Learning to watch basketball may seem like a strange concept to a long time fan. But it’s definitely a thing. An appreciation for the game in general may evolve naturally, but even then, you need to learn the rules to really know what’s going on.
And like any sport, it can be a little confusing at first. Are you interested in building a better understanding and enjoyment of the game? If so, basketball is one of the most rewarding sports to follow and share with friends and family.
I’m relatively new to the game, so I still have a fresh understanding of what it takes to learn how to enjoy its various aspects. Even if you’ve been watching basketball for years, you can always deepen your understanding of the game. I’ll walk you through some of what I encountered as I went from someone who had no interest in the game whatsoever, to someone who can’t help but stop and watch even the sloppiest of pickup games for a bit.
Read on for a quick primer on how to fall in love with this endlessly fascinating game.
The Curb Appeal
First of all, you’ve got to learn to appreciate the thing that is basketball, the squeak of the shoes on the court, the natural back and forth motion of the players, the core elements of the sport. It’s a beautiful game.
But don’t let it hold you back if you’re not feeling the magic. Anything you do is going to take practice, so if you’re still learning to watch basketball, you’re gonna need to sit through some games. Get comfortable with it and find those moments of enjoyment as you would with any pursuit.
Starting off Slow in Learning to Watch Basketball
There’s nothing wrong with starting off easy. There are plenty of ways to ease into an appreciation for basketball.
If you’re into movies, there are great basketball movies in every genre. He Got Game, Hooziers, Above the Rim Space Jam, these are all fantastic in their own ways. And of course there are new basketball movies coming out every year. They may lean on storytelling and drama to entertain, but they leverage the natural excitement of basketball to push their plots. Enjoying this manufactured drama can spark an appreciation for the real drama that occurs on and around the game.
If you’re less patient, or you’ve already picked up an appreciation for some of basketball’s more exciting maneuvers, try watching some clips. Pick one of those basketball moves that makes you go, “wow”. It could be passing, or dunking or long distance shooting. Go on Youtube and find some videos that feature that specific action. If you need some recommendations, I have a whole post on my favorite Youtube basketball channels.
Watching Your First Basketball Game
You don’t have to watch every second of a basketball game. This isn’t baseball where you can wander off and grab a hot dog and the chances of missing anything are slim to none. But It’s also not some confusing ass movie where missing a 5 second stretch is gonna throw you off for the rest of the experience. Put the game on. If you get bored, do something else for a bit and come back to it.
The Rules
I don’t think it’s worth it to get too caught up in the rules early on. But there are definitely a few concepts that you should grasp in order to follow the game effectively.
An overlooked resource, the NBA maintains an impressive collection of videos that helps to clarify the details of these confusing concepts. It’s called the NBA video rule book, and it contains multiple examples of violations of any of the following rules and more.
The Shot Clock
A key concept that is often overlooked by the casual observer is the shot clock. Once a team takes possession of the ball, they have a set amount of time to attempt a shot. If you’re watching a televised game, that time often appears on the screen. The specific time varies across different leagues. The shot clock has a major influence on the pace of the game.
Fouls
Fouls can get pretty confusing and their interpretation is well known to flex and evolve over time and across the various leagues. The basic concept is that if you get too pushy or reckless, the opposing player gets awarded uncontested shots on the basket. Players have made entire careers on getting to that free throw line and delivering efficiently.
3-Pointers
And then there’s the 3-point line. You probably knew about the 3-point line, even before Curry made it a thing. But this line can be marked at different distances in various leagues, and effectiveness from this range can have a major effect on game strategy.
The Positions
You’ll want to get a basic understanding of the positions and their roles. I put this post together to try and make it as simple as possible to wrap your head around the positions.
Picking a Basketball Team when First Learning to Watch Basketball
You don’t have to by any means, but at some point you’re probably going to want to pick a team. That also means picking a league. Pulling for a crew that you’re emotionally invested in can really ignite the experience of watching basketball.
Most often, your team finds you. Maybe your team gets handed down generationally from a parent or relative. Maybe you move to a new town where the team is a part of the local culture. Or maybe your partner gets you started. But sometimes that’s not the case.
If you’re so fortunate as to be fully unencumbered in selecting your favorite basketball team, consider yourself lucky. You can start completely from scratch.
We can start by picking a league. Each league comes with its own rules, pace, skill level, and rituals. Let’s take a look at the most widely accessible basketball leagues.
What Basketball League Should I Follow?
The NBA
The NBA is the obvious choice, but it is not for everyone. The NBA has a unique style of play. These are the most skilled basketball players in the world facing the highest stakes and making the biggest plays. The NBA has been tweaking their system for generations to make the game more and more engaging to the widest group of people.
There are some downsides though. There’s often an element of off-court drama in the league that can be frustrating. Games can be prohibitively expensive to watch and attend. And if you only watch NBA games, you don’t get a feel for what the game means to anyone but incredibly wealthy, male, mega-athletes.
NCAA
NCAA hoops is a different world. There are a ton of teams with multiple divisions in both male and female leagues. It’s a lot to keep up with but it can be rewarding to spot and follow early talent. March Madness is the main tournament that draws in the curious college basketball fan and even if you’re more interested in one of the other leagues, you’re likely to want to catch some of the action.
March Madness kinda kicks off the tournament basketball season, leading into the NBA Playoffs in April, often followed by some kind of summer FIBA tournament, and then the WNBA finals in August-September.
The pace of a college game is slower and the skill level is a big notch down. That’s not always a downside. NCAA basketball can feel more accessible and be a little easier to follow.
The WNBA
The WNBA is gaining popularity, and rightly so. The basic skill level is above college. There’s a noticeably different vibe to the men’s league. While the games can still get chippy, I feel that there’s a stronger tone of courtesy and camaraderie in the average WNBA game.
Both college and WNBA can make it a little easier to enjoy the natural flow of the sport because they eliminate a lot of the performative nature of the NBA. The WNBA is almost entirely devoid of dunking. This has a massive impact on game strategy. If you truly enjoy watching basketball, you may well prefer the WNBA.
FIBA
International basketball is something else entirely. Unless you’ve got a team nearby, the most accessible games are probably going to all be tournament play, with FIBA hosting a ton of tournaments, around the world. This can be a great way to enjoy some of your favorite NBA players as they battle it out in an entirely different context and on a different playing field where the player has a greater tendency to take a backseat to coaching and patriotism.
I discovered FIBA when I realized some of my favorite players were facing off in legitimate, world-class tournament games in the middle of the off season. This was like a basketball oasis appearing in the middle of a vast basketball dessert.
The balls are different colors, and the South American games have weird nets, but this is still great basketball. A particularly appealing aspect of the FIBA tournaments is that what you may know as a fairly mediocre NBA player can be an absolute beast in international play. You may be surprised how many second-stringers are massive stars on their home teams.
Minor Leagues
The G-League is the most prominent minor league. If you’ve got a team nearby, the tickets can be cheaper and the play can be super entertaining. You’ll be able to follow some players very early in their careers, and there are plenty of players in the G-League that are on a hard track to the NBA, just working in the G-League to get a feel for more demanding play as they move into their primes.
What Basketball Team Should I Follow?
Keep an eye out for the style of play that appeals to you. In most cases, the team closest to you will be the team that ropes you in.
But you may be drawn to a team for other reasons. Maybe there’s a player you love to watch. Maybe there’s a team that just vibes with your personality. Either way, I can only recommend you keep an open mind and let your team find you.
Heightening the Experience
Once you’ve built a basic appreciation for the game, there are a number of things that can kick that up a notch and take you from a casual observer to a true fan. This is all about building on the experience.
Basketball Strategy
Beginning to understand basketball strategy can completely change the way you appreciate basketball. I know that digging into strategic concepts shifted my perspective entirely. Where previously, I would watch my favorite team play casually, now I can’t help but stop and watch any game and analyzing the movements, and trying to learn as I watch. I’ll even stop and watch rec league games at the gym at this point and be just as entertained as I am with NBA games.
Horns set offense is a great starting point. Once you understand horns set, you’ll start to see it everywhere. From a rough understanding of some basic offensive basketball concepts, you can jump into defense.
I personally find basketball defense more interesting. Starting to unravel defensive movements will really shift your perspective. When you start to get excited about transitional movements and defensive choices, then you’re really on your way to a serious basketball addiction.
The surrounding elements
Once you get into the sport itself, the surrounding activities start to become interesting. You start to become invested in drafting and trading, sometimes even the soap opera that swirls around the league.
A topic that often gets overlooked is player rights. It’s just not that interesting to most people to dig into the legalese surrounding these million and billion dollar entities and their relationships. But once you grasp that basketball is in fact a job, and that players are employees, you begin to see behind the curtain as never before.
See, you may have heard about lockouts, where the players sit out part of a season while negotiations are stalled. The result of these negotiations is an important document called a CBA, or a Collective Bargaining Agreement.
This document outlines what teams and owners and players are allowed or not allowed to do. You’ll find that this legal document dictates a huge amount of what goes on in the league, from trades, to contract extensions, to suspensions. This document can have huge effects, it can even make or break championship teams.
The document itself is ridiculously long and dry, but a new CBA dropped in April 2023, and I summarized the main changes to the agreement for 2023. It’s a fairly light read and it may be the one most informative post I’ve got on the inner workings of the NBA.
Fantasy Basketball
Fantasy sports are not just for nerds. Well, maybe baseball is. But basketball is a relaxed enough playing field for fantasy that it can be a fantastic gateway.
If you’ve never participated in a fantasy league, the key thing to understand is that it helps you have some buy-in with teams and players that you might otherwise dismiss. I’m not super interested in the Memphis Grizzlies for instance, but their Shooting Guard is on my fantasy team and he had a great night. So now I’m gonna have to watch the highlights.
I like the ESPN league. Yahoo! is popular as well. Either way, you can jump on a beginner league very easily and it is not intimidating. There’s someone in my league that just straight only drafted players from The Warriors. This is a terrible strategy, but they probably love the Warriors and that works for them.
Play
This can feel intimidating. But playing around at your local court can get you a little more excited to watch the pros.
When I started playing basketball, I had no idea what I was doing. I started out by binge watching shooting primers on Youtube. I started walking over to the court almost every day with my daughter to shoot and practice my handles. I’m still not any good.
But the thing that I quickly discovered is that the game can be infectious. Especially if you start tuning up, improving your shot and your handles. I can’t even count the number of times people of all kinds have walked up to me and asked to take a shot or play a quick game. I’ve played impromptu pick-up games against 10 year olds and 50 year olds.
Sports Bars
I personally love to watch a game in a sports bar once in awhile. Most cities will have enough sports bars that you can find one that will cater to basketball specifically, if not your specific basketball team. I’m always entertained to discover obscure fan-groups in my locale.
Ball is Life
At any rate, I just hope you discover an appreciation for this awesome sport. One of the beautiful things about basketball is that anyone is welcome. It may seem like you have to be 6’6″ and a gifted athlete to enjoy this sport and that is absolutely not the case. You need nothing but a ball, a basket and an open heart.