Guide Note

The National Basketball Association is comprised of 30 professional teams playing basketball in the United States and Canada.

Fast Facts

1. Inaugural season: 1946
2. League offices: New York City
3. Commissioner: David Stern
4. Number of teams: 30
5. Number of games per team: 82
6. 2007 defending champion: San Antonio Spurs
7. TV partners: ESPN, TNT

Each team plays a six month, 82-game regular season within two conferences, each of which have three geographical divisions. The NBA All-Star Game is held each February. Every four seasons, the league allows elite players to represent their country in the Summer Olympics.

Following the regular season, 16 teams qualify for the NBA Playoffs. After three rounds are played to determine each conference champion, the two remaining teams participate in the NBA Finals.

Originally founded as the Basketball Association of America on June 6, 1946 with 11 teams. The first game was played on November 1, 1946 in Toronto where the New York Knickerbockers defeated the Toronto Huskies 68-66. In 1949, the Basketball Association of America merged with the National Basketball League, forming the NBA. The league first started with 17 teams, then cut the league to 11 teams the following year. In 1976 the NBA absorbed four teams from the struggling American Basketball Association. The fall of the ABA was satirized in the 2008 Will Ferrell film Semi-Pro.

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