How to play

Put history in order.

1. Read all seven cards.Each one describes a real basketball milestone from a tightly packed era.
2. Arrange them earliest to latest.Drag the cards or use the arrow buttons.
3. Check your timeline.Your first check reveals how many positions and neighboring pairs are correct, but no cards lock. Your second check is final.
4. Play Overtime.Choose which moment happened first in three close historical matchups.
5. Learn the full story.After Overtime, the years, explanations and sources are revealed.

Daily and archive

The daily timeline counts toward your streak and the leaderboard. After playing, use the archive to revisit already published challenges without affecting your score.

Who Am I?

Identify one basketball great from up to five progressively easier clues. A correct answer earns 500, 350, 225, 125 or 50 points depending on when you solve it. An incorrect guess reveals the next clue, and results can be shared without revealing the answer.

Starting 5

Draft PG, SG, SF, PF and C from the NBA or ABA players eligible for the day’s theme. Multi-position players can fill any listed slot, but the same player can only be used once. After all five positions are filled, run an 82-game simulation. The model uses each player’s peak regular season and grades talent, offense, defense, spacing, playmaking, rebounding and lineup fit. You can replace picks freely until you run the simulation; the completed result is then locked for the day.

Crosscourt Five

Solve five independent criteria matchups by naming one NBA or ABA player who satisfies both sides of each lane. A player can only be used once. You have ten possessions, and every incorrect answer costs one. Each valid answer earns 50 base points plus up to 50 rarity points: less commonly selected players score more. One optional Assist reveals the size of the answer pool and a surname initial.

Scoring

A solved timeline earns 700 points on the first check or 500 on the final check. Each correct Overtime answer adds 100 points, for a maximum timeline score of 1,000. Who Am I?, Starting 5 and Crosscourt Five each offer up to 500 points, for a maximum combined daily score of 2,500. Crosscourt deducts 20 points per miss and 50 points for using the Assist. Until a matchup has enough completed plays, its pick percentages are projected from the historical player pool; live selection percentages take over as results accumulate. Completion time only breaks ties.

Leaderboards

Only the daily puzzle is eligible. Submit a nickname after finishing to appear in Today’s standings; seven-day and all-time boards add together your best score from each day.

Streaks

Your streak and completed games stay in your browser. Clearing browser storage or switching devices resets those local stats.