To find the number of different ways to choose 5 players from a basketball team of 12, we use the combination formula, which is denoted by \( nCk \) or \( \binom{n}{k} \). Here, \( n \) is the total number of players, and \( k \) is the number of players to choose.
In this case, we need to calculate \( 12C5 \), which is the number of ways to choose 5 players from 12.
The correct response is: 12C5.