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A hook shot, in basketball
Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a basketball through a 10 feet  high hoop under organized rules....
, is a play in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of his arm in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over his head. Unlike the jump shot, it is shot with only one hand; the other arm is often used to create space between the shooter and the defensive player.






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Basketball
A hook shot, in basketball
Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a basketball through a 10 feet  high hoop under organized rules....
, is a play in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of his arm in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over his head. Unlike the jump shot, it is shot with only one hand; the other arm is often used to create space between the shooter and the defensive player. The shot is quite difficult to block, but few players have mastered the shot more than a few feet from the basket.

In FIBA games, hook shots were a revered skill for centers before dunks became more popular; mostly because of the relative difficulty of blocking such shots.

Sky hook

The hook shot became a trademark of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr., then known as Lew Alcindor, is an American athlete and retired professional basketball player, widely considered one of the greatest National Basketball Association players of all time....
, the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is North America's premier professional men's basketball league, composed of thirty teams: twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada....
's all-time leading scorer. It was called a sky hook, because the ball was so high when the 7-foot, 2-inch center released it. Blocking his sky hook was a rare feat, accomplished by few players.

Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. is a retired American professional basketball point guard who played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association ....
 used a similar shooting technique during the 1987 NBA championship, which he called the "junior sky hook" in deference to his teammate.

Jump Hook

Currently, due to the increasingly physical nature of low post basketball, the jump hook is a more popular hook shot (particularly by Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , frequently referred to simply as "Shaq", is an United States professional basketball player, rapper, and actor....
). The player jumps off using two feet instead of taking steps before jumping off using one foot. The jump hook provides for better balance as well as quicker release, although the shot will not be released from as high in the air.

See also

  • Basketball moves
    Basketball moves

    Basketball moves are generally individual actions used by players in basketball to pass by defenders to gain access to the basket or to get a clean pass to a teammate....


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