jìzhě yòu wèn tā, wèishénme bú zài jiā wán yóuxì, érshì měitiān lái gōngyuán dǎ lánqiú.

A helpful way to break it up is:

• 记者又问她 = The reporter asked her again
• 为什么不在家玩游戏 = why she doesn’t stay home and play video games
• 而是每天来公园打篮球 = but instead comes to the park every day to play basketball

So the full structure is:

• Subject + 又 + verb + object, + why ... but instead ...

More literally, Chinese is doing something like:

• Reporter again asked her, why not at home play games, but instead every day come to the park play basketball.

That sounds unusual in English, but it is natural in Chinese.

Here 又 means again.

So:

• 记者问她 = The reporter asked her
• 记者又问她 = The reporter asked her again

It shows that this is not the first question the reporter asked.

A common thing for learners to remember:

• 又 often refers to something happening again
• depending on context, it can also suggest in addition or furthermore, but here again is the natural meaning

This is because of tone sandhi.

Normally 不 is fourth tone: bù.
But when 不 comes before another fourth-tone syllable, it changes to second tone: bú.

Here it comes before 在 zài, which is fourth tone:

• 不在 → pronounced bú zài

So the writing shows the actual pronunciation in this sentence.

Compare:

• 不来 → bù lái because 来 is second tone
• 不是 → bú shì because 是 is fourth tone

Yes, 为什么她不在家玩游戏 would also be grammatically possible.

But in this sentence, the subject 她 is already clear from the earlier part:

• 记者又问她，为什么...

Once Chinese has already established who is being talked about, it often leaves the subject out if it is obvious from context.

So:

• 为什么不在家玩游戏，而是每天来公园打篮球 means
• Why don’t you/why doesn’t she stay home and play games, but instead come to the park every day to play basketball?

Because the person is already identified as 她, Chinese does not need to repeat it.

This kind of omission is very common in Mandarin.

为什么 means why and asks for a reason.

• 为什么不在家玩游戏？ = Why not stay home and play games?

怎么 usually means how, in what way, or sometimes why in a more conversational or emotional sense, but it is not the best choice here if you are asking for a reasoned explanation.

So in this sentence, 为什么 is the standard and expected word.

而是 means but instead.

It is used when you contrast one possibility with the real one.

Here the contrast is:

• 不在家玩游戏
• 而是每天来公园打篮球

So the idea is:

• not staying home playing video games, but instead coming to the park every day to play basketball

This is a very common pattern:

• 不是 A，而是 B = not A, but B

In your sentence, the first part is slightly shortened because it is inside a 为什么 clause:

• 为什么不...，而是...

The contrast is still the same:

• not this, but rather that

Both ideas are related, but the version in the sentence is natural.

In a why question, Chinese often says:

• 为什么不 A，而是 B？
• Why not A, but instead B?

This works well because the speaker is asking about the reason for choosing B instead of A.

If you said:

• 为什么不是在家玩游戏，而是...

that sounds more like:

• Why is it not the case that she is playing games at home, but instead...

That is a bit heavier and less natural here.

So 为什么不 A，而是 B is the smoother pattern in this context.

每天 means every day, and it usually comes before the verb phrase it modifies.

So:

• 每天来公园打篮球 = come to the park every day to play basketball

Chinese time words often appear before the main verb:

• 我今天去学校。 = I’m going to school today.
• 他明天回来。 = He will come back tomorrow.
• 她每天跑步。 = She runs every day.

So in your sentence, 每天 naturally comes before 来.

Both 来 and 去 can sometimes be translated as to go, but they depend on perspective.

• 来 = come, movement toward the speaker or the reference point
• 去 = go, movement away from the speaker or reference point

In this sentence, 来公园 presents the action as coming to the park. This may reflect the speaker’s viewpoint, the location of the conversation, or simply a narrative choice.

In many real contexts, either 来 or 去 could appear depending on perspective:

• 每天来公园打篮球 = come to the park every day to play basketball
• 每天去公园打篮球 = go to the park every day to play basketball

So the choice is about viewpoint, not a different core action.

In Chinese, many sports use the verb 打.

So:

• 打篮球 = play basketball
• 打排球 = play volleyball
• 打网球 = play tennis

Even though 打 literally often means hit, in sports it commonly means play.

By contrast, 玩 is used more for:

• games
• toys
• general fun activities

So:

• 玩游戏 = play games
• 打篮球 = play basketball

That difference is very important and very common in Mandarin.

This is one of those places where English uses one verb, but Chinese uses different verbs depending on the activity.

• 玩 is used for games / fun activities
• 打 is used for many ball sports

So:

• 玩游戏 = play games
• 打篮球 = play basketball

Other examples:

• 玩手机 = use / play on the phone
• 玩电脑游戏 = play computer games
• 打足球 is not standard; you say 踢足球 for soccer because you kick it
• 打乒乓球 = play table tennis

So the verb choice depends on the type of activity, not on the English word play.

It contains a question, but the whole sentence is actually reporting what the reporter asked.

The structure is:

• 记者又问她，为什么...

That means:

• The reporter asked her why...

So this is an indirect question, not a direct quoted question.

Compare:

• 记者又问她，为什么不在家玩游戏，而是每天来公园打篮球。
  • The reporter again asked her why she didn’t stay home and play games, but instead came to the park every day to play basketball.

Direct question version:

• 记者又问她：你为什么不在家玩游戏，而是每天来公园打篮球？
  • The reporter asked her: Why don’t you stay home and play games, but instead come to the park every day to play basketball?

So the period is fine in the original sentence.

Yes, 在家 means at home or staying at home.

• 在 = at / in
• 家 = home

So:

• 在家玩游戏 = play games at home

Chinese often uses 在 + place to show location:

• 在学校学习 = study at school
• 在公司上班 = work at the company
• 在公园散步 = take a walk in the park

Mandarin does not have articles like a or the, and nouns usually do not change form for singular/plural the way English nouns do.

So:

• 记者 can mean a reporter or the reporter
• 公园 can mean a park or the park
• 游戏 can mean game or games

The exact meaning comes from context.

In this sentence:

• 记者 is understood as the reporter because the context probably already introduced that person
• 公园 is understood as the park or simply the park area she goes to
• 玩游戏 naturally means play games

This is very normal in Chinese; context does a lot of the work that articles and plural endings do in English.

By itself, that clause could sound like a direct question such as:

• Why don’t you stay home and play games, but instead come to the park every day to play basketball?

But in this sentence, because it begins with:

• 记者又问她

the listener understands that the omitted subject belongs to her.

So in full meaning, it is:

• The reporter asked her why she didn’t stay home and play games, but instead came to the park every day to play basketball.

Chinese often leaves subjects unstated when context makes them obvious.

Yes, very common.

Chinese often uses:

• 问 + person + question clause

Examples:

• 我问他，他为什么没来。
  • I asked him why he didn’t come.
• 老师问我们，谁会回答这个问题。
  • The teacher asked us who could answer this question.
• 她问我，什么时候出发。
  • She asked me when we are leaving.

So your sentence follows a very standard pattern:

• 记者又问她，为什么...

The comma helps separate the main reporting clause from the content of what was asked.

• 记者又问她， = The reporter asked her,
• 为什么不在家玩游戏，而是每天来公园打篮球。 = the content of the question

Chinese punctuation often marks these clause boundaries clearly.

You can think of it like English:

• The reporter asked her, why not stay home and play games, but instead come to the park every day to play basketball?

Even though the exact punctuation conventions are not always identical between English and Chinese, the comma here is very natural in Chinese.

Yes.

每天 means every day, so it suggests a repeated or habitual action.

• 每天来公园打篮球 = comes to the park every day to play basketball

Without 每天, the sentence would just talk about the action more generally:

• 来公园打篮球 = come to the park to play basketball

With 每天, it clearly becomes a routine.