Basketball is a team sport, the objective being to shoot a ball through a basket horizontally positioned to score points while following a set of rules. Usually, two teams of five players play on a marked rectangular court with a basket at each width end. Basketball is one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sports.

A regulation basketball hoop consists of a rim 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high mounted to a backboard. A team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket during regular play. A field goal scores two points for the shooting team if a player is touching or closer to the basket than the three-point line, and three points (known commonly as a 3 pointer or three) if the player is behind the three-point line. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time (overtime) may be issued when the game ends with a draw. The ball can be advanced on the court by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or throwing (passing) it to a teammate. It is a violation to move without dribbling the ball (traveling), to carry it, or to double dribble (to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling).

The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. TSN is owned by CTV Specialty Television, a joint venture of Bell Media (80%) and ESPN (20%).

Bell Media also operates additional TSN-branded properties, including TSN2, TSN Radio 1050, TSN Radio 990, TSN Radio 1290 and two part-time regional feeds, Canadiens on TSN and Jets on TSN.

Licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on April 2, 1984 as Action Canada Sports Network, the channel was launched by the Labatt Brewing Company on September 1st of the same year as "The Sports Network", or "TSN". TSN was formed partly to promote Labatt's flagship products, but also to act as a vehicle for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team (which was also owned by Labatt at the time). In 1989, TSN also launched a sister French language service, Réseau des sports (RDS).