The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America (twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada). It is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body (NGB) for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues, which include Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL).

The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted the name National Basketball Association in 1949 after merging with the rival National Basketball League (NBL). The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

For the best sports picks on the internet go to the banner above.

 

---

For more NBA Merchandise go to the NBA Store
NBA STORE

---

Scores and Other League Info



-Page Navigation-
-Click on the link to go to that part of the page-

Teams
Regular Season
Playoffs
NBA Links
SMB Information NBA STORE

-Back to the top of the page-

---

-TEAMS-

Division	Team	City/Area	Arena	Head Coach
Eastern Conference -Back to the top of the page-
Atlantic	Boston Celtics	Boston, MA	TD Banknorth Garden	Doc Rivers
	New Jersey Nets	East Rutherford, NJ	Izod Center	Lawrence Frank
	New York Knicks	New York City, NY	Madison Square Garden	Mike D'Antoni
	Philadelphia 76ers	Philadelphia, PA	Wachovia Center	Eddie Jordan
	Toronto Raptors	Toronto, ON	Air Canada Centre	Jay Triano
Central	Chicago Bulls	Chicago, IL	United Center	Vinny Del Negro
	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland, OH	Quicken Loans Arena	Mike Brown
	Detroit Pistons	Auburn Hills, MI	The Palace of Auburn Hills	Michael Curry
	Indiana Pacers	Indianapolis, IN	Conseco Fieldhouse	Jim O'Brien
	Milwaukee Bucks	Milwaukee, WI	Bradley Center	Scott Skiles
Southeast	Atlanta Hawks	Atlanta, GA	Philips Arena	Mike Woodson
	Charlotte Bobcats	Charlotte, NC	Time Warner Cable Arena	Larry Brown
	Miami Heat	Miami, FL	American Airlines Arena	Erik Spoelstra
	Orlando Magic	Orlando, FL	Amway Arena	Stan Van Gundy
	Washington Wizards	Washington, D.C.	Verizon Center	Flip Saunders
Western Conference -Back to the top of the page-
Northwest	Denver Nuggets	Denver, CO	Pepsi Center	George Karl
	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minneapolis, MN	Target Center	Kevin McHale
	Oklahoma City Thunder	Oklahoma City, OK	Ford Center	Scott Brooks
	Portland Trail Blazers	Portland, OR	Rose Garden	Nate McMillan
	Utah Jazz	Salt Lake City, UT	EnergySolutions Arena	Jerry Sloan
Pacific	Golden State Warriors	Oakland, CA	Oracle Arena	Don Nelson
	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles, CA	Staples Center	Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles, CA	Staples Center	Phil Jackson
	Phoenix Suns	Phoenix, AZ	US Airways Center	Alvin Gentry
	Sacramento Kings	Sacramento, CA	ARCO Arena	Paul Westphal
Southwest	Dallas Mavericks	Dallas, TX	American Airlines Center	Rick Carlisle
	Houston Rockets	Houston, TX	Toyota Center	Rick Adelman
	Memphis Grizzlies	Memphis, TN	FedExForum	Lionel Hollins
	New Orleans Hornets	New Orleans, LA	New Orleans Arena	Byron Scott
	San Antonio Spurs	San Antonio, TX	AT&T Center	Gregg Popovich

---

-Regular season-

Following the summer break, teams hold training camps in October. Training camps allow the coaching staff to evaluate players (especially rookies), scout the team's strengths and weaknesses, prepare the players for the rigorous regular season, and determine the 12-man active roster (and a 3-man inactive list) with which they will begin the regular season. Teams have the ability to assign players with less than two years of experience to the NBA development league. After training camp, a series of preseason exhibition games are held. The NBA regular season begins in the first week of November. During the regular season, each team plays 82 games, 41 each home and away. A team faces opponents in its own division four times a year (16 games), teams from the other two divisions in its conference either three or four times (36 games), and teams in the other conference twice apiece (30 games). This asymmetrical structure means the strength of schedule will vary significantly between teams.

 

 

As of 2008, the NBA is one of only three major leagues in North America (besides the Canadian Football League) in which teams play every other team during the regular season (the others being the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer). Each team hosts and visits every other team at least once every season. However, this results in each team playing nearly double the number of games against teams from the opposite conference (30) as teams in their own division (16).

In February, the regular season pauses to celebrate the annual NBA All-Star Game. Fans vote throughout the United States, Canada, and on the internet, and the top vote-getters at each position in each conference are given a starting spot on their conference's All-Star team. Coaches vote to choose the remaining 14 All-Stars. Then, Eastern conference players face the Western conference players in the All-Star game. The player with the best performance during the game is rewarded with a Game MVP award. Other attractions of the All-Star break include the Rookie Challenge, which pits the best rookies and the best second-year players against each other; the Skills Challenge, a competition between players to see who could complete an obstacle course comprising shooting, passing and dribbling in the fastest time; the Three Point Contest, a competition between players to see who is the best three-point shooter; and the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, to see which player dunks the ball in the most entertaining way. These other attractions have varying names which include the names of the various sponsors who have paid for naming rights.

Shortly after the All-Star break, the trading deadline falls on the second to last Thursday in February at 3pm Eastern Time. After this date, teams are not allowed to exchange players with each other for the remainder of the season, although they may still sign and release players. Major trades are often completed right before the trading deadline, making that day a hectic time for general managers.

Around the end of April, the regular season ends. It is during this time that voting begins for individual awards, as well as the selection of the honorary, league-wide, post-season teams. The Sixth Man of the Year Award is given to the best player coming off the bench (must have more games coming off the bench than actual games started). The Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to the most outstanding first-year player. The Most Improved Player Award is awarded to the player who is deemed to have shown the most improvement from the previous season. The Defensive Player of the Year Award is awarded to the league's best defender. The Coach of the Year Award is awarded to the coach that has made the most positive difference to a team. The Most Valuable Player Award is given to player deemed the most valuable for (his team) that season. Additionally, Sporting News awards an unofficial (but widely recognized) Executive of the Year Award to the general manager who is adjudged to have performed the best job for the benefit of his franchise.

The post-season teams are the All-NBA Team, the All-Defensive Team, and the All-Rookie Team; each consists of five players. There are three All-NBA teams, consisting of the top players at each position, with first-team status being the most desirable. There are two All-Defensive teams, consisting of the top defenders at each position. There are also two All-Rookie teams, consisting of the top first-year players regardless of position.

 -Back to the top of the page-

---

 

-Playoffs-

NBA Playoffs begin in late April, with eight teams in each conference going for the Championship. The three division winners, along with the team with the next best record from the conference are given the top four seeds. The next four teams in terms of record are given the lower four seeds.

Having a higher seed offers several advantages. Since the first seed begins the playoffs playing against 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, having a higher seed means a team faces a weaker team in the first round. The team in each series with the better record has home court advantage, including the First Round. This means that, for example, if the team who receives the 5 (five) seed has a better record than the team with the 4 (four) seed (by virtue of a divisional championship), the 5 seed would have home court advantage, even though the other team has a higher seed. Therefore, the team with the best regular season record in the league is guaranteed home court advantage in every series it plays. For example, in 2006, the Denver Nuggets won 44 games and captured the Northwest Division and the #3 seed. Their opponent was the #6 seeded Los Angeles Clippers, who won 47 games and finished second in the Pacific Division. Although Denver won its much weaker division, the Clippers had home-court advantage and won the series in five games.

The playoffs follow a tournament format. Each team plays a rival in a best-of-seven series, with the first team to win four games advancing into the next round, while the other team is eliminated from the playoffs. In the next round, the successful team plays against another advancing team of the same conference. All but one team in each conference are eliminated from the playoffs. Since the NBA does not re-seed teams, the playoff bracket in each conference uses a traditional design, with the winner of the series matching the 1st and 8th seeded teams playing the winner of the series matching the 4th and 5th seeded teams, and the winner of the series matching the 2nd and 7th seeded teams playing the winner of the series matching the 3rd and 6th seeded teams. In every round except the NBA Finals, the best of seven series follows a 2-2-1-1-1 home-court pattern, meaning that one team will have home court in games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while the other plays at home in games 3, 4, and 6. For the final round (NBA Finals), the series follows a 2-3-2 pattern, meaning that one team will have home court in games 1, 2, 6, and 7, while the other plays at home in games 3, 4, and 5. The 2-3-2 pattern in the NBA Finals has been in place since 1985.

The final playoff round, a best-of-seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals, and is held annually in June. The victor in the NBA Finals wins the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Each player and major contributor -- including coaches and the general manager -- on the winning team receive a championship ring. In addition, the league awards a Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award to the best performing player of the series.

On August 2, 2006, the NBA announced the new playoff format. The new format takes the three division winners and the second-place team with the best record and rank them 1–4 by record. The other 4 slots are filled by best record other than those other 4 teams. Previously, the top three seeds went to the division winners.

 -Back to the top of the page-

---

NBA Homepage
Official Homepage of the NBA

NBA News
Official News of the NBA

NBA Teams
Official Teams page of the NBA

NBA Standings
Official Standings page of the NBA

NBA Scores
Official Scores of the NBA

NBA Players
Official Players page of the NBA

NBA Stats
Official Stats page of the NBA

NBA Photos
Official Photos page of the NBA

NBA Video
Official Video page of the NBA

NBA Page
Wikipedia page for the NBA

NBA Players Page
Wikipedia page for NBA Players


-Back to the top of the page-

---

SMB Information NBA Page Store

Where you can find all the best merchandise for the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers,
Boston Celtics, and Washington Wizards

-Back to the top of the page-

Can't find what you want in the store? Check out Amazon for tons of other NBA Merchandise. Go to the orange banner below.