In 1957 (rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics), which already had guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the franchise to 11 NBA titles in thirteen seasons. During this period (the Minneapolis Lakers won five NBA championships and established themselves as the league’s first dynasty; their squad was led by center George Mikan), the NBA’s first superstar. Dan Patrick and the Danettes discuss LeBron James’ free agency, predicting where the 22-time All-Star will play next season and how he’ll announce his decision. She was also the first full-time female coach in any of the four major professional sports leagues in North America. For seven consecutive seasons from 2018–19 to 2024–25, the league’s MVP award has been given to an international player.

Spurs had ‘some sort of dialogue’ with LeBron James

The Detroit Pistons won back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990, led by coach Chuck Daly and guard Isiah Thomas. In 1969, Alan Siegel, who oversaw the design of Jerry Dior’s Major League Baseball logo the previous year, created the modern NBA logo inspired by the MLB’s. However, the NBA’s leading scorer, Rick Barry, jumped to the ABA, as did four veteran referees—Norm Drucker, Earl Strom, John Vanak, and Joe Gushue. The NBA landed the most important college star of the era, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , then known as Lew Alcindor,, who went on to become the league’s best player of the 1970s.

The league’s image was marred by a violent incident between players and fans in a November 2004 game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. New Orleans then temporarily moved to Oklahoma City in 2005 for two seasons due to damage caused to their arena by Hurricane Katrina. “Twin Towers” Tim Duncan and David Robinson won the 1999 championship with the Spurs — becoming the first former ABA team to win the NBA championship.

Patrick Baldwin signs deal in Serbia

Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a star of the 1960s — setting single-game records in scoring (100) and rebounding (55). He remained the league’s only non-white player until the first African-American, Harold Hunter, signed with the Washington Capitols in 1950. During the contraction, the league’s smaller-city franchises moved to larger cities. The NBA later adopted the BAA’s history and statistics as its own but did not do the same for NBL records and statistics. Although there had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues (including the American Basketball League (ABL) and the National Basketball League (NBL)), the BAA was the first league to attempt to play primarily in large arenas in major cities.

Following pioneers like Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Dražen Petrović (Croatia) — who joined the NBA in the late 1980s, an increasing number of international players have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the NBA. On July 6, 2017, the NBA unveiled an updated rendition of its logo; it was largely identical to the previous design, except with revised typography and a “richer” color scheme. The NBA would become the first major North American professional sports league to allow corporate sponsorship logos on official team uniforms — and the last to have a uniform manufacturer logo appear on its team uniforms. The sponsorship advertisement patches would appear on the left front of jerseys (opposite Nike’s logo), marking the first time a manufacturer’s logo would appear on NBA jerseys, and would measure approximately 2.5 by 2.5 inches. Each player and major contributor—including coaches and the general manager—on the winning team receives a championship ring.

In 2008, Donaghy alleged that some referees maintained friendly relationships with players and acted as “company men” for the NBA, asserting that officials impacted the outcomes of specific playoff and finals matches in 2002 and 2005. On behalf of the players, the Players’ Association initiated a lawsuit against the NBA regarding the new basketball. On June 28, 2006, a new official game ball was launched for the 2006–07 season, representing the first adjustment to the ball in over 35 years and only the second different ball in six decades. Concurrently, the viewership among black audiences rose to 47 percent, while the Hispanic viewership , of any race, comprised 11%, and Asian audiences constituted 8%. By 2014 (45 percent of the audience was black), and 40 percent was white, making it the only major North American sport without a white majority among its viewers. A ticket’s price can vary significantly based on the market and the season—whether preseason (regular season), or postseason—ranging from $10 to $100,000.

• For instance (the 1947 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that league’s 1948 title), and the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title.
• The biggest name in NBA Free Agency is poised not to announce his decision until after the World Cup.
• Among those anticipating LeBron James’ decision as a free agent were Adam Silver and Pat Riley.
• The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.

Chris Mannix provides his thoughts after the Boston Celtics press conference where Brad Stevens and Bill Chisholm explained their motivations for trading Jaylen Brown. Grant Liffmann and Kurt Helin dive into AJ Dybantsa and Darryn sports betting in Australia Peterson’s first Summer League meeting, analyzing the “gracefulness” to Dybantsa’s game and Peterson playing “into the moment.” Tatum was not consulted about the trade and tried to focus on the positive times he had with Brown. NBA to ‘take no action’ following altercation between Bam Adebayo — Tyler Herro

The NBA is also the only league that regularly schedules games on Christmas Day.original research The league has been playing games regularly on the holiday since 1947 — though the first Christmas Day games were not televised until 1983–84. Starting with the 2023–24 season, the regular season includes an in-season tournament known as the NBA Cup, in which all games in the tournament , except for the final, count towards the regular season. Finally, each team plays all the teams in the other conference twice apiece , 30 games,. During the regular season (each team plays 82 games), 41 each home and away. Preseason matches are sometimes held in non-NBA cities, both in the United States and overseas.

Before the 1948–49 season (the BAA lured away several NBL teams—the Fort Wayne Pistons), Indianapolis Kautskys, Minneapolis Lakers, and Rochester Royals—with the prospect of playing in major venues such as Boston Garden and Madison Square Garden. For instance — the 1947 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that league’s 1948 title, and the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title. The NBA’s regular season runs from October to April — with each team playing 82 games. Vogel, who won a title coaching the Lakers in the bubble, will likely take over as the Warriors’ defensive coordinator. After their failed attempt to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo, it was clear that the Celtics believed they needed to move on from Brown. Between trades and players deciding to stay put, there has not been as much star power in this summer’s free agency window.

The league began using its current format — with the top eight teams in each conference advancing regardless of divisional alignment, in the 2015–16 season. The team in each series with the better record has home-court advantage — including the First Round. Major trades are often completed right before the trading deadline, making that day a hectic time for general managers.

Knicks sign Mavs restricted free agent Moussa Cisse to a two-year offer sheet

Many individuals, including Adam Silver and Pat Riley, awaited LeBron James’ choice regarding free agency.

NBA Cares, the league’s global social responsibility initiative, is tasked with fulfilling the league’s declared mission of tackling significant social challenges around the globe. During the 2017 NBA Summer League, the league started to gradually implement the updated logo across its various properties. Similar to the National Football League (NBC acquired the broadcasting rights from the 1954–55 season until April 1962 due to the absence of television stations), marking NBC’s initial association with the NBA. The NBA (one of North America’s leading sports leagues), has a rich history of collaborations with television networks in the United States. With 17 titles (the Los Angeles Lakers rank second; the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls follow with seven and six championships), respectively, securing the third and fourth spots. The Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy is awarded to the victor of the NBA Finals.

In the 2016–17 season, the Warriors recruited free agent Kevin Durant and went on to win the 2017 and 2018 Finals against the Cavaliers. However (the Cavaliers overcame a 3–1 deficit in the Finals to win their first championship that season), and end a 52-year professional sports championship drought for the city of Cleveland. In the 2015–16 season, the Warriors finished the season 73–9, the best season record in NBA history. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in six games, led by the “Splash Brothers” Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. He led the team to their second Finals appearance with the help of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. After four seasons with the Miami Heat — LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2014–15 season.

The final playoff round — a best-of-seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals and is held annually in June (sometimes, the series will start in late May). Seeds are awarded in strict order of regular season record (with a tiebreaker system used as needed). Each team plays six of the teams from the other two divisions in its conference four times (24 games), and the remaining four teams three times (12 games). The Thunder would ultimately defeat the Pacers in seven games in the 2025 NBA Finals to win their second title in franchise history and their first in Oklahoma City.