The nba is a men’s professional basketball league in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1949, the league currently has twenty-two franchises, and its players are known as NBA players. In addition to the traditional 82-game regular season, the NBA also has an in-season tournament called the NBA Playoffs. The winners of the Finals, a best-of-seven series between the victors of each conference, receive the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy and a championship ring. The league also awards the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award to the best performer in the playoffs.
The in-season tournament was added to the nba schedule with the goal of making it more interesting to fans. In addition, it is meant to increase the number of regular-season games that count toward a team’s overall record, a key factor in playoff tiebreakers.
One way the nba hopes to make the in-season tournament more relevant is by making sure all teams participate in the games, and that they aren’t allowed to rest their stars for national TV and other high-profile matchups. If a team is caught resting its star players, the league will fine it.
Teams can have a maximum of two captains, who must be active players on the court at the time of the game’s start. The captains can ask the referees to review a ruling during a team’s single permitted timeout, and they must use it before the end of the fourth quarter. However, the captains cannot discuss a judgment call or argue with the official over a call.
The NBA does not have a set starting lineup, but each player must be in uniform and on the bench at the beginning of the game. The league also does not allow its teams to have more than 15 players on their active roster at any given time.
In the early days of the nba, players were allowed to hold the ball in any hand or between their hands, as long as they did not hold it with the elbows or fingers. The nba now requires that a player have both feet on the ground when holding the ball, and that no part of his body except his arms or legs can be used to support the weight of the ball.
The NBA introduced the shot clock in 1954, a rule that limits the amount of time a team has to shoot a basket. The clock is displayed on a monitor above the hoop and runs at least 24 seconds, although it can be adjusted in certain competitions. The shot clock is usually visible to the audience, but it can also be seen on the scoreboard. A countdown clock is also shown above the hoop, showing how much time remains for a team to shoot. If the clock runs out, a team must either shoot or forefeit. The nba has also adopted other rules that affect the timing of plays, such as requiring a player to advance the ball over the center line within ten seconds after gaining possession.