In basketball (and derivatives like netball), a jump shot or jumper is an attempt to score a basket by jumping, usually straight up, and in mid-jump, propelling the ball in an arc into the basket. It is accomplished by the player bringing his or her elbow up until it is aligned with the hoop, then sent towards the hoop in a high arc. It is considered the easiest shot to make from a distance. The purposes of the jump are to make it more difficult for the defender to block, and to put more power behind the shot. It is also usually accomplished with one hand by the NBA players. It is the most effective in open play but can prove to be hard when there is a taller player in front of you.
Debate still continues as to who invented the jump shot. In his book The Origins of the Jump Shot, author John Christgau makes a strong case that it was Ken Sailors in May 1934. Sailors went on to play for the University of Wyoming and was selected as MVP of their 1943 NCAA Championship team. Sailors also played for five different teams in the old American Basketball League. Other people that Christgau credits with the jump shot are Myer "Whitey" Skoog, John "Mouse" Gonzales, Bud Palmer, Davage "Dave" Minor, “Jumping” Joe Faulks, Johnny Adams, and Belus Van Smawley.
In the NCAA collegiate archives, John Miller Cooper, who played at the University of Missouri in the 1930s, is recognized as the person to hoist the first jump shot. [1]
Today, the jump shot has many varieties, such as the "turnaround jumper" (facing away from the basket, then jumping and spinning towards it, shooting the ball in mid-air), the "fadeaway" (jumping away from the basket to create space) or the "leaning jumper" (jumping towards the basket to move away from a trailing defender).
Because a defender often has to jump to block a jump shot, an offensive player can try to get his defender in the air at the wrong time by using a pump fake. If the offensive player then jumps into the defender, it is a defensive foul on the defensive player.
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