The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a men’s professional basketball league in North America. The NBA is considered to be the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world. The NBA is a member of the International Basketball Federation (IBF). The NBA holds an annual playoff tournament to determine its champion. Each team plays 82 regular season games, and the top-ranked teams at the end of the regular season engage in a playoff to determine the champion.
The NBA playoffs have been held since the league’s inception as the BAA in 1946. Initially only six teams made the playoffs each year, with division winners directly qualifying for the playoffs and then facing each other in a best-of-3 division semifinal. The two winners then faced each other in the division finals, a best-of-5 series.
Each NBA game consists of four quarters, each lasting 12 minutes. The teams compete to score more points than the opponent, with the winner being determined at the end of the fourth quarter. In addition to playing four quarters, the game also has an overtime period that lasts five minutes. The players play in a five-person lineup that usually includes two guards, two forwards and a center. During the game, the ball is passed from player to player, and the team has 24 seconds to shoot each time they have possession of the ball. If the team fails to score within that time, the ball will be turned over to the opposing team. During stoppages in play, teams are allowed to make substitutions.
Players earn points for every time they successfully make a basket, and are penalized for fouling an opponent. There are a variety of fouls, including technical, flagrant and personal. A player can be ejected from the game if they receive six personal fouls. A player who has been ejected from the game cannot return until the next scheduled NBA game.
After each season, the league conducts a draft in which the 14 teams who did not qualify for the playoffs participate. The three highest-ranked teams get the first, second and third picks. The remaining picks are awarded in a lottery using ping-pong balls drawn randomly in an audited event. Once the draft order has been decided, the teams can trade their draft picks to move up or down in the draft order.
Each team has the right to renounce its exclusive rights with respect to a drafted player at any time. However, a team may not renounce its rights with respect to a drafted player during the time frame in which it must accept the required tender under the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement. Exceptions to this rule include trades involving a drafted player with another team that is a current NBA franchise or a non-NBA affiliate. In such cases, the team must notify the league of the renunciation.