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Friday, July 3^rd, 2009
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EASTERN CONFERENCE		WESTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC Boston Celtics New Jersey Nets New York Knicks Philadelphia 76ers Toronto Raptors		NORTHWEST Denver Nuggets Minnesota Timberwolves Portland Trail Blazers Seattle SuperSonics Utah Jazz
CENTRAL Chicago Bulls Cleveland Cavaliers Detroit Pistons Indiana Pacers Milwaukee Bucks		PACIFIC Golden State Warriors Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Lakers Phoenix Suns Sacramento Kings
SOUTHEAST Atlanta Hawks Charlotte Bobcats Miami Heat Orlando Magic Washington Wizards		SOUTHWEST Dallas Mavericks Houston Rockets Memphis Grizzlies New Orleans Hornets San Antonio Spurs

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the USA's premier professional men's basketball league. It has 30 teams; 29 in the USA and one in Canada. It is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body (NGB) for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. The league was founded in New York City, on June 6, 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted the name National Basketball Association in the autumn 1949 after merging with the rival National Basketball League. The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by the owners of the major sports arenas in the Northeast and Midwest United States. Although there had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues, including the American Basketball League and the National Basketball League, the BAA was the first league to attempt to play primarily in large arenas in major cities. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won its 1948 title, followed by the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers who won the 1949 BAA title. On November 1, 1946, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers which the NBA now regards as the first game played in the league's history.

On August 3, 1949 the BAA agreed to merge with the NBL, expanding the National Basketball Association to seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as large arenas and smaller gymnasiums and armories. In 1950, the NBA consolidated to eleven franchises, a process that continued until 1954, when the league reached its smallest size of eight franchises, all of which are still in the league (the Knicks, Celtics, Warriors, Lakers, Royals/Kings, Pistons, Hawks, and Nationals/76ers). While contracting, the league also saw its smaller city franchises move to larger cities. The Hawks shifted from "Tri-Cities" (the area now known as the Quad Cities) to Milwaukee (in 1951) and then to St. Louis (in 1955); the Royals from Rochester to Cincinnati (in 1957); and the Pistons from Fort Wayne to Detroit (in 1957.) In 1960, the Lakers relocated to Los Angeles, California and the Warriors moved to San Francisco, California in 1963. The following year, the Nationals left upstate New York to give basketball back to Philadelphia. They would eventually change their name from "Nationals" to "76ers." This means out of the original eight franchises, only the Knicks and Celtics have not relocated at any point.

Although Japanese-American Wataru Misaka technically broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947-48 season when he played for the New York Knicks, 1950 is recognized as the year the NBA integrated with the addition of African American players by several teams including Chuck Cooper with the Boston Celtics, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton with the New York Knicks, and Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols. Today, more than fifty years later, the NBA is made up of players of many different races, with diverse backgrounds and cultures. Over 80% of NBA players today are African American. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships and established themselves as the league's first dynasty. To encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a field goal (or the ball doesn't make contact with the rim) within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped and the ball given to its opponent. In 1956, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, who already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league in 1959 and became the dominant individual star of the 1960s, setting new records in scoring (100) and rebounding (55). Russell's rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the great individual rivalries in the history of team sports.
Through this period, the NBA continued to strengthen with the shift of the Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, and the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia, as well as the addition of its first expansion franchises. From 1966 to 1968, the league expanded from nine teams to fourteen, introducing the Chicago Bulls, Seattle Supersonics, San Diego Rockets (who relocated to Houston four years later), Milwaukee Bucks, and Phoenix Suns. Then in the 1970s, it was extended to seventeen teams as the Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) all made their debuts. In 1967, the league faced a new external threat with the formation of the American Basketball Association. The leagues engaged in a bidding war. The NBA landed the most important college star of the era, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), who together with Oscar Robertson led the Milwaukee Bucks to a title in his second season, and who later played on five Laker championship teams. 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. 1970s: agreement with ABA expands league to 22 teams The ABA also succeeded in signing a number of major stars, including Julius Erving, in part because it allowed teams to sign college undergraduates. The NBA expanded rapidly during this period, one purpose being to tie up the most viable cities. Following the 1976 season, the leagues reached a settlement that provided for the addition of four ABA franchises to the NBA, raising the number of franchises in the league at that time to 22. The franchises included the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and New York Nets. The league added the ABA's innovative three-point field goal beginning in 1979 to open up the game. That same year, rookies Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers respectively, initiating a period of significant growth in fan interest in the NBA throughout the country and the world. Bird went on to lead the Celtics to three titles, and Johnson went on to lead the Lakers to five. 1980s: 23 teams, then 27 Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 with the Chicago Bulls, providing an even more popular star to support growing interest in the league. This resulted in more cities demanding teams of their own. In 1980, 1988, and 1989, five cities got their wishes as the Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, and Minnesota Timberwolves made their NBA debuts. 1990s: Globalization, expansion to Canada The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team, the first to use current NBA stars, featured Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. In 1995, the NBA expanded to Canada and to 29 teams with the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies. In 2001, the Vancouver Grizzlies were relocated to Memphis, which left the Toronto Raptors as the only Canadian team in the NBA. Globalization also occurred in the 1990s. A growing number of NBA star players also began coming from other countries. Initially, many of these players, such as 1994 NBA MVP Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, first played NCAA basketball to enhance their skills. In 1996, the NBA created a women's league, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 1998, the NBA owners began a lockout which lasted 191 days and was settled on January 18, 1999. As a result of this lockout the 1998-99 NBA season was reduced from 82 to 50 games, which were all played in early 1999. In 2004, two years after the Hornets relocation to New Orleans, the NBA returned to the Carolinas as the Charlotte Bobcats were formed.

2000s: Current era Today, the NBA has reached 30 franchises and continues to evolve as one of the premier sports leagues in the world. In 2001, an affiliated minor league, the National Basketball Development League, now called the NBA Development League (or D-League) was created. An increasing number of international players have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the NBA, such as: Andrea Bargnani, Italy — First pick in the 2006 NBA Draft (entered the NBA in 2006) Dirk Nowitzki, Germany — MVP of the 2002 World Championships and Eurobasket 2005, and 2007 NBA MVP (entered the NBA in 1998) Leandro Barbosa, Brazil — 2007 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award (entered the NBA in 2003) Manu Ginobili, Argentina — 2004 Olympic Tournament MVP (entered the NBA in 1999) Pau Gasol, Spain — 2002 NBA Rookie of the Year and 2006 World Championships MVP (entered the NBA in 2001) Tony Parker, France — 2007 NBA Finals MVP (entered the NBA in 2001) Yao Ming, China — First pick in the 2002 NBA Draft (entered the NBA in 2002) Andrew Bogut, Australia — First pick in the 2005 NBA Draft (entered the NBA in 2005) Today, young players from the English-speaking world tend to attend U.S. colleges before playing in the NBA (notable examples are Canadian Steve Nash, 2005 and 2006 MVP, and Australian Andrew Bogut, the top draft pick in 2005), while other international players generally come to the NBA from professional club teams. The NBA is now televised in 212 nations in 42 languages. On June 29, 2006, a new official game ball was introduced for the 2006-07 season, marking the first change to the ball in over 35 years and only the second in 60 seasons. Manufactured by Spalding, the new ball featured a new design and new synthetic material that Spalding claimed offered a better grip, feel, and consistency than the original ball. However, many players were vocal in their disdain for the new ball, saying that it was too sticky when dry, and too slippery when wet. On December 11, 2006, Commissioner Stern announced that beginning January 1, 2007, the NBA would return to the traditional leather basketball in use prior to the 2006-2007 season. The change was influenced by frequent player complaints and confirmed hand injuries (cuts) caused by the microfiber ball. The Players' Association had filed a suit in behalf of the players against the NBA over the new ball. As of 2006, the NBA team jerseys are manufactured by Adidas, which purchased the previous supplier, Reebok. On July 19, 2007, the FBI investigated allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games he officiated over the past two seasons and that he made calls affecting the point spread in those games. Donaghy is also under investigation for alleged mob connections. Teams The NBA originated in 1946 with 11 teams, and through a sequence of team expansions, reductions, and relocations currently consists of 30 teams. The United States is home to 29 teams and one is located in Canada. The Boston Celtics have won the most championships, with 16 NBA Finals wins. The next most successful franchise is the Los Angeles Lakers, who have 14 overall championships (9 in Los Angeles, 5 in Minneapolis). Following the Lakers are the Chicago Bulls with 6 championships, all of them over an 8-year span during the 1990s. The San Antonio Spurs, who have won 4 championships since 1999, are the defending champions. The current league organization divides the teams into two conferences. Each conference has three divisions, and each division has five teams. The current divisional alignment was introduced in the 2004-05 season.