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Fantasy basketball


Fantasy basketball is a fantasy sport inspired by fantasy baseball. Originally played by keeping track of stats by hand, it was popularized during the 1990s after the advent of the Internet. Those who play this game are sometimes referred to as general managers (GMs), who draft actual National Basketball Association (NBA) players and compute their basketball statistics. The online format of the game has been popularized by websites, such as ESPN Fantasy Sports, NBA.com, and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

There are many rule variations when playing fantasy basketball. The rules used in a particular league are determined by the rule settings. Some common rule variations are discussed below.

Commonly, fantasy basketball leagues may track as few as three or as many as eleven categories. Three-category leagues usually account for only points, rebounds, and assists. Five-category leagues generally add blocks and steals. Eight-category leagues usually add field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and either three-point field goals made or three-point field goal percentage. Nine-category leagues usually add turnovers. Rarely, other statistics such as fouls are counted. Some leagues also prefer to break down the rebounds category into two categories: offensive and defensive rebounds.

Some leagues allow the league "commissioner" to determine which categories will be tracked. If these categories are chosen poorly, the league may be unfairly weighted for or against certain positions. For example, a league that tracks points, assists, steals, free throw percentage and three-point field goals would be weighted toward guards, who typically have higher numbers in many of those categories, and against power forwards and centers, who typically have higher numbers in the rebound, block and field goal percentage categories, which are not counted.


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