The NBA is one of the most popular sports in the world, and it\u2019s also one of the richest. It\u2019s second only to the NFL in terms of overall revenue, and it has offices around the globe. The NBA is made up of 30 teams, divided into two Conferences (East and West). Each team plays 82 games during the Regular Season, and the top eight in each conference make the Playoffs.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Regular Season, there is an All-star Game in mid-february, and a Summer League, which features a handful of young players. The NBA Finals are the pinnacle of the year, and the winner goes on to win the championship for that year.<\/p>\n
Since the introduction of analytics into the sport, the NBA has pushed to make it more about offense and less about physicality. And the effect has been clear: Viewership is down. The league has cited an increasing reliance on three-pointers, a lack of local broadcast rights for its games, and the need to use five different apps to follow your favorite team as some of the reasons behind the drop. But I think there\u2019s another factor: the way the game has been changed to de-emphasize defensive play.<\/p>\n
The rules of nba allow for a lot of physical contact, but the key is how it is used. Fouls are called when a player gains an unfair advantage through physical contact. There is some interpretation to this rule, but basically a defensive player may not touch an offensive player in any way that causes them to lose the ball or miss a shot.<\/p>\n
Originally, a player was disqualified after two fouls in a game. This became four fouls in 1911, and eventually five in 1945. In the modern NBA, a player is disqualified after six fouls in a game, although that hasn\u2019t always been the case.<\/p>\n
There are some minor rules that aren\u2019t so much a part of the game anymore, but are still in place to maintain the integrity of the game. For example, the jump ball at the start of the second through fourth quarters has been in place for over thirty years now.<\/p>\n
In 2000, FIBA reduced the shot clock from 24 seconds to 8 seconds, and the NBA followed suit in 2001. This was done in an effort to increase scoring. It worked \u2014 average points per game in the NBA went up from 128 to 216 over that time \u2014 but it took away some of the strategy and intensity of the game, as well.<\/p>\n