Most buyers asking for basketball court dimensions want a short list of numbers. The international court is 28 m by 15 m. The NBA and NCAA court is 94 ft by 50 ft, and the high school court is 84 ft by 50 ft. Each figure is measured from the inner edge of the boundary line, and that detail is where most site surveys go wrong.
Published basketball court dimensions usually stop at the boundary line. They never tell you how much floor to pave, how high the ceiling has to be, or how many turf rolls to order. We work from the rule texts and carry the same numbers through to the paved area, because that is where a project budget is decided.
Official Court Sizes for Five Rule Sets
Comparing basketball court dimensions by level belongs in one table, because every rule set measures from its own edge. FIBA counts from the inner edge of the boundary line. The NCAA and NFHS rules count from the inside edges of the sidelines and end lines.
The measurement logic is not unique to basketball. Our guide to football field dimensions applies the same line-based sizing and run-off logic to pitch standards, worth reading before a survey brief goes out.
| Measure | FIBA | NBA | WNBA | NCAA | NFHS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Court length | 28 m | 94 ft | 94 ft | 94 ft | 84 ft |
| Court width | 15 m | 50 ft | 50 ft | 50 ft | 50 ft |
| Three-point, top of arc | 6.75 m | 23 ft 9 in | 22 ft 1.75 in | 22 ft 1.75 in | 19 ft 9 in |
| Three-point, corner | 6.60 m | 22 ft | 22 ft | 21 ft 7.875 in | Not labelled |
| Free-throw line | 5.80 m from endline | 15 ft from backboard | 15 ft from backboard | 15 ft from backboard | 15 ft from backboard |
| Key width | 4.90 m | 16 ft | 16 ft | 12 ft | 12 ft |
| Rim height | 10 ft (3.05 m) | 10 ft (3.05 m) | 10 ft (3.05 m) | 10 ft (3.05 m) | 10 ft (3.05 m) |
| Playing area | 420 m² | 4,700 sq ft | 4,700 sq ft | 4,700 sq ft | 4,200 sq ft |
| Length in yards | 30.6 yd | 31.3 yd | 31.3 yd | 31.3 yd | 28 yd |
Free-throw lines use different references: the FIBA figure starts at the endline, while the others at the backboard plane. Corner figures follow each rule set’s own base, and the NFHS diagram carries no labelled corner figure, so none is quoted here.
Wheelchair (parasport) basketball uses the standard FIBA court of 28 m by 15 m, with the rim at 3.05 m. The lines and three-point distances match running basketball.
That table answers most sizing questions. What follows covers what a table cannot show: how each level is marked, how much room the surroundings need, and what a paved floor turns into.
FIBA Court Size: 28 m by 15 m Explained
The FIBA Official Basketball Rules set the international court at 28 m in length by 15 m in width, measured from the inner edge of the boundary line. That one sentence carries the whole layout, and the playing area covers 420 square metres.
The court and the floor
Around the court, the rules add a boundary lane at least 2 m wide and free of obstructions. That pushes the minimum floor size to 32 m by 19 m, and the floor covers 608 square metres. That is 188 square metres more paving than the marked court, about 45 percent more.
Painted lines and circles
All court lines are 5 cm wide and drawn in white or another contrasting colour. The centre line extends 0.15 m beyond each sideline, the centre circle has a radius of 1.80 m, and the free-throw semi-circles match.
The free-throw line has its furthest edge 5.80 m from the inner edge of the endline and runs 3.60 m long. The restricted area is drawn by lines whose outer edges sit 2.45 m from the mid-point of the endlines, making the paint