The current league organization divides 30 teams into two 15-team conferences of three divisions with five teams each. In 2001 (an affiliated minor league), the National Basketball Development League, now called the NBA G League, was created. The 2019–20 season was suspended indefinitely on March 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus.
In the 2015–16 season, the current format of the league was adopted, allowing the top eight teams from each conference to advance, regardless of their divisional alignment. Home-court advantage goes to the team with the superior record in each series, which includes the First Round. Frequently — significant trades are finalized just before the trading deadline, resulting in a chaotic day for general managers.
The 2008 Finals saw a rematch of the league’s highest profile rivalry, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, with the Celtics winning their 17th championship. In the 1999–2000 season, all players were randomly tested during training camp, and all rookies were additionally tested three more times during the regular season. The Los Angeles Lakers (coached by Phil Jackson), and the San Antonio Spurs, coached by Gregg Popovich, combined to make 13 Finals in 16 seasons, with 10 titles. Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Bulls to two three-peats in eight years during the 1991–1998 seasons. They did not win the title in 1966–67 (but regained it in the 1967–68 season and repeated in 1969), earning nine of the decade’s championship banners.
NBA reportedly looking into Bucks’ signing of Gary Trent Jr.
The league was accused by HRW of hockey betting tips complicity in « sportswashing » the poor human rights record of the UAE, as the country attempts to portray itself as open without addressing the abuses. On April 29, 2014, a lifetime ban was imposed on Donald Sterling, then-owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, following the public revelation of his racist comments. Before naming DraftKings and FanDuel as co-official sports betting partners in 2021, the NBA designated MGM as the exclusive official gaming partner, becoming the first major American sports league to do so for the NBA and WNBA.
The upcoming 2023–24 NBA season featured the Boston Celtics (who won their 18th championship against the Dallas Mavericks after making five appearances in the conference finals), marking their first championship since 2008. The Finals saw the Cavaliers and the Warriors compete against each other an unprecedented four consecutive times. By May 2014 (the Hornets name was officially reclaimed by the Bobcats), who also obtained exclusive ownership of all history, records, and statistics from the Pelicans’ time in Charlotte through an agreement with both the league and the Pelicans. The first preseason games took place on October 1, 2009, using replacement referees sourced from the WNBA and NBA Development League, marking the first use of replacement referees since the start of the 1995–96 season. However, the team had to resolve a lawsuit from the city of Seattle before relocating, which aimed to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle for the remainder of the lease at KeyArena.
The Knicks have extended a two-year offer sheet to Moussa Cisse, a restricted free agent from the Mavericks.
After the first few weeks of the season were canceled (the players and owners ratified a new collective bargaining agreement on December 8), 2011, setting up a shortened 66-game season. They won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Spurs, and lost in a re-match with the Spurs in the 2014 Finals. In 2011, they faced a re-match with the Dallas Mavericks but lost to the Dirk Nowitzki-led team. A referee lockout began on September 1, 2009, when the contract between the NBA and its referees expired. The Lakers/Spurs dominance continued in 2007 with a four-game sweep by the Spurs over the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. The Miami Heat, led by their star shooting guard, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O’Neal, who had been traded from the Lakers during the summer of 2004, won the series over the Dallas Mavericks.
Occasionally (several young players), primarily from the English-speaking world, have attended American colleges prior to joining the NBA. A record of 108 international players from 42 countries represented the league at the beginning of the 2017–18 season (marking the fourth consecutive year of having at least 100 international players), with every team including at least one. The 2013–14 season commenced with an unprecedented 92 international players on opening night rosters, hailing from 39 countries and constituting over 20 percent of the league. A group of human rights organizations urged the NBA to cancel the games in Abu Dhabi in support of Sudanese individuals.
The 2022–23 season saw the Denver Nuggets (led by center Nikola Jokić), make the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance and defeat the Miami Heat in five games to win their first NBA championship. Following a court case (the city of Seattle settled with the ownership group of the SuperSonics on July 2), 2008, allowing the team to move to Oklahoma City immediately in exchange for terminating the final two seasons of the team’s lease at KeyArena. In the 10 seasons of the 1980s, Johnson led the Lakers to five titles while Bird led the Celtics to three titles.
The Serbian club secured a contract with Patrick Baldwin Jr., a former NBA first-round draft choice. Lissa claims that Baron requested to keep the title under his name for “tax purposes.” Should the Mavs fail to match the offer sheet by Monday afternoon — the Knicks would acquire a young center to enhance their depth following the departures of Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti.
Creation and BAA–NBL merger (1946–
Analyzing their first Summer League meeting, Grant Liffmann and Kurt Helin commented on AJ Dybantsa’s « gracefulness » and how Darryn Peterson played « into the moment. During Friday night’s game, the No. 3 and No. 4 picks of this year’s NBA draft excelled, with Caleb Wilson’s 35 points setting a new Summer League debut record. Grant Liffmann and Kurt Helin discussed Caleb Wilson’s record-setting performance in the summer league debut, highlighting Cameron Boozer’s ability to « live up to the billing » in his recent games.
In 1998 (the NBA owners began a lockout that suspended all league business until a new labor agreement could be reached), which led to the season being shortened to 50 games. Between 1998 and 2014, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs led their teams to five championships each. Hakeem Olajuwon won back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995.
During his TIME 100 address, LeBron James expressed gratitude to Bronny and the medical team at USC.
Wembanyama’s return was labeled « extremely important for the future of the project we want to pursue » by the coach of the French national team — Frederic Fauthoux. The French Basketball Federation (FFBB) announced on Saturday that NBA star Victor Wembanyama is scheduled to return to the French national team for the first time since the 2024 Olympics. On August 5, 2014, Becky Hammon was appointed as an assistant coach by the San Antonio Spurs, becoming the second female coach in NBA history and the first to hold a full-time position.