Which court would your kid rather play on, Mars or a haunted front yard?
Every basketball coloring page below is free to print, and there are 35 of them: game action, cartoon characters, and courts in places a real game would never happen.
Some sheets use big open shapes a preschooler can fill with a fat crayon. Others pack a full arena or a crumbling stone ruin into the background and will keep an older kid busy for an hour.
Print whichever ones your child points at, put the crayon box on the table, and let the color choices be theirs.
Championship Moment
A player holds the ball high overhead with both hands while a packed arena rises behind him. The crowd is drawn as rows of smiling faces with their arms up, so there is a lot of small detail for an older colorist to work through. Give the jersey one strong team color and keep the crowd light and loose so the player stays the focus. Save this one for a rainy afternoon rather than a five minute gap before dinner.
Bugs Bunny stands on a court floor in a tank top and shorts, flicking the ball up off one hand with his other arm swung wide for balance. The long ears and oversized sneakers are big open shapes, which makes this one of the friendlier sheets for a younger child. Gray fur with an orange ball is the safe choice, though a red jersey gives the page more punch. Only a floor line sits behind him, so the background takes no time at all.
The jersey on this one reads LAKERS across the chest, so purple and gold is already decided if your child wants the real thing. He is drawn mid stride, dribbling low with one hand while the other arm swings out behind him. The muscle and fabric lines are fine and closely spaced, which suits colored pencils far better than fat markers. Nothing sits behind the figure, so he carries the whole page.
Blocky apartment buildings with rows of small square windows fill the background here, and a player rises off the court with the ball cocked behind their head, a breath away from the release. The court curves off the bottom of the page. One bold color on the jersey and a pale gray across every building pushes the jumper forward. Those windows are tiny squares, so it doubles as staying-inside-the-lines practice.
Here the player is fully airborne, ball balanced on one hand above his head and the other arm flung out wide. There is no background at all, just the figure on white paper, so a younger child can finish it fast and an older one can invent a court around it. Shading lines are already drawn across the shirt and shorts, so pick a base color and let those lines read as folds. A good sheet for the first run of a new marker set.
Mickey Mouse holds the ball up beside one ear, grinning, free hand spread wide. His round ears, big shoes and plain jersey are all large open areas, which is exactly what a preschooler needs. Red shorts and yellow shoes keep him recognizable, though an invented team color works just as well. Only a small shadow sits under his feet, so the page finishes quickly.
Sonic the Hedgehog carries the ball low in one hand with his spines fanning out behind him. The gloves, sneakers and jersey all have thick clean outlines, so this one holds up well to crayons. Blue quills with red and white shoes is the obvious call, and the ball gives you one warm color to break it up. No background here either, which makes it an easy pick for a restless afternoon.
Mario leaps with the ball raised in one hand, cap turned so the badge faces out and his other arm reaching wide. The moustache, gloves and rounded shoes are big shapes with plenty of room inside them. Red cap and jersey over blue shorts keeps him on model, but nothing stops a green Luigi version. Nothing sits behind him, so this is one of the quicker sheets in the set.
A cat-like cub in a jersey grips a basketball in both paws, leaning forward as if about to pass it. Pointed ears, wide eyes and chunky high tops give a younger child plenty of easy areas to fill. Soft fur tones with a bright jersey let the ball stand out. The fur is drawn as short flicks rather than solid blocks, so a fine tip pen adds a lot here.
Santa Claus turns up in a sleeveless jersey and shorts, headband on, palming the ball above his shoulder. The beard and moustache take up most of his face and can stay white while everything else goes bold. Red and green is the easy call, though putting Santa in a rival team’s colors is funnier. Print this one for a December party table.
A large sun disc sits low behind the player, who stretches up with the ball in one hand as he runs. Low buildings and a single round tree line the horizon, and court lines sweep across the ground. Orange and pink over the sun with deep blue on the buildings makes the whole page read as evening. Older kids can blend the sky; younger ones can leave the sun as one flat circle.
A small player with a big halo of curly hair reaches one arm straight up while the ball drops through the net above. A wide leafy tree fills the space behind the hoop, and the pole runs off the top of the page. Keep the leaves loose and green so the eye travels to the net and that raised arm. The figure is small on the page, so this one suits a child who enjoys background work.
Two kids square off in this one, the ball handler shielding the ball low on his hip while the defender reaches in with an open hand. Both are drawn with fine shading lines across the arms and legs, so pencils behave better than markers. Give each player a different jersey color and the matchup reads instantly. It is one of the busier sheets, so it suits a child with a steady hand.
This player is dribbling two basketballs at once, one under each hand, knees bent low in a wide stance. That is a real drill, which makes the sheet a nice prompt to go outside afterward and try it with two balls. Both balls take the same orange and a single jersey color keeps things simple. The face is small and calm, so leave it mostly uncolored.
A lone player walks up the floor of a huge empty arena, tiered stands curving away on both sides and a backboard with a hanging screen above him. The floorboards run in long straight lines toward the vanishing point, which makes a satisfying stretch of wood grain to fill in. Warm tan on the floor with one darker tone across the empty seats gives the page real depth. There is a lot of repeated detail in those stands, so this is a long, calm sit.
A player dribbles across packed sand with palm trees, a stretch of water and low clouds behind. A single line separates the sand from the sea, so one pale blue and one soft yellow do most of the work. It belongs with the other beach sheets if you are building a summer set. The palm fronds are thin and well separated, which makes good scissor practice if you cut a tree out afterward.
A backboard and hoop are bolted to a bare tree at the edge of open hill country, and a player runs in toward it. Round scrubby trees, loose rocks and a low mountain ridge fill out the rest of the frame. Greens and dusty browns fit the setting, and one bright jersey keeps the runner easy to pick out. There is a lot of small foliage in here, so budget more than a few minutes.
A group of kids shares an outdoor court here, the tallest holding the ball up on one hand while the others crowd in behind. Round bushy trees run along the back and the ground is drawn with light sweeping strokes. Different jersey colors make the group read clearly at a glance. The faces are large and simple, so this sheet works for a wide age range at the same table.
No players in this one at all: a hoop on a curved post, a ball sitting on rocky ground, mountains and a few scattered trees. That empty court is an invitation to draw yourself into the scene before any coloring starts. Warm sandy tones on the ground and cool gray on the ridge keep the two halves of the page apart. One of the calmer sheets in the collection.
A player runs through a stand of tall trees with the ball tossed up above one hand. Leafy canopies, thin trunks and tufts of grass fill both sides of the page. Layering two or three greens across the trees is where the depth comes from, and it is a good technique to try with an older child. The figure is drawn much larger than the background, so the trees can stay loose.
Tall office blocks with grids of small windows stack up on both sides of a paved court, where a player dribbles along with the downtown skyline behind him. Street trees and low shrubs sit between the court and the buildings. All those windows are tiny rectangles, so treat this as a patience sheet rather than a quick one. Cool grays and blues across the buildings let a warm jersey color stand out.
A stone castle rises behind the court here, pointed tower, flag on top and narrow arched windows, while a player crouches low over the ball in front of it. The stonework is drawn block by block, so it takes color well in two or three close grays. A red flag and a bright jersey give the page its two points of contrast. A younger child can fill the castle as one flat shape and skip the individual stones entirely.
The hoop here is fixed to a crumbling stone arch, and the ball is already dropping through the net as the player reaches up. Broken walls, a dark doorway and a small tree growing out of the rubble fill the background. Weathered gray with green creeping over the stone suits the scene. Another block-by-block stonework page, so expect a longer sit.
A player in a warm hat and boots dribbles across a flat sheet of ice, with a low mountain ridge drawn as a thin line behind. Winter gear up top and shorts below is part of the joke, so lean into it with a loud hat color. Pale blue over the ice with plenty left bare is enough to sell the cold. Large clean shapes make this an easy one for a younger child.
Wooden buildings line both sides of a dusty main street in this old western town, mountains closing off the far end while a player dribbles down the middle. Speed lines streak across the ground on either side of him. Sandy browns on the buildings with one strong jersey color stop the street going flat. The buildings are simple boxes, so most of the detail sits in the figure.
Palm trees stand on a rocky islet behind calm water, and a player holds the ball at waist height on the wet sand in front. Ripple lines run across the shallows and look good in two shades of blue. The figure faces straight out with a relaxed stance, so there is no awkward foreshortening to color around. Pair it with the beach and lighthouse sheets for a summer set.
An astronaut in a full suit and bubble helmet floats above the curved horizon of an outer space world, holding the ball up on one hand. The suit breaks into panels, straps and ribbed joints, which gives you a lot of small compartments to color differently. White with one accent color is the classic look, though a purple suit is more fun. Rounded rock shapes sit along the ground line behind the boots.
You stand behind this player, looking past his shoulder at a rim hanging high above a skyline of tall towers. Clouds roll in soft shapes between the buildings, and the hoop floats with no pole in sight. The back view means there is no face to color, so all the attention goes to the jersey and the city. Blues and grays behind, one warm color on the shirt, and it is done.
A kid comes straight down the middle of an empty city street, bouncing the ball beside one leg. Brick buildings with tall windows rise on both sides and a big tree leans over the sidewalk on the right. Warm brick reds against a green tree make the street feel lived in. There is strong depth in this drawing, so it is a good page for practicing lighter color the farther back you go.
A grinning kid dribbles past the front yard of a spooky haunted house, with bare crooked trees and a leaning picket fence around it. Carved pumpkins sit in the grass at the bottom corners near him. Orange pumpkins against gray boards and a purple sky make this an easy Halloween win. It prints well as an October party page.
This is a wide view of a stone arena, tiered seating running all the way around and a single hoop and backboard at the far end. Nobody is in it, so the whole page is architecture and floor. Row after row of seats means a lot of repetition, which some kids find soothing and others find a slog. Two close grays on the stone with a warm tone on the court floor is all it needs.
A kid dribbles at the foot of a staircase, one hand on the ball and the other out for balance, a metal handrail running up behind him. The steps and rail bring strong straight lines against the soft shapes of the figure. Cool concrete gray with a bright jersey is the simplest way to make him stand out. A mid-difficulty sheet: large figure, plain surroundings.
A domed building and a few low structures sit on the ridge behind this hoop, loose rocks scattered across the ground where a player stands, hands at his sides and the ball resting behind him. Rust orange on the soil and cool gray on the dome sells the setting. The figure is small, so most of the coloring time goes into the ground and the ridge behind him.
A player dribbles across the sand with a tall lighthouse standing on the headland behind. Curved lines in the sand and a couple of small clouds are the only other detail, which keeps the page open and quick. A red and white striped lighthouse is the classic look and gives the sheet its anchor color. Good for a younger child who wants a real scene without a lot of fiddly pieces.
A player runs forward with the ball held up in one hand, framed by tall stone towers and a wide staircase climbing away behind. Leafy growth spills over the walls and the paving underfoot is cracked and uneven. Gold and warm stone tones fit the lost city idea, with deep green for the overgrowth. There is a lot of masonry detail in here, so treat it as a two sitting page.
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Why Are Basketball Coloring Pages Worth Printing?
A printed coloring page gives a basketball-obsessed kid something to do with the sport when there is no court available, and it costs nothing but paper and ink. That gap is bigger than it looks. Most American children already watch about 3 hours of TV a day, and total screen time across everything runs to 5 to 7 hours (1), against advice to keep screens to 1 to 2 hours a day from age 2 up.
Coloring is also quiet hand work. Fine motor skills vary widely between school-age children and feed straight into how neatly a child writes and dresses (2), and steering a pencil around a jersey outline is unglamorous practice for exactly that.
None of it replaces the real game. Children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day (3), so the best slot for these sheets is the rainy afternoon, the long car ride, or the wind-down after practice, never instead of one.
Where Did Basketball Come From?
Basketball was invented in the winter of 1891 by James Naismith, a 31-year-old graduate student and instructor at Springfield College in Massachusetts (4). The brief came from the college’s physical education director, Luther Halsey Gulick, who asked for a game that was “interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play in the winter and by artificial light.” Naismith wrote 13 rules and nailed two peach baskets to the gymnasium balcony.
Those baskets hung ten feet off the floor, which is why every rim your child shoots at still sits at 10 feet. The first game was played nine to a side, three forwards, three centers and three guards, so the original court was a good deal more crowded than the one on these sheets.
It makes a decent story to tell while a child colors the arena pages, and it turns a quiet hour into a conversation. Ask which of the 13 original rules they would keep.
Activities to Do With Basketball Coloring Pages
A finished sheet still has work left in it. Here are six ways to get more out of the pages once the crayons go back in the box.
Design Your Own Team Jersey
Pick a sheet with a clear view of the jersey, like Lakers Game Day or Two-Ball Dribbling Drill, and let your child invent a team instead of copying a real one. They choose the colors, draw a logo on the chest, and write their own last name across the back. Ask them to name the team and say which city it plays for, and you have turned coloring into a small world-building exercise.
Create DIY Trading Cards
Cut the finished figures out of the action sheets and glue them onto index cards or cardstock. On the back, your child writes made-up stats: points per game, height, best move, worst habit. It is handwriting and number practice dressed up as a collection, and the cards stack into a shoebox that grows over the season.
Trash Can Hoops Challenge
Printed a page that did not turn out? Crumple it into a tight ball and put it to work. Set a bin at one end of the room, mark two or three shooting spots on the floor with tape, and give each spot a point value. It gets a kid moving indoors, which is the whole point on a day when the court is out of reach.
Decorate a Game Room
Finished sheets make cheap wall art for a sports-themed bedroom or playroom. Frame the best two or three, or tape a grid of eight across one wall as a home hall of fame. Rotate them as new pages get colored so the wall keeps changing instead of yellowing in place.
Write a Game Day Story
Use one of the detailed scenes, Space Jam Adventure or Championship Moment, as a writing prompt. Ask your child to write the final ten seconds of the game: who has the ball, what the score is, what happens next. A younger child can tell it out loud while you write it down, which takes the handwriting hurdle out of the way.
Make a Team Banner
Tape several printed sheets together edge to edge and have everyone color the backgrounds in one shared team color. The result is a long banner for a birthday party, a playoff watch night, or a bedroom door. Leave the figures in mixed colors so the banner still has some variety across it.
FAQs
What Is the Best Paper for Coloring Pages?
Standard printer paper is fine for crayons and colored pencils, and cardstock is the better choice for markers or paint. Marker ink soaks through thin paper and leaves a mirror image on whatever is underneath, so either print on heavier stock or slide a scrap sheet behind the page. Watercolor needs actual watercolor paper, which is built to take water without buckling.
How Can I Make Basketball Drawings Look Realistic?
Shade the outer edge of the ball a shade or two darker than the middle and leave a small light patch where the light would hit it. The seam lines curve with the surface, so follow the curve rather than running straight across. Adding a soft shadow on the floor under the player’s feet stops the figure from looking like it is floating, which is the single change that makes the most difference.
Are These Coloring Pages Good for Toddlers?
Yes, several sheets here use big open shapes and thick outlines that suit a toddler. Start with Mickey Mouse on the Court, Cute Animal Basketball or Flying One-Handed Dunk, all of which have large areas and little or no background. Leave the arena, castle and ruins pages for later, since the crowd and stonework are drawn in fine, closely spaced lines that frustrate small hands.
Can I Use Watercolors on These Pages?
You can, as long as you print onto watercolor paper or heavy cardstock first. Standard copy paper buckles and tears once it is wet and the color creeps past the lines. Keep the brush fairly dry, work one area at a time, and let each patch dry before starting the one next to it.
How Do I Print These for a Party?
Download the sheets you want and print one copy per guest plus a few spares. Stapling four or five together along the left edge turns them into a coloring book party favor. For an activity table, spread single sheets out with a bowl of crayons in the middle and put the simplest designs where the youngest guests will sit.
How High Is a Real Basketball Hoop?
A rim sits 10 feet off the floor, the same height as the peach baskets James Naismith nailed to the gymnasium balcony at Springfield College in 1891. That height has outlived the peach baskets, the nine-per-side teams and most of the original rules. It also explains why the players on several of these sheets are drawn so far below the net.
What Are the Most Popular NBA Team Colors?
The Lakers Game Day sheet has the team name printed across the jersey, so that one calls for purple and gold. Other combinations children recognize quickly are green and white for the Celtics, red and black for the Bulls, and blue and gold for the Warriors. If your child would rather invent a team, two strong colors plus white is a reliable rule for a jersey that still reads from across the room.
