Although the physical health level of Chinese students has generally improved significantly in recent years, affected by the dual impacts of academic pressure and insufficient exercise, indicators such as strength and endurance of higher vocational college students are still not optimistic. Higher vocational basketball teaching and training can significantly promote the improvement of students’ physical fitness, while also cultivating their good basketball literacy and greatly enhancing their sports ability. To substantially improve the physical fitness level of higher vocational college students, the basketball teaching model in higher vocational colleges should effectively break through the constraints of traditional models and continuously innovate to meet the learning and exercise needs of contemporary higher vocational college students and conform to their physical development laws. This paper focuses on higher vocational basketball teaching, mainly discussing the innovative teaching models and diversified paths for improving students’ physical fitness, hoping to provide a reference paradigm for the reform of higher vocational physical education and help achieve the teaching goal of making students love basketball and basketball classes more.