Introduction. Basketball is a globally popular sport requiring optimization of players’ physical, physiological, psychological, and tactical performance. Traditional position-based classifications (guards, forwards, centers) are often inadequate to reflect players’ tactical behavior. Recent studies focus on identifying individual playing roles for a more detailed understanding of performance. Objective. This systematic review aimed to synthesize literature on individual playing roles and examine methodologies used to identify them in professional and semi-professional male and female players. Methodology. Following PRISMA guidelines, a structured search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science using PICOS criteria, completed on May 19, 2025. Risk of bias was assessed with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality checklist and the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Series. The review was registered in PROSPERO (ID: CRD42023485223). Results. Twelve studies met inclusion criteria: nine case-series and three cross-sectional. Ten analyzed game-related statistics, three assessed anthropometric measures, and two employed physical tests for lower limb performance. Additional factors included age, nationality, and GPS data. Seven recurrent IPRs emerged paint protector, shooter, role player, floor general, defensive player, versatile player, and explosive player. Conclusions. Differences in individual playing roles appear to result from methodological heterogeneity among studies. Therefore, this review emphasizes the need for a unified, high-quality methodological approach to better identify and describe basketball individual playing roles using game-related statistics. A standardized framework could enhance understanding of athletes’ specific demands and foster the development of more individualized, performance-oriented training programs.
Ribes et al. (Thu,) studied this question.