How Many Laps Around a NBA, NCAA and High School Basketball Court is a Mile?
Basketball is a sport, and like any other sport, it has a set of benefits. One key benefit is improving your health and physical strength. If you want to be able to measure how many miles you are running while playing or just using the court to run laps then you need to know how many laps around a basketball court is a mile.
An NBA or college basketball court will take 18.33 laps to travel 1 mile (1.6 km). High school basketball courts are smaller, so it will take you 19.7 laps to travel 1 mile (1.6 km).
How To Measure The Perimeter Of A Basketball Court
If you are at a basketball court at an elementary school, YMCA, or some other non-standard court it is handy to know how to calculate the perimeter. That way you can know how many laps you have to run around a basketball court in order to complete one mile. To find out, first measure the length and width of a basketball court on your own using a measuring tape. Now it is just a matter of calculating the perimeter of a rectangle (basketball courts are a rectangle shape).
Now that you have measurements of each side the formula is:
Perimeter = a + b + a + b
Just add all of the sides together. Of course, since the opposite sides of a rectangle are equal you could also calculate it by adding side A and side B together and then multiplying by 2:
Perimeter = (a + b) x 2
Calculating How Many Laps Around A Basketball Court Is A Mile
OK, now we need to know how many feet are in a mile. 5,280 feet is roughly equal to 1 mile. So divide 5,280 by the perimeter you calculated. That number will give you how many laps will equal a mile.
The formula for calculating an NBA court perimeter:
18.33 = 5280/(94+50+94+50 )
Measurement of Basketball Courts
Basketball courts come in a variety of sizes and each size has specific names and measurements. The National Basketball Association (NBA) court is 94′ long by 50′ wide, giving the entire court an area of 9,450 square feet. The NCAA college basketball court is the same length as the NBA’s but 57′ wide. High school courts are much smaller than those used by professional or collegiate players.
Basketball courts have a standard set of measurements depending on the level (youth, high school, college, or NBA). Here is a table of commonly used basketball court sizes and how many laps equal a mile:
| Court Type | Length | Width | Laps Per Mile |
| NBA | 94 | 50 | 18.33 |
| College | 94 | 50 | 18.33 |
| High School | 84 | 50 | 19.7 |
| Junior High | 74 | 42 | 23.2 |
| FIBA (Olympic) | 91.9 | 49.2 | 18.6 |
Conditioning Drills Using a Basketball Court
This is a great video on conditioning drills you can do on a basketball court. Now, with your new knowledge, you can figure out how many miles you go during your workout.
How Much Is Too Much Basketball?
Basketball is a great way to burn calories and get in shape, but when done excessively, it can leave a person exhausted and injured. To stay healthy, it’s important to work out with balance — overdoing it can leave you sore and in pain. Follow these tips before your next workout to find the right balance between health and exercise.
- Keep practices sharp, short, and focused.
- It’s important to give your players at least one day off.
- Players need to take care of their bodies by giving them rest, managing sleep schedules, eating well, and drinking lots of water.
Only you can determine how much basketball you can play based on what shape you are in and what intensity you play. 90 minutes or 3 to 5 games to 15 seems to be a good balance for a recreational player.
How Many Miles Does a Basketball Player Run In A Game
The average NBA player runs about 2 miles per game. Although it can differ depending on how many minutes a player plays. As an example, according to Basketball News, Fred Van Vleet averaged a league-high 2.76 miles per game in 2020 and is leading the league again in 2021\22 at 2.88. If you look at the top 15 NBA players in miles per game they will average around 2.73 miles per game. The NBA tracks miles per game here.
Troy Wright
I am a lifetime basketball enthusiast and loved playing basketball competitively through high school. I still try and play at least 3 times a week and explore all kinds of equipment and training to keep myself on the court and continually getting better. I am a college basketball fanatic and move onto the NBA when March Madness ends.
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