Basketball Vocabulary in Spanish

Basketball is translated into Spanish as baloncesto, basquetbol or básquetbol. Some people even use the shortened term el básquet. Any of these translations are correct. They just depend on the region you are in. In Spain, el baloncesto is the most popular term, whereas el básquetbol or el básquet is the most popular term in the rest of the Spanish speaking countries across the world.

In this article, we are going to learn some basketball vocabulary in Spanish.

Basketball Vocabulary in Spanish

There are many basketball terms and basketball phrases in Spanish, but today we are going to have a look at some of the most important basketball vocabulary in Spanish. If you prefer soccer or golf, in our blog you can also learn terms about those sports. Now let’s focus on basketball!

Players and Positions

Jugador or jugadora (player) describes a person who plays a sport. For example, you can say el jugador de baloncesto to refer to a basketball player. However, there is also a specific word for this athlete, that is el baloncestista (Spanish from Spain) or el basquetbolista (Latin American Spanish). These two nouns can refer to a man or a woman, as all nouns ending in –ista.

Basketball is a team game where each player has each position. Here are the basketball position names:

1. El base or el armador (point guard, playmaker)
2. El escolta (shooting guard, small forward)
3. El alero (forward)
4. El ala-pívot (power forward)
5. El pívot (center)

There are also other basketball vocabulary in Spanish that refer to people:

1. El equipo (team)
2. El entrenador (coach)
3. El titular (starter player)
4. El suplente or la reserva (reserve player)
5. El novato (rookie player)
6. El árbitro or el réferi (referee)

At the Basketball Court

There are two Spanish words that can refer to a court or to the area where some sports are played. They are la cancha and la pista. In Latin American Spanish, they tend to use la cancha for most sports (basketball, indoor soccer, tennis, badminton…). However, in Spain, some people make the difference and use la cancha when they refer to an indoor court and la pista if it is an outdoor court.

Here you have some basketball vocabulary in Spanish that refer to parts of the court.

1. El banquillo or la banca (bench)
2. El tablero (backboard)
3. La canasta or el cesto (basket)
4. El aro (rim)
5. La esquina (corner)
6. La línea (line)
7. La línea de fondo (baseline)
8. La línea de tres puntos or la línea de triple (three-point line)
9. La línea de medio campo (half-court line, mid-court line)
10. La línea de lateral or la línea de banda (sideline)
11. La línea de tiro libre (foul line, free-throw line)
12. El círculo central (center cicle)
13. La zona or la pintura (paint, key)
14. La zona de tiro libre (foul lane, free-throw lane)
15. La zona restringida (restricted area)

Playing Basketball

Let’s continue learning basketball vocabulary in Spanish. Here you have a list of common nouns used while talking about basketball.

1. El calentamiento (warmup)
2. El partido (match)
3. El periodo (half, quarter)
4. El tiempo muerto or el tiempo fuera (time out)
5. La prórroga, el tiempo extra or el tiempo añadido (overtime)
6. El marcador (scorer)
7. El punto (point, score)
8. La asistencia (assist, dime)
9. El tiro (shoot)
10. El pase (pass)
11. El regate (dribble)
12. El rebote (rebound)
13. El bloqueo or el tapón (block, screen)
14. El mate (dunk shot)
15. El robo (steal)
16. La finta (fake)

Actions

You can use the following verbs next time you speak about basketball in Spanish. You can see some of them are formed from nouns. For example, el tiro (shoot) is the noun and tirar (to shoot) is the verb.

1. Entrenar (to coach)
2. Encestar (to make a basket)
3. Anotar (to score)
4. Asistir (to assist)
5. Tirar (to shoot)
6. Pasar (to pass)
7. Defender (to defend)
8. Botar (to bounce)
9. Regatear or driblar (to dribble)
10. Pivotear (to pivot)
11. Rebotear (to rebound)
12. Bloquear o taponar (to block, to screen)
13. Atacar (to attack)
14. Hacer un mate (to dunk)
15. Robar (to steal)
16. Cometer una falta (to foul)
17. Eliminar por acumular faltas (to foul out)

Types of Fouls

There are different types of fouls in basketball. They are used to penalize, however, some players can also use them to their advantage. We are going to learn how to name some of the most popular fouls in Spanish.

1. La falta (foul)
2. La falta personal (personal foul)
3. La falta de ataque (offensive foul)
4. La falta intencionada (intentional foul)
5. La falta técnica (technical foul)
6. La falta antideportiva (flagrant foul, unsportsmanlike foul)
7. La falta doble (double foul)
8. Los pasos (traveling, walking, steps)
9. Los dobles (double dribble)
10. El campo atrás (backcourt violation)
11. La pérdida de balón (turnover)

Basketball Championships

Let’s focus on some general words related to championships. You can use this list to improve your basketball vocabulary in Spanish.

1. El torneo (tournament)
2. El campeonato (championship)
3. La liga (league)
4. La temporada (season)
5. El cuadro de estadísticas or el box score (box score)
6. Los cuartos de final (quarter-finals)
7. Las semifinales (semifinals)
8. La final (final)
9. La eliminatoria, la fase final or el playoff (play-off)

Finally, we are going to finish reviewing the most popular basketball vocabulary in Spanish with the name of some Basketball leagues or championships.

1. Los Juegos Olímpicos (Olympic Games)
2. La Copa Mundial de Baloncesto de la FIBA (FIBA Basketball World Cup)
3. La NBA (NBA)
4. El EuroBasket (EuroBasket)
5. La Liga ACB (the Liga ACB, the Spanish basketball league)

Exercises

Let’s do some exercises to practice some of the basketball vocabulary in Spanish we have seen in this article. Fee like practicing more sports vocabulary? In our blog, you can also do exercises about baseball, cricket, soccer, ice hockey, golf or tennis vocabulary in Spanish.