All about NBA: history, teams, rules, draft and champions

The biggest basketball league in the world, featuring the sport's all-time greatest players. This is the NBA!

Every year, the best basketball teams in the world face each other in a long season, to define who will be the great champion!

In 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers won their 17th title, equaling the Boston Celtics' record in the league's entire history, starting in the 1940s.

Do you want to know more about the NBA and understand all the details of the biggest basketball league on the planet? Come with us!

What is NBA?

The acronym NBA stands for National Basketball Association, the largest basketball league in the world. The championship brings together 30 teams, 29 from the United States and one representative from Canada, the Toronto Raptors.

NBA History

The NBA was founded in 1946. In its first version, the league was called the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and had 11 teams: Boston Celtics, Chicago Stags, Cleveland Rebels, Detroit Falcons, New York Knickerbockers, Philadelphia Warriors, Pittsburgh Ironmen , Providence Steamrollers, St Louis Bombers, Toronto Huskies and Washington Capitols.

The first game in NBA history was played on November 1, 1946, in Ontario, Canada, between the Toronto Huskies and the New York Knicks. The first champion of the league was the Philadelphia Warriors, with a victory over the Chicago Stags by 4 to 1 in the decisive series.

Only in 1949 did the league change its name to the National Basketball Association (NBA), after the BBA absorbed teams from another US basketball league, the National Basketball League (NBL).

The new league had 17 franchises, but the number of participants was reduced, until reaching 8 in the 1953/1954 season: New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, Tri-Cities Blackhawks and Syracuse Nationals. All these franchises remain in the NBA, although only the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics remain in the same headquarters.

During the following decades, the NBA went through phases of expansion, until it reached its current format, with 30 franchises.

How does the NBA work?

The 30 NBA teams are split between two conferences: East and West. That is, teams are distributed according to their geographic location. Each conference has 15 teams, which make up three divisions with five representatives.

Eastern Conference

The NBA Eastern Conference comprises the Atlantic Division, Central Division, and Southeast Division. The 15 teams in this conference are broken down as follows:

Atlantic Division

• Boston Celtics
• brooklyn nets
• New York Knicks
• Philadelphia 76ers
• toronto raptors

Central Division

• Chicago Bulls
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• detroit pistons
• Indiana Pacers
• Milwaukee Bucks

Southeast Division

• atlanta hawks
• charlotte hornets
• miami heat
• Orlando Magic
• washington wizards

Western Conference

In the Western Conference of the NBA, there are teams from the Northwest Division, Pacific Division and Southwest Division.

Northwest Division

• denver nuggets
• Minnesota Timberwolves
• portland trail blazers
• Oklahoma City Thunder
• utah jazz

pacific division

• Golden State Warriors
• Los Angeles Clippers
• Los Angeles Lakers
• phoenix suns
• Sacramento Kings

Southwest Division

• dallas mavericks
• Houston Rockets
• Memphis Grizzlies
• New Orleans Pelicans
• san antonio spurs

What is the form of dispute in the NBA?

To reach the NBA title, the champion has a long way to go. In the regular season, each of the 30 teams plays 82 games. Then, 16 teams will compete in the playoffs, until we reach the NBA finals, with the duel between the Western Conference champion and the Eastern Conference winner.

How does the NBA regular season work?

All 30 teams play twice against teams from the other Conference and face 3 or 4 teams from the same Conference. After each team's 82 games, the top 8 teams from each Conference play in the Playoffs.

How do the NBA playoffs work?

In the Playoffs, games are always within the Conferences — teams from the West only face opponents from the East in the NBA Finals. The best campaign team faces the eighth place of its conference, the second plays against the seventh, the third against the sixth and the fourth faces the fifth.

In the conference semifinals, the winner of the duel between 1st and 8th faces whoever passes from the dispute between 4th and 5th. Whoever is victorious in the duel between 3rd and 4th will face the team that advances from the dispute between 6th and 7th.

Lastly, the winners of the semifinals face each other in the conference final. The team that had the best campaign in the regular season will play more matches at home.

The three rounds of the NBA playoffs are always best-of-seven games.

How do the NBA Finals work?

The NBA Finals are played between the champions of the Eastern and Western Conferences, in a series of up to 7 games. The team that had the best record in the regular season will be entitled to four field commands, and whoever wins four games first will be the NBA champion.

How do franchises work in the NBA?

In the NBA, as well as in the main sports of the United States, the leagues are formed by franchises (franchises), which have owners. Thus, owners may choose to take teams to other cities, usually for financial reasons.

Throughout the history of the NBA, several teams have changed headquarters. Consequently, the names of the teams also change. The Los Angeles Lakers, for example, were the Minneapolis Lakers until 1960 — with the old name, the Lakers won their first five titles. The Golden State Warriors have been called the Philadelphia and San Francisco Warriors.

NBA Teams That Changed Homes and Names

• Detroit Pistons was Fort Wayne Pistons until 1957
• Los Angeles Lakers were Minneapolis Lakers until 1960
• Golden State Warriors were initially Philadelphia Warriors. In 1962, the team moved to San Francisco. The name Golden State Warriors was adopted in 1971
• Philadelphia 76ers were Syracuse Nationals until 1963
• Atlanta Hawks was St. Louis Hawks until 1968
• Utah Jazz was New Orleans Jazz until 1974
• Sacramento Kings was Rochester Royals until 1976
• Washington Wizards were called the Washington Bullets between 1974 and 1997. Previously, they had been called by several names: Chicago Packers (1961-1962), Chicago Zephyrs (1962-1963), Baltimore Bullets (1963-1972) and Capital Bullets (1973-1974)
• The Los Angeles Clippers were founded as the Buffalo Braves in 1970 and remained under that name until 1978, when they became the San Diego Clippers. In 1984, the franchise arrived in Los Angeles
• Memphis Grizzlies was Vancouver Grizzlies until 2001
• Oklahoma City Thunder was Seattle SuperSonics until 2009
• Brooklyn Nets was New Jersey Nets until 2012
• The New Orleans Pelicans were born as the New Orleans Hornets (formerly the Charlotte Hornets) in 2002. From 2005 to 2007, they were the Oklahoma City Hornets, as a result of Hurricane Katrina in Charlotte. The name New Orleans Pelicans was adopted in 2013
• The current Charlotte Hornets adopted the name in 2014. However, the team was founded as the Charlotte Bobcats in 2003. The first Charlotte Hornets are now the New Orleans Pelicans

How does the NBA draft work?

NBA signings do not follow the mold we are used to in sports in Brazil, especially football . To better understand, you need to know how the draft and the player recruitment process works.

What is the NBA draft?

The NBA draft is an annual event in which the 30 teams can recruit players who are eligible to join the league, whether they are from college or abroad. In this process, 60 athletes are selected, divided into two rounds.

To promote balance between the teams, the first draft picks are with the teams with the worst campaign in the previous season. The definition of the selection order is done through a draw, known as Draft Lottery, or draft lottery.

How is the NBA draft pick order set?

The 14 teams that do not qualify for the playoffs participate in the Draft lottery draw. The remaining 16 get the next draft picks, following an order according to campaigns in the regular season (the playoffs are disregarded).

The draw defines the order of the first 4 choices. Between the fifth and 14th picks, the order also follows the standings in the regular season.

But, after all, how does the definition of the order of choice work?

The 14 teams participating in the draw receive numbers with 4-digit combinations. The three teams with the worst record in the previous season receive 140 combinations out of 1,000 possible combinations. The 14th is only 50.

Thus, the three teams with the worst campaigns have a 14% chance of having the first pick, while the 14th has only a 0.5% chance. Then a draw is made that defines which teams will have the first 3 picks in the draft.

However, teams can trade their draft picks. In addition, there is the possibility that the selected players will be exchanged soon after with other teams. For example, the Brazilian Nenê was “drafted” by the New York Knicks in the seventh pick, but was traded to the Denver Nuggets.

Interestingly, Michael Jordan, considered the greatest player of all time, was only the third pick in the 1984 draft. Before the Chicago Bulls selected him, the Houston Rockets drafted Hakeem Olajuwon and the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Sam Bowie.

If you want to understand how the Draft works in other leagues, see how the rules are in the NFL. 

What is NBA MVP?

MVP is the acronym for Most Valuable Player. The winner of this award, which began in the 1955/1956 season, receives the Maurice Podoloff trophy, named after the league's first commissioner.

Voting is done right after the regular season and thus does not take into account the games played in the playoffs — but there is also the choice of MVP for the finals, which takes into account the series matches between the champions of the West and East conferences .

Since 1980, the choice of the NBA MVP has been made by a group of accredited American and Canadian journalists. Previously, NBA players themselves defined the award winner.

In all of history, Stephen Curry was the only unanimously chosen NBA MVP. Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon, Canadian Steve Nash, German Dirk Nowitzki, British Virgin Islands-born Tim Duncan and Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo are the only foreigners named as the league's Most Valuable Players .

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the player who was the most times the MVP of the NBA, with 6 elections. Michael Jordan and Bill Russell were the most valuable in 5 seasons. Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James were MVPs four times, one more than Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone.

List of all MVPs in NBA history year by year

• 1955-56 – Bob Pettit (St. Louis Hawks)
• 1956-57 – Bob Cousy (Boston Celtics)
• 1957-58 – Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)
• 1958-59 – Bob Pettit (St. Louis Hawks)
• 1959-60 – Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia Warriors)
• 1960-61 – Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)
• 1961-62 – Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)
• 1962-63 – Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)
• 1963-64 – Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati Royals)
• 1964-65 – Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)
• 1965-66 – Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1966-67 – Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1967-68 – Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1968-69 – Wes Unseld (Baltimore Bullets)
• 1969-70 – Willis Reed (New York Knicks)
• 1970-71 – Lew Alcindor (Milwaukee Bucks)
• 1971-72 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee Bucks)
• 1972-73 – Dave Cowens (Boston Celtics)
• 1973-74 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee Bucks)
• 1974-75 – Bob McAdoo (Buffalo Braves)
• 1975-76 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1976-77 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1977-78 – Bill Walton (Portland Trail Blazers)
• 1978-79 – Moses Malone (Houston Rockets)
• 1979-80 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1980-81 – Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1981-82 – Moses Malone (Houston Rockets)
• 1982-83 – Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1983-84 - Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
• 1984-85 – Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
• 1985-86 - Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
• 1986-87 – Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1987-88 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1988-89 – Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1989-90 – Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1990-91 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1991-92 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1992-93 - Charles Barkley (Phoenix Suns)
• 1993-94 – Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
• 1994-95 – David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
• 1995-96 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1996-97 - Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)
• 1997-98 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1998-99 - Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)
• 1999-00 – Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 2000-01 – Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 2001-02 – Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
• 2002-03 – Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
• 2003-04 – Kevin Garnett (Minnesota Timberwolves)
• 2004-05 – Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns)
• 2005-06 – Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns)
• 2006-07 – Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
• 2007-08 – Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 2008-09 – LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• 2009-10 – LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• 2010-11 – Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)
• 2011-12 – LeBron James (Miami Heat)
• 2012-13 – LeBron James (Miami Heat)
• 2013-14 – Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
• 2014-15 – Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
• 2015-16 – Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
• 2016-17 – Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
• 2017-18 – James Harden (Houston Rockets)
• 2018-19 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)

NBA Finals MVP

Since 1969, the NBA has also awarded the MVP of the finals. The most valuable player in the clash between the champions of the West and East conferences receives the Bill Russell award, a former player who was an NBA champion 11 times, playing for the Boston Celtics.

The biggest winner of the “Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award” is Michael Jordan. The greatest player of all time was the most valuable in all 6 NBA Finals he played in his career.

LeBron James was the Finals MVP in four seasons, while Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and LeBron James received the award three times. 

List of all NBA Finals MVPs year by year

• 1969 – Jerry West (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1970 – Willis Reed (New York Knicks)
• 1971 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee Bucks)
• 1972 – Wilt Chamberlain (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1973 – Willis Reed (New York Knicks)
• 1974 – John Havlicek (Boston Celtics)
• 1975 – Rick Barry (Golden State Warriors)
• 1976 – Jo Jo White (Boston Celtics)
• 1977 – Bill Walton (Portland Trail Blazers)
• 1978 – Wes Unseld (Washington Bullets)
• 1979 – Dennis Johnson (Seattle SuperSonics)
• 1980 – Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1981 – Cedric Maxwell (Boston Celtics)
• 1982 – Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1983 – Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1984 – Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
• 1985 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1986 – Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
• 1987 – Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1988 – James Worthy (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1989 – Joe Dumars (Detroit Pistons)
• 1990 – Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
• 1991 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1992 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1993 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1994 – Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
• 1995 – Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
• 1996 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1997 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1998 – Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
• 1999 – Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
• 2000 – Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 2001 – Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 2002 – Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 2003 – Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
• 2004 – Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons)
• 2005 – Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
• 2006 – Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
• 2007 – Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs)
• 2008 – Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics)
• 2009 – Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 2010 – Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 2011 – Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
• 2012 – LeBron James (Miami Heat)
• 2013 – LeBron James (Miami Heat)
• 2014 – Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs)
• 2015 – Andre Iguodala (Golden State Warriors)
• 2016 – LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• 2017 – Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors)
• 2018 – Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors)
• 2019 – Kawhi Leonard (Toronto Raptors)
• 2020 – LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)

What are the main NBA rules?

The rules of basketball played in the NBA are not necessarily those adopted in the rest of the world. There are some rules used by the league that differ from those we see in international events organized by FIBA ​​(Federação Internacional de Basquete) and that are reproduced, for example, in the NBB ( Novo Basquete Brasil) , the Brazilian league, and in the basketball tournament of the Olympics .

For example, NBA games are eight minutes longer. And the 3-point line gets further away.

Differences between NBA and FIBA ​​rules