All 171 outdoor basketball courts in Melbourne.

The Docklands Sports Courts sit on Harbour Esplanade beneath the towers of Victoria Harbour, the closest genuine outdoor basketball to Melbourne's CBD. 157 Google reviews at a 4.3 average.

The setting does the recruiting: office workers drift over after five, apartment residents fill the weekends, and the harbour wind keeps everyone honest. The courts are part of the Hub at Docklands precinct, well surfaced and well kept.

This is Melbourne's best answer to the waterfront-court genre, and the evening runs are the most reliable outdoor games in the inner city.

The Carlton Gardens court plays beside the Royal Exhibition Building, the 1880 dome that anchors Melbourne's World Heritage site. 37 Google reviews at a 4.5 average, and the most architecturally distinguished backdrop of any court in Australia.

The run is neighbourhood-scale: Carlton residents, university students from across the road, and museum visitors who wandered over. Evenings in summer are the reliable window.

Shoot around at dusk when the dome lights up. There is no better-looking place to miss free throws in this country.

Powlett Reserve keeps a dedicated basketball and netball court two blocks from the MCG in East Melbourne, wedged into one of the city's most elegant residential pockets. The court draws after-work shooters from the surrounding offices and apartments, and its position, five minutes from Jolimont station, makes it the easiest pre-game or post-game hoop in Melbourne on football days.

Fawkner Park's court sits among the elms of South Yarra's big Victorian park, rated 4.4 stars, with the Commercial Road cafes a short walk away. The run is social and after-work flavoured, drawing from the apartments of South Yarra and Prahran. Summer evenings under the avenue of trees are the park at its best.

The Albert Park court at Lemnos Square gives the village side of Albert Park its public hoop, a dedicated court a few minutes' walk from both the lake and the beach. Quieter than the big-name courts, it suits shootarounds and small games, with the option to jog the Grand Prix circuit around the lake afterwards.

Jubilee Park in Ringwood is the most-reviewed park in our Melbourne dataset, 829 reviews at a 4.4 average, a multi-sport reserve serving the outer east. The basketball court shares the grounds with ovals, courts, and playgrounds, and weekend mornings bring the family crowd before the afternoon games take over.

Batesford Reserve near Chadstone posts 394 reviews at a 4.3 average, a neighbourhood reserve whose basketball court holds down the south-east's park scene. The runs are local and friendly, strongest on summer evenings when the heat lifts.

The Richmond High School courts earn a 4.8 rating as a dedicated basketball address in the inner city's tightest suburb for public space. Outside school hours the courts belong to the neighbourhood, and the weekend runs draw from Richmond's young renter crowd. Swan Street's pubs and Victoria Street's pho are both minutes away.