Basketball has always been the sport of 5 players vs 5 players on the court. You may be wondering if there’s any circumstances in which you can play while having less than 5 players. So here’s the answer.

When a game begins, each team must have a starting five. As the game goes on, people may foul out or get ejected from the game. In the NBA, teams may not go below 5 players. So if there’s no substitutes left, the last player to foul out has to stay in. However, every single time that player commits a foul, it will be called a technical foul. In College, the players are disqualified with 6 fouls no matter what, having to play with whatever is left.

In terms of high school, the rules are the same as college. However, there may be some local rules that vary from state to state. In terms of youth leagues, the coaches or players can decide what’s best for the team.

Take a look at this video from 2017 of Alabama having to play with just 3 players.

What Would Happen If a Whole Basketball Team Fouled Out?

In the NBA we basically already explained that the team would be forced to play with just 5 players.

In College, if a team got down to 1 player they would be able to play. If the game was out of reach then the team would probably forgo playing with just 1 player and forfeit the game.

If there were a couple seconds left, and the player had the chance to possibly win the game, then the team might give it a shot. In this situation, there would likely be some controversy around whether or not to let the player continue playing alone with his teammates being disqualified.

I’m not really sure how they would handle inbounding the ball and things of that sort, but I also think that this situation is unlikely to ever happen in a real game.

How Many Fouls Does It Take To Come Out Of The Game?

In high school and college It only takes 5 fouls to get kicked out of the game, regardless of the situation. The player will have to go to their bench and sit out.

In the NBA it takes 6 fouls to foul out, but like stated above, if you’re the last player available to your team then you have to stay in.

What Are All The Ways Players Could Come Out Of The Game?

We’ve covered fouling out as the main way that players can leave the game, but there are other ways as well.

Fighting Or Flagrant Fouls: Players could get kicked out of the game for fighting or committing a flagrant foul.

Injuries: If a player gets injured, they may be forced to leave the game depending on how severe their injury is.

Two Technical Fouls: If you complain too much or get into arguments with the refs, you may be given a technical foul and eventually two technical fouls, which would result in an ejection.

Can You Play With Less Than 5 Players In Pickup Basketball?

The best part about pick up basketball, is you could play with as little as 2 players. One on one is always a great way to practice your game and work on your skills.

Even if you have an uneven number of players, in example, 3. You could play a game of 21. 21 is a game where 1 one player gets the ball, the other two defend, and when the one player scores they get 2 points. After every shot you make, you get 3 free throws. Whoever hits 21 first wins.

There are some added rules like tip in’s (if you tip in a free-throw the other player goes down to zero) and a final shot at the end where you have to hit it to secure the win.

Here is an example of 21 in action, so you could possibly play it with your friends.

Conclusion

As you could see, the rules vary when it comes to how many players could play in a game based on the league you’re playing in or watching.

If you have any further questions, leave them in the comments below and we will do our best to have them answered for you. To see some related posts, click on the tags below: