{"id":12480,"date":"2024-06-11T10:57:48","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T07:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/?p=12480"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:17:09","slug":"positioning-basketball-five-basketball-positions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/positioning-basketball-five-basketball-positions\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketball Positions: The Five Roles and Where Players Stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]An NBA court is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide, and it still feels crowded with ten (usually big) players on it. Basketball positions are how a team divides up that space. Each of the five positions comes with its own job, its own part of the court and its own set of skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this guide I cover all five positions in basketball, what each player is responsible for and how positioning works in attack and in defence.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_raw_js el_class=”banner-highlight”]JTNDc2NyaXB0JTIwdHlwZSUzRCUyMnRleHQlMkZqYXZhc2NyaXB0JTIyJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZqcy43YmV0LnBhcnRuZXJzJTJGamF2YXNjcmlwdC5waHAlM0ZwcmVmaXglM0RnMHRwcEFNSVpFbVhyWnp4QzYzOG5XTmQ3WmdxZFJMayUyNmFtcCUzQm1lZGlhJTNENDU5JTI2YW1wJTNCY2FtcGFpZ24lM0Q0MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRnNjcmlwdCUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_js][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

How Many Players Are on a Basketball Team?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Five per team on the court at any one time<\/b>. An NBA squad has 15 players and a coach will usually use nine or ten of them in a game, but only five are allowed on the floor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those five are the <\/span>point guard<\/b>, <\/span>shooting guard<\/b>, <\/span>small forward<\/b>, <\/span>power forward <\/b>and <\/span>centre<\/b>. Substitutions are unlimited, so line-ups change all the time while the five positions stay the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Basketball Positions by Number (1\u20135)<\/b><\/h2>\n

Every position also has a number and knowing them makes a lot of basketball commentary easier to follow.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Number<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nPosition<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/b><\/span><\/td>\nPoint Guard (PG)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/b><\/span><\/td>\nShooting Guard (SG)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/b><\/span><\/td>\nSmall Forward (SF)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/b><\/span><\/td>\nPower Forward (PF)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/b><\/span><\/td>\nCentre (C)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Coaches use these numbers because plays are drawn up for spots on the floor, not for particular players. If a play tells the 2 to run to the corner, it works no matter who is playing there that night.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commentators picked up the same habit, so a player described as a natural 3 is a small forward, and someone “playing the 4” has been moved into the power forward’s job for a while. It’s also the quickest way to describe a player who covers more than one role.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Five Basketball Positions<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"Basketball<\/span><\/p>\n

The five basketball positions and roles below run from smallest to biggest, which is also roughly how far from the basket each one plays.<\/span><\/p>\n

Point Guard (PG)<\/b><\/h3>\n

The point guard brings the ball up the court and decides what the team does with it. Usually the shortest player on the floor, and the one making the most decisions. For this reason they\u2019re also known as <\/span>playmakers<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main jobs:<\/span><\/p>\n