Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, and LeBron James playing for Team USA in the Olympics. Image courtesy of Getty Images
The NBA is the world’s premier basketball league, where the game’s greatest players compete on the highest level of competition. But FIBA is the governing body that rules over the international style of play for the game of basketball. This summer, the two will clash when NBA players head overseas to Paris, France to partake in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
There, FIBA will have full control of the games, their rules, style, and overall format. While the game of basketball is the fundamental similarity, FIBA possesses a few major rule differences than the NBA.
Therefore, the game will be slightly different during the Olympics than it is during a typical NBA season. Here are a few of the basic rule differences you need to know before watching the NBA’s biggest stars take to the international stage at the Olympic Games this summer.
Basic Differences
On the surface, FIBA possesses a few different rules that are noticeable by any NBA fan right off the bat. The game is played in four 10-minute quarters, as opposed to the NBA’s format of four 12-minute quarters. Games, therefore, are a total of 40 minutes in FIBA.
In both the NBA and FIBA, the shot clock is set at 24 seconds. However, in FIBA, the shot clock is set to 14 following an offensive rebound — the NBA possesses no such clock shift. The three-point line in FIBA is also a bit closer to the basket than in the NBA — 6.75 meters (22.1 feet) in FIBA as opposed to 7.24 meters (23.7 feet) in the NBA.
Fouls are also different. In the NBA, a player fouls out after committing either six fouls or two technical fouls. But in FIBA, a player fouls out after committing a total of five fouls of any kind. In the NBA, play resumes at the point of a technical foul following the free throws. But in FIBA, the player is awarded one free throw after a technical, and possession is returned to center court.
Differences in Play
FIBA possesses different rules during play as well. Perhaps the biggest difference is in goaltending: in the NBA, a player cannot block a shot that is in a downward trajectory towards the basket, otherwise it counts as goaltending and the subsequent points are awarded.
This also applies to FIBA; however, defenders are allowed to swat the ball away if it touches the rim. Once the ball has made contact with the rim, an offensive player can push the ball into the goal — this is not allowed in the NBA.
FIBA also lacks restriction in the paint. In that league, players can remain in the lane for as long as they want, hogging the paint and therefore making it harder for players to score at the rim. This is a huge contrast to the NBA, where players cannot remain in the paint for longer than three seconds.
Both of these rule differences give the edge in play to big men, prioritizing their play. It also puts a greater emphasis on defense, something that the NBA has arguably been lacking in recent years.
FIBA’s rules ensure that the level of competitive play is balanced across the board, as it is undeniable that NBA players possess a huge advantage over other global players who are not in the NBA.
