The National Basketball Association (NBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is considered the world’s highest level of competitive basketball and is an important part of pop culture, with iconic players such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Tim Duncan becoming household names. The NBA has a global presence and an enormous fan base, and is one of the most profitable sports leagues in the world.
The NBA was founded in 1946 and has its headquarters in New York City. It has 30 teams in the United States and Canada, divided into two conferences: the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. It is governed by the NBA Board of Governors.
In the regular season, each team plays 82 games against their division rivals (20 home, 20 away) and 154 games against the rest of the conference (15 at home, 15 on the road). The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs, where they play best-of-seven series. The first round pits the No. 1 seed against the No. 8 seed, and so on. The winners of each best-of-seven series advance to the next round.
After the first round, a play-in tournament is held to determine the final four teams to make the playoffs in each conference. The winners of each of the two conferences then face each other in a best-of-seven series to determine the league champion. The winners of each best-of-seven will be crowned champions and will receive the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
From the onset of the NBA, the league has made significant innovations to the sport including a 24-second shot clock to speed up the game and encourage more shooting. In the 1980s, the NBA also added a three-point line to increase scoring opportunities and allow for more offensive diversity.
The All-Star Game is a midseason exhibition featuring the best players from the East and West. The players are chosen via a combination of voting from fans, media, and coaches. The captains for the All-Star Game are determined by a vote from the fans. The other All-Star starters are selected by the coaches.
The All-Star break is a time for the stars to rest and recuperate before the second half of the season. Other highlights of the All-Star weekend include the Rising Stars Challenge, which pits the best rookies and second-year players against each other; and the Skills Challenge, which features a variety of challenges that test the players’ skill sets. During the All-Star Game, the best player on each team is awarded a special All-Star MVP award.