Hoops Slang and Terms A to Z

Basketball has two languages: the rule book and the playground. This glossary covers both, so you can follow a broadcast, understand your coach and keep up with the trash talk at the park.

A college guard dribbling the ball low as two defenders close in

Dribbling under pressure: Neon Tommy, CC BY-SA 2.0

A to Z

Term	Meaning
And-one	A made basket while being fouled, which earns one free throw.
Alley-oop	A pass thrown near the rim that a teammate catches in the air and dunks or lays in.
Assist	A pass that leads directly to a made basket.
Bank shot	A shot played off the backboard. Tim Duncan's specialty.
Bucket	A made basket. A scorer who makes a lot of them is called a bucket getter.
Brick	An ugly miss that clanks off the rim.
Charge	An offensive foul when a ball handler runs into a set defender.
Crossover	Switching the dribble from one hand to the other in front of the body to beat a defender.
Cookies	Slang for steals, or for embarrassing a defender with handles.
Dime	A great pass that leads to a score.
Double-double	Reaching 10 or more in two stat categories in one game, such as points and rebounds.
Euro step	A two-step move that changes direction in the air during a layup, made famous in the NBA by Manu Ginobili.
Fadeaway	A jump shot taken while leaning back, away from the defender.
Fast break	Pushing the ball up the floor quickly before the defense sets up.
Flagrant foul	Unnecessary or excessive contact. It gives free throws plus possession and can lead to ejection.
Glass	The backboard. Crashing the glass means attacking the rebound.
Goaltending	Touching a shot on its way down toward the basket. The basket counts anyway.
Handles	Ball handling skill.
Heat check	A wild shot taken by a player who has made several in a row, to see if they are still hot.
Hesi	Short for hesitation: a pause in the dribble to freeze a defender.
Iso	Isolation play: four players clear out so one can go one-on-one.
Kicks	Sneakers.
Logo shot	A deep three taken from near the half-court logo. Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Caitlin Clark made it famous.
Lockdown	Excellent defense that shuts a player down.
Mid-range	Shots inside the three-point line but away from the paint.
Nothing but net	A swish: the ball goes through without touching the rim.
Paint	The painted lane under the basket, also called the key.
Pick and roll	A teammate sets a screen for the ball handler, then rolls toward the rim for a pass.
Posterize	To dunk over a defender so hard it looks like a poster.
Rack	The rim. Attacking the rack means driving to the basket.
Shot clock	The countdown, 24 seconds in the NBA and WNBA, by which a team must shoot.
Sixth man	The first player off the bench, often a scorer.
Splash	A clean made three. The Warriors' Curry and Klay Thompson were the Splash Brothers.
Stretch four	A power forward who shoots threes.
Swat	A blocked shot, especially one sent into the stands.
Three-and-D	A role player whose main jobs are hitting threes and defending.
Traveling	Taking too many steps without dribbling. Also called walking.
Triple-double	Ten or more in three categories in one game. Russell Westbrook holds the career record.
Tunnel fit	The outfit a player wears walking into the arena before a game.
Wet	Describes a shooter who is making everything.
Zone	A defense where each player guards an area instead of one opponent.

Where slang comes from

A lot of hoops slang started on city playgrounds and in streetball leagues, then spread through mixtapes, video games and social media. Words like dime, bucket and cookies travel fast because commentators and players use them on camera.

Sneaker culture added its own vocabulary: kicks, heat, grails and deadstock, the last meaning a pair that has never been worn.

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