Little League Basketball Rules

The Little League of Basketball, which is also known as National Junior Basketball, has rules and regulations which are almost identical to all other levels of organized basketball. There are certain rules which are more important than others for junior players to learn so that they can excel at playing the game on a higher level, as well as experiencing the joys of this popular team sport.

  1. Length of Playing Periods

    • There are five periods, which span eight minutes each in the National Junior Basketball leagues and the clock will run throughout every period. The clock will only be stopped during the last two minutes of the last period of the game when the ball is dead on the floor, during a timeout, on all shooting fouls, or when the referee signals to stop the clock. The first and second periods constitute the first half in Little League Basketball and the third, fourth and fifth periods make up the second half, creating a half time of only three minutes, so the game can move along quickly.

    Player Involvement

    • In Little League Basketball, all players are required to participate in the game. Every player must play one full continuous period in the first half and one full continuous period in the second half. Each player should also play one full continuous period before the fifth period. No free substitutions can occur until the fifth period of the game either, except in the case of injury or illness. All teams are required to have at least five players to start a game. If the team only has five or six players, then they will be automatically penalized two points at the start of the game.

    Overtime

    • There are no tie games in Little League Basketball, as overtime is played to determine a winner. If the game is tied after the fifth period of the game, then an overtime period will be played immediately after. The clock will be set for two minutes, with the first minute being on a continuous clock and the second minute stopping with every dead ball. For the second overtime, the same rules apply. For the third overtime period and beyond, the clock will be set at one minute and the clock will be stopped on all dead ball situations.