Playing basketball is an excellent way to exercise and improve physical health. You may have experienced running laps if you have played basketball as a youth or adult in recreational leagues. That’s the most common way of warming up during practices or even as a punishment from coaches. Therefore, it raises the question: how many laps around a basketball court is a mile?

You may have thought about that at some point but have figured that out yet? Well, the quick answer is around 18-23 laps, depending on the length and width of the basketball court. It’s just simple mathematics, and we will start by knowing the quick, exact dimensions and perimeter of a basketball court. We will also determine the differences in court sizes in high school, college, and NBA basketball.

What is the Size of a Basketball Court?

High School Basketball Courts

A high school basketball court has a length of 84 feet and a width of 50 feet. Knowing these dimensions should enable us to calculate how many laps are there in order to run one mile in a high school basketball court.

First, to easily calculate this, convert one mile into feet. (One mile is equivalent to 5,280 feet.) The laps per mile are taken simply by taking the quotient of one mile divided by the court’s perimeter. In this case, a high school basketball court has a perimeter of 268 feet. (Add [84×2] + [50×2].)

Therefore, the laps per mile in a highschool basketball court is 19.7 laps. Take the quotient of 5,280/268, and there goes your answer. As we said, it only takes simple division and a little refresher course on basic geometry.

NCAA Basketball Court

The NCAA basketball court is slightly larger than high school courts length-wise. It has a length of 94 feet and a width of 50 feet. Hence, the laps per mile in an NCAA basketball court is 18.33 laps, taken by dividing 5,280 feet (one mile) to 288 feet (the perimeter).

NBA Basketball Court

An NBA basketball court has the same dimensions as a college or NCAA basketball court– 94 feet by 50 feet. It follows that the number of laps in a mile around an NBA basketball court is 18.33 laps.

WNBA Basketball Court

The WNBA basketball court follows the same standard in the United States college and NBA basketball courts. That measurement is 94 feet by 50 feet. 

The court used for FIBA competition is slightly smaller than NCAA, WNBA, and NBA basketball courts. It measures 91.9 feet by 49.2 feet.

How to Calculate the Number of Laps Around a Basketball Court

As previously mentioned, it would only take simple mathematics to calculate the number of laps around a basketball court. You first have to know the measurements of the basketball court before you can proceed with the calculation. The measurement or the sum of the length of the basketball court’s sides is called the perimeter. The perimeter of a rectangle is (2L + 2W), which means the length multiplied by two plus the width multiplied by two. 

Now, simply convert one mile to feet. (One mile is 5,280 feet.) Divide 5,280 feet to the perimeter of the basketball court, and there you will get how many laps around a basketball court is a mile. Let’s do that same formula on different courts:

High School Basketball Courts

A high school basketball court is 84 feet by 50 feet, so with the simple formula above, we have 5,280/[(2×84)+(2×50)]= 19.7. It takes 19.7 laps on a high school basketball court to complete one mile.

Now, if we’re talking a junior high school basketball court, it runs 74 feet by 42 feet. Using the same formula, it takes 23.2 laps to complete a mile around a junior high school basketball court.

NCAA Basketball Court

A college or NCAA basketball court is 94 feet by 50 feet. Hence, using the same formula, we get 5,280/[(2×90)+(2×50)]=18.33 laps. It takes 18.33 laps to complete a mile while running around the entire perimeter of an NCAA basketball court.

NBA Basketball Court

An NBA basketball court has the same dimensions as a college basketball court (94 feet x 50 feet); therefore, one mile takes 18.33 laps around an NBA court.

WNBA Basketball Court

The dimensions of a WNBA basketball court is the same as an NCAA and NBA basketball court. That means it would also take 18.33 laps to complete one mile running the entire perimeter of a WNBA basketball court.

If we’re talking a FIBA court, given its dimensions (91.9 feet x 49.2 feet), it will take 18.6 laps to complete one mile running around a FIBA court.

Basic Running Basketball Drills

Running laps around the entire perimeter of the court are one of the simplest conditioning drills to do. Despite its simplicity, it is a proven drill that improves a player’s stamina. Other basketball drills that involve running inside the basketball court include:

• Sprints. A full-court sprint is made by sprinting (not jogging or running) from one baseline to the other and back. These full-court sprints are done five times. A variation is the half-court sprint, done by sprinting from one end to the half-court line, again and again, ten times. Another variation is the ¾ sprint, done by sprinting from the baseline to the farthest free throw line and back.
• Suicides. The suicide running drill is done by sprinting from one baseline, tapping the nearest free throw line, and sprinting back to the baseline. You sprint to the mid-court line from the baseline, tap it, and sprint back to the baseline. Repeat this process to the opposite quarter line and end it up sprinting from baseline to baseline.
• End-to-end run.  Sprint from one baseline to the other as many times as you can in one minute. You will notice that over time, you improve how many times you get from baseline to baseline.

Why Doing Speed and Agility Drills are Important?

Basketball is a game of speed and agility. Speed is defined as how fast someone can run in a straight path or how fast a person can run forward. Sprinting drills are proven to improve a basketball player’s speed over time. 

On the other hand, agility is the ability to accelerate, decelerate, stop on a dime, and change direction. Agility is highly critical in basketball and requires an insane level of neuromuscular efficiency. It can be trained and improved using basic basketball running drills such as suicides and other routines.

Speed and agility are highly crucial in basketball because the game is not played at one pace. There are times when you need to play fast (such as in fastbreaks or transition offense and defense) and times when you need to take it slow and instantly kick into a higher gear. Thus, it is imperative to train to achieve improved speed and agility. If you’re looking for a guide on basketball agility drills, we’ve written a comprehensive guide on the best basketball agility drills here.

5 Fastest Players in the NBA

Technology has improved a lot, and over the years, they have recorded NBA players at their top sprinting speed during games. We recognize that there may be faster players out there, but these 5 have the record to back it up.

1. LeBron James

An athletic freak of nature, James’ top speed has been measured to be 20 miles per hour, according to Sport Science. 

2. Ben Simmons

Like James, Simmons is a 6-foot-10 athletic freak clocked at 3.05 seconds on a ¾ court sprint and 19.7 miles per hour during an NBA game.

3. Tony Parker

The Frenchman has since retired, but he was clocked at a top speed of 20.9 miles per hour in-game in his heyday.

4. Russell Westbrook

According to Sport Science, Westbrook made a full-court sprint at 3.36 seconds, which is half a second faster than the typical NBA player.

5. Nate Robinson

Nate The Great only took 2.96 seconds to run a ¾ court sprint. That’s even faster than Westbrook or John Wall.

Wrapping Things Up: How Many Laps Around a Basketball Court is a Mile

Running laps is a typical drill or exercise related to basketball. A lap is basically the entire perimeter of the court. You may have run laps consistently as a youth basketball or recreational league player, but have you ever wondered how many laps should you run to complete a mile?

Well, first off, depending on the level of competition, basketball courts are of different dimensions. In high school, a basketball court is typically at 84 feet by 50 feet while at college, the NBA, and the WNBA, the court follows the standard of 94 feet by 50 feet. Basketball courts used by FIBA competitions are slightly smaller than the ones used in college and the NBA. It is measured at 91.9 feet by 49.2 feet.

To determine how many laps around a basketball court is a mile, convert one mile into feet. (One mile is equal to 5,280 feet.) Use the formula 5280/(perimeter of the basketball court), which may differ according to the standard dimensions of high school, college, professional, and international competitions. Using that simple mathematical formula, it takes 19.7 laps to run a mile in a high school basketball court. In college, the NBA, and WNBA, it would take 18.33 laps. In FIBA competitions, it takes 18.6 laps to run a mile around a basketball court. 

If you found this post helpful, you’re definitely going to like our other basketball FAQ articles here.

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