How long is the NBA shot clock?

In the early days of the NBA, games were often low-scoring. Teams sometimes would get a lead and then “stall” — hold the ball without attempting to score. In 1950, for example, the Fort Wayne Pistons beat the Minneapolis Lakers 19-18. To make sure games like this wouldn’t be played, the league instituted a 24-second shot clock within the 48-minute game.

What are origins of NBA shot clock?

In 1954, owner Danny Biasone and general manager Leo Ferris of the Syracuse Nationals introduced a 24-second shot clock for a scrimmage. With other league owners in attendance, the experiment was success, and the league installed the shot clock for the regular season. In the six decades since, the shot clock hasn’t left.

Why is the shot clock 24 seconds?

Biasone did some simple arithmetic to devise the 24-second clock. 

“I looked at the box scores from the games I enjoyed, games where they didn’t screw around and stall,” he said. “I noticed each team took about 60 shots. That meant 120 shots per game. So I took 48 minutes (2,880 seconds) and divided that by 120 shots. The result was 24 seconds per shot.” 

The shot clock’s impact was felt quickly. Scoring went up in the NBA the season the shot clock was adopted.