National Basketball Association

NBA redirects here, as it is the most common usage of the abbreviation; for more uses, see NBA (disambiguation).

The National Basketball Association of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the NBA, is the premier professional basketball league in North America. Many of the world's best players play in the NBA, and the overall standard of the competition is considerably higher than any other professional competition. Players in other nations looking to jumpstart their career often join NBA teams in the hope of becoming a star player and gaining international exposure.

The NBA was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). It adopted the name National Basketball Association in the fall of 1949 after adding several teams from the rival National Basketball League.

The NBA, formerly all white players and coaches, became the first professional sports league to have a black head coach in 1966, the first to have a black general manager in 1972, and the first to have a black majority owner in 2002.

The league's several international offices and 30 teams are directed out of New York City (Olympic Tower on Fifth Ave) and Secaucus, New Jersey (home of NBA Entertainment and NBATV studios).

The Regular Season

Following the summer break, teams hold training camps in October. Training camps allows teams to evaluate players, especially rookies, to scout the team's strengths and weaknesses, to prepare the players for the rigorous regular season, and to determine the 15-man roster they will begin the regular season with. After training camp, a series of preseason exhibition games are held. In the first week of November, the NBA regular season begins.

In the regular season, each team plays 82 games, which are spread about evenly between home and away games. Teams face teams in their own division four times a year, teams in their own conference at least twice a year, and all other teams at least once a year. The number of games a team plays with any given team is unbalanced.

In February, the NBA regular season is interrupted to celebrate the annual NBA All-Star Game. Fans are balloted throughout the United States, Canada and through the internet, and the top vote-getters at each position in each conference is given a starting spot on their conference's All-Star team. Coaches vote to choose the remaing 14 All-Stars. Then, East faces West in the All-Star game. The player with the best performance during the game is rewarded with a NBA All-Star Game MVP award, which is usually given to a player on the winning team. Other attractions of the All-Star break include the Rookie-Sophomore game, which pits the best rookies and the best sophomores against each other, the 3-Point Shootout, a competition between players to see who is the best 3-point shooter, and the Slam Dunk Competition, to see which player dunks the ball in the most entertaining way.

Shortly after the All-Star break is the trading deadline. After the trading deadline, teams may no longer trade players, although they can still sign and release players. Many times, major trades are completed right before the trading deadline, making that day a hectic time for general managers.

In April, the regular season ends. It is during this time that voting begins for all the postseason awards and teams of the NBA. The NBA Sixth Man Award is awarded to the best contributor off the bench. The NBA Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to the best rookie player. The NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award is awarded to the league's best defender. The NBA Coach of the Year Award is awarded to either the best coach in the league or the coach that has made the most positive difference to a team. The NBA Executive of the Year Award is awarded to the general manager who has made the best moves during the season. The NBA Most Valuable Player Award is given to the best overall player in the league.

The postseason teams are the All-NBA Teams, the All-Defensive Teams, and the All-Rookie Teams. There are three All-NBA teams, consisting of the three best players at every position that season. There are two All-Defensive teams, consisting of the two best defenders at every position. There are also two All-Rookie teams, consisting of the two best rookies at each position

The Playoffs

In April, the regular season ends, and the playoffs begin. The eight teams in each conference with the best regular season records qualify for the playoffs. The seed of each team is determined by several factors. The top three seeds for each conference are determined by taking the winners of the three divisions of each conference and ranking them by regular season record. The other five seeds are determined by taking the five teams with the next-best records in the conference. However, the seeding system has one feature that is unusual in North American sports. Division champions are only guaranteed home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Although the playoff brackets are not reseeded, home-court advantage in later rounds is based strictly on regular-season record, without regard to whether a team won its division.

Having a higher seed offers several advantages. Since the first seed plays the eighth seed, the second seed plays the seventh seed, the third seed plays the sixth seed, and the fourth seed plays the fifth seed in the playoffs, having a higher seed generally means you will be facing a weaker team. In addition, when a team plays another team with a lower seed than them in the first round, the first team gains home court advantage, meaning that it will play more games at home than away. In later rounds, the team with the best regular season record recieves home court advantage. Therefore, the team with the best record receives home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The playoffs are designed like a tournament. Every team plays another team in a best-of-seven series, with the first team to win four games advancing into the second round, while the other team is eliminated from the playoffs. In the next round, the team would play against another advancing team of the same conference and repeat the process. Thus, all but one team in each conference are eliminated from the playoffs.

The final playoff round, a best-of-seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals. This is held in June, and is usually highly competitive. The victor in the NBA Finals wins the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Each player and major contributor, including coaches and the general manager, on the winning team receive a championship ring, while the best player on the winning team is awarded the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

List of NBA champions

1946–47 Philadelphia Warriors 4–1 Chicago Stags
1947–48 Baltimore Bullets 4–2 Philadelphia Warriors
1948–49 Minneapolis Lakers 4–2 Washington Capitols
1949–50 Minneapolis Lakers 4–2 Syracuse Nationals
1950–51 Rochester Royals 4–3 New York Knicks
1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers 4–3 New York Knicks
1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers 4–1 New York Knicks
1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers 4–3 Syracuse Nationals
1954–55 Syracuse Nationals 4–3 Ft. Wayne Pistons
1955–56 Philadelphia Warriors 4–1 Ft. Wayne Pistons
1956–57 Boston Celtics 4–3 St. Louis Hawks
1957–58 St. Louis Hawks 4–2 Boston Celtics
1958–59 Boston Celtics 4–0 Minneapolis Lakers
1959–60 Boston Celtics 4–3 St. Louis Hawks
1960–61 Boston Celtics 4–1 St. Louis Hawks
1961–62 Boston Celtics 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1962–63 Boston Celtics 4–2 Los Angeles Lakers
1963–64 Boston Celtics 4–1 San Francisco Warriors
1964–65 Boston Celtics 4–1 Los Angeles Lakers
1965–66 Boston Celtics 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers 4–2 San Francisco Warriors
1967–68 Boston Celtics 4–2 Los Angeles Lakers
1968–69 Boston Celtics 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1969–70 New York Knicks 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks 4–0 Baltimore Bullets
1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 New York Knicks
1972–73 New York Knicks 4–1 Los Angeles Lakers
1973–74 Boston Celtics 4–3 Milwaukee Bucks
1974–75 Golden State Warriors 4–0 Washington Bullets
1975–76 Boston Celtics 4–2 Phoenix Suns
1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers 4–2 Philadelphia 76ers
1977–78 Washington Bullets 4–3 Seattle SuperSonics
1978–79 Seattle SuperSonics 4–1 Washington Bullets
1979–80 Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 Philadelphia 76ers
1980–81 Boston Celtics 4–2 Houston Rockets
1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 Philadelphia 76ers
1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers 4–0 Los Angeles Lakers
1983–84 Boston Celtics 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1984–85 Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 Boston Celtics
1985–86 Boston Celtics 4–2 Houston Rockets
1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 Boston Celtics
1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers 4–3 Detroit Pistons
1988–89 Detroit Pistons 4–0 Los Angeles Lakers
1989–90 Detroit Pistons 4–1 Portland Trail Blazers
1990–91 Chicago Bulls 4–1 Los Angeles Lakers
1991–92 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Portland Trail Blazers
1992–93 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Phoenix Suns
1993–94 Houston Rockets 4–3 New York Knicks
1994–95 Houston Rockets 4–0 Orlando Magic
1995–96 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Seattle SuperSonics
1996–97 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Utah Jazz
1997–98 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Utah Jazz
1998–99 San Antonio Spurs 4–1 New York Knicks
1999-00 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Indiana Pacers
2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 Philadelphia 76ers
2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers 4-0 New Jersey Nets
2002-03 San Antonio Spurs 4-2 New Jersey Nets
2003-04 Detroit Pistons 4-1 Los Angeles Lakers

Defunct NBA teams

Anderson Packers 1949-1950
Baltimore Bullets 1947-1955 (Last NBA team to fold)
Chicago Stags 1946-1950
Cleveland Rebels 1946-1947
Denver Nuggets 1949-1950
Detroit Falcons 1946-1947
Indianapolis Jets 1948-1949
Indianapolis Olympians 1949-1953
Pittsburgh Ironmen 1946-1947
Providence Steamrollers 1946-1949
St. Louis Bombers 1946-50
Sheboygan Redskins 1949-50
Toronto Huskies 1946-47
Washington Capitols 1946-51
Waterloo Hawks 1949-50

NBA Presidents and Commissioners

Maurice Podoloff, President from 1946 to 1963
Walter Kennedy, President from 1963 to 1967 and Commissioner from 1967 to 1975
Larry O'Brien, Commissioner from 1975 to 1984
David Stern, Commissioner since 1984

Players

List of NBA players

External links

National Basketball Association (2004-2005 alignment)
E A S T	Atlantic	Boston Celtics	New Jersey Nets	New York Knicks	Philadelphia 76ers	Toronto Raptors
	Central	Chicago Bulls	Cleveland Cavaliers	Detroit Pistons	Indiana Pacers	Milwaukee Bucks
	Southeast	Atlanta Hawks	Charlotte Bobcats	Miami Heat	Orlando Magic	Washington Wizards
W E S T	Northwest	Denver Nuggets	Minnesota Timberwolves	Portland Trail Blazers	Utah Jazz	Seattle SuperSonics
	Pacific	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns	Sacramento Kings
	Southwest	Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets	Memphis Grizzlies	New Orleans Hornets	San Antonio Spurs
MLB - MLS - NBA/WNBA - NFL - NHL - WHA - Edit this template (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Template:NBAteams&action=edit)

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