The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the premier professional basketball league in the United States. A merger of the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball League in 1976 created the league. Today, the NBA has thirty teams. Each team plays 82 games in a regular season and the playoffs. They also have a salary cap, which limits teams’ salaries. This cap is set in order to allow teams to compete for championships.
There are two conferences in the NBA. These are the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference. Every team plays four games in each of these divisions. The winner of a division earns a spot in the playoffs. In addition, the NBA has a Play-In tournament for the seven and eight seeded teams in each conference. After the season, the top two teams in each conference play for the championship.
Among the best players to ever play the game are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Larry Bird. Other stars include Julius Erving, Karl Malone, Elvin Hayes, and Artis Gilmore. Several of these teams had deep benches of shooters. Others had defensive talents. Some of the best teams of the 20th century have been the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Boston Celtics.
Each NBA team has a maximum of fifteen players. This includes three players on the reserve roster and twelve on the active roster. The maximum number of fouls is six. Players can be asked to foul if a team fails to make a field goal within 24 seconds of the shot being taken.
Each team has a shot clock of twenty-four seconds, which discourages teams from running the clock too far. Another new feature of the NBA is the three-point line, which allows teams to expand their court. This is a great way to increase their chances of scoring. However, the best teams combine their shooting talents with their defensive ones.
During the regular season, each NBA team plays 36 games against non-divisional conference opponents. During the playoffs, each team plays two games against each of their opponents in the same division. One game against an intraconference rival is also scheduled for each division. Typically, each team plays its division rival twice on the road and twice at home.
The NBA has changed a lot since its founding. Adding the three-point line was a big move for the league, which had previously only had two-point lines. It made the court larger, increased scoring opportunities, and prevented teams from stalling and wasting time.
Ticketing is not a primary source of revenue for the NBA. However, fans still make their way to games, and the league does share non-basketball related revenue with its partners. To keep the league’s costs to a minimum, a collective bargaining agreement was negotiated, which keeps teams within the rules. Teams are allowed to pool their money for other projects, like buying a new arena, which has the added benefit of increasing the fan base.