National Basketball Association

"NBA" redirects here. For other uses, see NBA (disambiguation).

National Basketball Association
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024–25 NBA season
SportBasketball
FoundedJune 6, 1946; 78 years ago (1946-06-06)
(as BAA),
New York, New York, U.S.[1]
First season1946–47
CommissionerAdam Silver
No. of teams30
CountriesUnited States (29 teams)
Canada (1 team)
Headquarters645 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York, U.S.[2]
Most recent
champion(s)		Boston Celtics
(18th title)
Most titlesBoston Celtics
(18 titles)
TV partner(s)
Official websiteNBA.com

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.[3]

The NBA was created on August 3, 1949, with the merger of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL). The league later adopted the BAA's history and considers its founding on June 6, 1946, as its own.[4][1][5] In 1976, the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged, adding four franchises to the NBA. The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June, culminating with the NBA Finals championship series. As of 2020, NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player.[6][7][8]

The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB),[9] which is recognized by the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices in Midtown Manhattan, while its NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey. The NBA is the second-wealthiest professional sports league in the world by revenue after the National Football League (NFL).[10]

The Boston Celtics have the most NBA championships with 18 and are the reigning league champions, having defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals.

  1. ^ a b "This Date in the NBA: June". National Basketball Association. Retrieved March 4, 2022. June 6, 1946–The National Basketball Association was founded at the Commodore Hotel in New York. Maurice Podoloff was the league's first president, a title later changed to commissioner.
  2. ^ "NBA Directories" (PDF). National Basketball Association. October 17, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  3. ^ Rathborn, Jack (November 18, 2020). "NBA Draft 2020: What time does it start in the UK, who has the No 1 pick and how can I watch it?". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2020. The 2020 NBA Draft is here after days of juicy gossip surrounding trades as the world's greatest basketball league dominates the headlines during its offseason.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference wp-2022-01-02 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "This Date in the NBA: August". National Basketball Association. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  6. ^ "The World's Highest-Paid Athletes 2020". Forbes.
  7. ^ "REVEALED: The world's best paid teams, Man City close in on Barca and Real Madrid". SportingIntelligence.com. May 1, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  8. ^ Gaines, Cork. "The NBA is the highest-paying sports league in the world". Business Insider. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  9. ^ "Members of USA Basketball". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  10. ^ Teitelbaum, Justin (October 24, 2024). "The Most Valuable NBA Teams 2024". Forbes. Retrieved November 21, 2024.