The National Basketball Association, or NBA, is one of the top professional sports leagues in the United States and around the world. Its combination of top talent and thrilling gameplay makes it a must-see for sports fans.
The league has a salary cap, which limits the total amount teams can spend on player salaries. This keeps teams from overspending and creates a level playing field for all the teams in the league. It also helps prevent the richest teams from dominating the league.
NBA teams play a regular season that runs from October through April. Each team plays a minimum of 82 games in the regular season, and every game counts toward the final standings. Throughout the regular season, teams compete for the best record in the league and a chance to make the playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that culminates in the championship game. There is also a mid-season pause in the regular season for the All-Star game.
Each spring, the NBA holds a draft lottery to determine the order of selection for the first round of the playoffs. A number of Lottery balls are drawn, and each team that did not qualify for the playoffs receives a certain number of draft picks. Teams with the worst records have a greater chance of getting the first pick in the Lottery. The remaining 14 draft picks are awarded in reverse order of regular season finish.
During the playoffs, the higher seed in each series has home-court advantage throughout the entire postseason. The two highest seeds are guaranteed to meet in the conference semifinals and will then play each other for the championship. If a team is tied with another in the same division, tiebreakers are used to decide the final seeding. These include head-to-head record, division record, and winning percentage against the other teams in the same conference.
The NBA has many annual events and awards that are given to its players and teams. The most popular are the Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player awards. The league also has a Skills course and a Slam Dunk contest that are part of the All-Star game weekend.
NBA players can be fined for various violations of the league’s rules. In addition, the league has a list of serious misconducts that may result in a suspension. In the event of a violation, a player can file a grievance with the NBA’s Grievance Arbitrator, who will review the case and determine whether the fine or suspension is fair.
The NBA is headquartered in New York City. The league has 30 teams in two 15-team conferences. The conference alignment reflects the geographic distribution of the United States and Canada. The majority of the teams are in the Eastern Time Zone, with 13 teams located in the Eastern Division and the remaining seven in the Western Division. The NBA began with just nine teams in 1948 and added four expansion franchises from the NBL in 1961: the Fort Wayne Pistons, Minnesota Lakers, Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers), and St. Louis Hawks.