The National Basketball Association is one of the world’s most popular sports leagues. Founded in 1949, the NBA began with seventeen franchises spread across North America. The league’s storied history has included iconic players and coaches such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Rick Barry, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Today, the NBA is a global sport with teams in major cities and small towns. Its popularity is fueled by the world-class talent and thrilling gameplay that makes it one of the most engaging sports in the world.
The NBA has a number of rules that help to keep the game competitive. These include a salary cap, which limits the amount that teams can pay their players. This ensures that the wealthiest teams do not have an unfair advantage and helps to level the playing field. The league also has a draft, which allows teams to acquire new players without having to spend a fortune on free agents.
In addition to the regular season, the NBA has playoffs and a Finals series to determine its champion each year. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that pits the top eight teams in each conference against each other. The winners of the playoffs then face each other in the NBA Finals, which is a best-of-seven game series to determine the championship.
Throughout the years, NBA stars have become cultural icons and household names around the world. The NBA’s list of all-time legends includes many greats such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Shaquille O’Neal. The league has expanded its reach internationally with the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, and a growing number of NBA players come from outside the United States. These players usually first play college basketball, but some, such as 1994 NBA MVP Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, competed in the Olympics before joining the NBA.
The regular season lasts from October through April. In the offseason, some teams trade and sign free agents. The 2019 offseason was an especially exciting time for the league, as superstars such as LeBron James and Anthony Davis switched teams.
The end of the season sees voting for awards such as the All-NBA teams, the All-Defensive teams, and the All-Rookie Teams. There are also a number of individual award winners, including the Most Valuable Player and the Coach of the Year. The Sporting News also awards an unofficial Executive of the Year, which honors the general manager that has made the greatest contribution to a team that season. The NBA also has a rich history of partnerships with television networks. DuMont TV was the first to broadcast an NBA game in 1953, followed by NBC from 1954 to 1962. The NBA currently has a multi-year contract with ESPN (and ABC) and TNT through the 2024-25 season.