The National Basketball Association, or NBA, is the most famous basketball league around the world. It is currently made up of 30 franchised clubs - 29 based in North America, and 1 based in Canada.
Background
The league was founded in 1946, and was originally called the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The first game played in the league happened on the 1st of November 1946, when the Toronto Huskies played host to the New York Knickerbockers. In 1949 the BAA merged with the rival National Basketball League (NBL) and the new venture adopted the current NBA name. This new venture added some new features to the game of basketball to make it more exciting, such as the 24 second shot clock. This stopped teams simply passing the ball around for lengthy periods, and forced them to make a shot.
The 1960's saw the emergence of the American Basketball Association (ABA) which created a rival league to the NBA. The two rivals ended up locked in bidding wars to tie up the big-name players and secure franchises in the major cities. The NBA grew rapidly throughout the late 1960's and 1970's, and in 1976 the two rival leagues reached an agreement. This saw four teams from the ABA joining the NBA, increasing the number of franchises to 22 at that time.
Towards the end of the 1970's the NBA was threatened by a number of problems. A number of drug-related issues led to attendances falling and declining TV ratings. As a result, the NBA added the 3-point line to games, in an attempt to open games up and make them more exciting. Conincidentally, that very same year saw the arrival of rookies Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to the NBA; both of whom went on to have a huge positive impact upon the game. Following this, popularity of the NBA growed immensely, and over the next decade the NBA became the huge global phenomenon that it is today.
In 1996, the NBA also created a women's league - the WNBA.
The popularity of the NBA has continued to grow in recent years, and it is now one of the most influential sports competitions in the world. The league currently consists of 30 franchised teams. The 2010 All-Star game also saw the largest attendance in NBA history - 108,713.
League Organisation
The 30 teams currently in the NBA are split into 2 conferences (East & West). Each conference is further split into 3 divisions, each consisting of 5 teams. The current divisional split is as follows:
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics
New York Knicks
New Jersey Nets
Philadelphia 76'ers
Toronto Raptors
Central Division
Chicago Bulls,
Cleveland Cavaliers,
Detroit Pistons,
Indiana Pacers,
Milwaukee Bucks
Southeast Division
Atlanta Hawks,
Charlotte Bobcats,
Miami Heat,
Orlando Magic,
Washington Wizards
Western Conference
Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets
Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers
Utah Jazz
Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Hornets
San Antonio Spurs
Season Structure
The regular reason runs from the end of October, to the middle of April - during which each team will play 82 matches. Teams play the others in their division 4 times in a season, teams from the other divisions in their Conference either 3 or 4 times a season, and also each of the teams from the other Conference twice.
Playoffs & NBA Finals
At the end of the regular season, the top 8 teams from each Conference will qualify for the NBA playoffs. The playoffs follow a knock-out tournament format, where a team will play their opponent over a best of 7 series. The playoffs produce an Eastern Conference champion, and a Western Conference champion, who then play off in the best of 7 'NBA Finals' series. The winner of this is crowned the overall champion and receives the 'Larry O' Brien Championship Trophy'.
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