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Basketball
History > NBA
NBA History
The National Basketball
Association, more popularly known as simply the NBA, is the
world's premier men's professional
basketball league.
The NBA 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 the fall of
1949 after
adding several teams from the rival
National Basketball League. The league's several international and
individual team offices are directed out its head offices located in the
Olympic Tower on
Fifth Avenue.
NBA Entertainment and
NBA TV
studios are directed out of offices located in
Secaucus, New Jersey.
Regular season
Following the summer break,
teams hold training camps in
October.
Training camps allow 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 12-man active roster
and, if needed, a 3-man injured list with which they will begin the
regular season. 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 divided evenly between home and away
games. Schedules are not identical for all teams. A team faces opponents
in its own division four times a year, teams from the other two
divisions in its conference either three or four times, and teams in the
other conference twice apiece. A team can therefore have a relatively
easy or difficult schedule, depending on the division and conference it
is located in.
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 are given a starting spot on their conference's All-Star
team. Coaches vote to choose the remaining 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 Game MVP award, which is usually
given to a player on the winning team. Other attractions of the All-Star
break include the got milk? Rookie Challenge, which pits the best
rookies and the best second-year players against each other; the
3-Point Shootout, a competition between players to see who is the
best 3-point shooter; and the
Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk contest, to see which player dunks the
ball in the most entertaining way.
Shortly after the All-Star
break is the league's trade deadline. 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. Often, 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
individual awards, as well as the selection of the honorary league-wide
postseason teams. 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 player deemed most
valuable for that season.
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 top players at each
position, with first-team status being 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.
Playoffs
In late
April,
the
NBA 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 the conference and ranking them by regular season record. The
remaining five seeds are determined by taking the five teams with the
next-best records from among the non-division winning teams in the
conference. However, the seeding system has one feature that is unusual
in North American sports. Division champions do not necessarily have
home-court advantage in the playoffs. Although the playoff brackets are
not reseeded, home-court advantage 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. The team
with the best record has home court advantage in every single round,
including the first round. This means that, for example, if the team who
receives the 6 (six) seed has a better record than the team with the 3
(three) seed (seeded thus by virtue of a divisional championship), the 6
seed would have home court advantage, even though the other team has a
higher seed than them. Therefore, the team with the best record receives
home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs.
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 second 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 and repeat the process. Thus, all but one team in each
conference are eliminated from the playoffs. In every round except the
NBA Finals, the best of seven series follows a 2-2-1-1-1 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.
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. However, there has been one
exception to this unwritten rule;
Jerry West won the award in 1969 even though his
Los Angeles Lakers did not win the championship.
Lockout
Currently the NBA is
bargaining with the Players Association. The Collective Bargining
Agreement between the two agencies expires on June 30th, 2005. If a new
agreement is not reached, a lockout could occur as early as July 1st.
See Also:
NBA
Draft
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