The NBA is the national professional basketball league in the United States and Canada. The league contains 30 teams, 15 in each of the two conferences, and three divisions with five teams each. All teams play each other twice a season, once at home and once away. The best teams make the playoffs, and the champion is crowned at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at the end of December.
NBA players work hard on and off the court. Their training camp begins in September, and they have preseason games that don’t count towards their regular-season record. Players who perform well during training camp may receive a contract offer, which they must accept in order to join their team. The weaker players are either cut or assigned to the NBA G League.
Once the season starts, all teams play 82 games in a regular season. Each team plays its home and road games against other teams, including the teams in its own division. Teams also play three or four games each against teams in the other conference.
After the regular season, the top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. Each team is seeded according to its regular-season finish, and ties are broken using head-to-head records and intraconference records. The top seeds in each conference host the first round of the playoffs at home. The other eight teams host the first round of the playoffs on the road.
In the second round of the playoffs, teams are placed in a single-elimination tournament, where they play each other in a series of best-of-seven games. If a team wins four games, it advances to the finals.
The winners of the finals earn a championship ring and a $500,000 bonus. The runners-up get $100,000 each. The losing players of the semifinals and quarterfinals receive $50,000 each. The NBA is considering ways to improve the in-season tournament, which will start on November 3. It could expand it to more countries or air it on NBCUniversal’s broadcast network and streaming service, Peacock.
The NBA is also looking to maximize its international business, which accounts for about 10% of the league’s total team and franchise revenue. It is launching a new initiative to air games in certain global markets and bolster programs for kids. The league will also focus more on its existing presence in Asia and Europe.