is very average, only 198 cm.

The tallest basketball player in the world

And now it's the turn to find out the name of the tallest basketball player in the modern world. Sun Ming Ming is only slightly shorter than the legendary Suleiman Ali Nushnoush and his height is 240 cm. With his existence, Sun Ming Ming refutes the generally accepted opinion about the Chinese as the shortest nation.

Sun Ming Ming is the tallest basketball player of our time

Sun Ming Ming is currently playing in the ABA league team. He is actively training to fulfill his dream of getting into the NBA. But so far, no club in this league has invited an athlete, it was considered that his physical fitness was not too high. However, the basketball player does not leave hope for this and does everything to match the level of his idol Yao Ming.

It should be noted that if not for the operation on the pituitary gland, Sun Ming Ming would have continued to grow. The weight of the basketball player is also rather big - 160 kg. His dimensions were noticed even by Hollywood, and the athlete was lucky enough to play in the same film with Jackie Chan. And, according to uznayvse.ru, his cinematic career may turn out to be more successful than his sports one.

But not all tall people on the planet play basketball. Find out about them - what they do and how they live!

How tall was the tallest basketball player

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Two meters? Two and a half? Three? We made the top of the tallest athletes


We are so used to the fact that basketball players are tall that we even call tall people “basketball players”. But can you imagine how tall the tallest athlete in the history of this sport was? Two meters? Two ten? Three meters? We have compiled the top 7 tallest basketball players in the history of professional sports in order to finally figure out the numbers.

7th place. Yao Ming

Chinese center Yao Ming is probably the most popular basketball player on the internet. Everyone saw the famous laughing meme with him.

But besides the fact that he is very popular, he is also very tall: the athlete's height is 229 centimeters. Thanks to this, he became the tallest player included in the basketball hall of fame, and at the same time one of the most successful and wealthy Chinese athletes.

6th place. Slavko Vranesh

The height of the tallest basketball player in the Balkans is 230 centimeters. Vranesh started his career at the end of 90s, playing for the Serbian Zheleznik. At the beginning of the 2000s, he tried to conquer the NBA, but his career abroad did not work out.

5th place. Suleiman Ali Nashnoush

For a long time, this Libyan athlete of the 60s was considered the tallest basketball player with a height of 245 centimeters, but a little later it turned out that his real height was 230 centimeters, and at the same time the athlete continued to grow. To stop this process, he went through a special drug course.

4th place. Manute Bol

Basketball player Manute Bol of Sudanese origin is known not only for his tall height: 231 centimeters, but also for his unusual thinness: Manute weighed about 100 kilograms, while Yao Ming's weight is 141 kilograms.

3rd place. Gheorghe Muresan

The official height of the Romanian basketball player Gheorghe Muresan is 231 centimeters, but according to other information, his real height is a couple of centimeters higher, which makes him the tallest player in the history of the NBA.

2nd place. Sun Mingming

The Chinese are not the tallest people in the world, which is why it is a little surprising that the tallest active athlete - Sun Mingming - comes from China. His post is 236 centimeters!

1st place. Alexander Sizonenko

The tallest basketball player Alexander Sizonenko is from Russia. In addition to the "high" basketball title, he was also recognized as the tallest man in the world and is considered the tallest man in Russian history. His height was 245 centimeters.

Growth for Alexander became a huge problem, because the athlete continued to grow until the end of his life. In recent years, he moved only with the help of crutches. The tallest basketball player died in 2012 at the age of 52.

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