First off, I'm a basketball fan but let me assure you that that has no influence on this review and I'll tell you why.

This set came out in 2003. I only got out of my dark ages around 2010. So I'm actually quite new as an AFOL and I've been getting other sets but somehow I never bothered to get into the 'Sports' theme. To me, it looks like it's more for kids to play with where as an AFOL I'm more into moccing and the more 'mature' technic stuff. Boy how wrong I was.

Box/Instructions

I got this set by accident as part of a bulk buy, so i didn't get a complete set but for the most part at least all the floor plates and the essential sports parts were there, so I went to look for the instructions online and started building.

Parts

It actually comes with a lot of useful parts, apart from those specialty ones. You will get a lot of useful tan 2x2 tiles, technic connectors, blue flat slopes, a couple of turntables, and plates, to name a few. If you're fan of tiles and a fan of tan, this is one of those sets you can really get a lot of those for your parts supplement.

Minifigures

The complete set comes with 10 basketball type minifigs with springs in their legs so that they can pick up, shoot, and pass the ball. (I could only manage to find one in my lot, so I can't really say much)

The build

The build I have to say is quite interesting, to me at least because this is not like your regular creator sets, it has a lot of special parts to make the play features work, so when I finally complete it I could understand the mechanics of the play features, and it really shows LEGO 's design ingenuity. It really reflects how a real world basketball game would be played, just shrunk to minifig size.

When in the paint(the free-throw line area for those of you who don't know basketball talk ;) ), you can score pretty easily. Shooting further out a bit for 3 pointers, that takes some skill and accuracy, very much like real world basketball. You can even dunk! But don't think that's going to be easy, it actually takes a bit of practice with the right amount of strength as you flick the handle. This handle also allows you to block your opponents from scoring, but this time it's not so much about the level of strength anymore but the timing. So you see, this is really brilliant and it really reflects a real world basketball game how it's played.

The completed model

Even if you're not into the play features, as a completed set, it looks really good as a basketball arena. The printed plates and the stickers add to the details. You have NBA and Spalding lending their brand, as well as LEGO. A complete set even comes with a printed Spalding/NBA basketball, which unfortunately was not in mine, but bricklink should be able to take care of that. And lastly where would a basketball game be without its fans? The spectator stands have ample space for you to populate, and when you do, it's even more lively and pleasing to look at as a completed model. (Tip: the Series 1 Cheerleader collectible minifig is PERFECT for this, it's like it's almost made to be in this set ;) )

Summary

Regardless whether you're a basketball fan or not, if you are into Lego, you should really give the Sports theme, especially the basketball ones, a try. You will not regret getting it, I certainly didn't, in fact I'm so glad I got this as part of my bulk buy, perhaps if not I wouldn't even thought of specifically getting it, but after having a chance at it, I would say, even if I were to buy it at full price, or even if I have to pay more since it's an old discontinued set, it is very well worth the money. The playability of this set will more than make up for it, and for basketball fans, all the more a no-brainer ;)

The first thing I noticed after building this was how the whole set was smaller than it seems. This is good because it'll fit easier in cramped spaces.

Pros:

-5 players each for red and blue team
-Each player has the ability to pass, aim, and shoot
-One player for each team has a special spring that allows him to shoot ball across the court or over and out! (I put these players under the net so they send the ball right back the other side after the other team scores)
-The court has realistic markings
-Nets are realistic and cool, the backboard even has the NBA logo!
-Mechanism for player under the net allows player to jump and block shots
-Scoreboards are nice
-Stands for audience
-Advertisements
-Special Spalding/NBA ball and 2 ordinary balls

Cons:

-Scoreboards only go up to five, real NBA scores are closer to 100!
-Too many stickers

Overall great set, if you see it you must get it. Even if you're not into basketball it's still fun to work out the mechanics of the specially designed minifigures and make some baskets.

Even if you don't like basketball, this set is still a lot of fun. Scoring baskets is much easier than it looks, and the minifigs pick up and release the balls very reliably. This set is very intuitive and entertaining. Plus, it is virtually built to be played with, not just for aesthetics.