How Many Teams In The NBA By Year?

The NBA has seen a lot of teams come and go throughout the years. Here is a list of how many teams were in the NBA by year.

Number of teams in the NBA by year

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league changed its name to the National Basketball Association in 1949 after merging with the National Basketball League (NBL). As of the 2019-20 season, the NBA has 30 teams.

1950-1959

The NBA originally began with 11 teams: the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Stags, Washington Capitols, Cleveland Rebels and Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards). Of these teams, only the Knicks, Celtics, Warriors and Lakers still exist today. By the end of the 1950s, that number had dipped down to eight.

1960-1969

During this decade, the NBA underwent massive changes. In 1960, the league expanded by adding four new franchises, the Chicago Packers (now the Washington Wizards), the Philadelphia Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors), the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Minneapolis Lakers (now the Los Angeles Lakers). This increased the number of teams in the league to nine.

The following year, 1961, saw even more changes as the Warriors moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco, while the Chicago Packers became the Chicago Zephyrs. In 1962, the Zephyrs relocated to Baltimore to become the Bullets (now the Washington Wizards once again), and in 1963, they changed their name again to become the Maryland Senators. The NBA also welcomed two more expansion teams during this decade, the San Diego Rockets (now the Houston Rockets) in 1967 and

the Seattle SuperSonics (now defunct) in 1968. This brought the total number of teams in the league up to 14.

1970-1979

The 1970s were a volatile decade for the NBA. The league nearly doubled in size from nine to eighteen teams, then back down to eleven. The ABA also had a huge impact on the NBA, with several teams being absorbed into the league. These factors made for a lot of change in the landscape of the NBA over the course of the decade.

1970-1971: 14 teams
1971-1972: 17 teams
1972-1973: 18 teams
1973-1974: 22 teams
1974-1975: 18 teams
1975-1976: 22 teams
1976-1977: 23 teams
1977-1978: 24 teams
1978-1979: 23 teams

1980-1989

From 1980 to 1989, the number of teams in the NBA ranged from 23 to 25. The league expanded twice during this time period, first to 22 teams with the addition of the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets in 1980, and then to 24 teams with the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat joining in 1988.

1990-1999

In 1990, the NBA expanded with the Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat, bringing the total number of teams to 27. Three years later, two more teams were added with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic joining the league, for a total of 29. The NBA maintained 29 teams through the 1997-1998 season before another expansion brought two more teams into the fold. The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver (now Memphis) Grizzlies joined the league in 1995, increasing the number of NBA teams to 31.

2000-2009

The NBA went through a period of expansion in the 2000s, adding eight new teams. The Charlotte Bobcats (now the Charlotte Hornets) were added in 2004, giving the NBA 30 teams. This number would remain constant until 2008, when the league added the New Orleans Pelicans (then the New Orleans Hornets). In 2009, the Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly the Seattle SuperSonics) moved to Oklahoma City, and the league was back up to 30 teams.

2010-2019

In 2010, the NBA had 30 teams. Between 2011 and 2013, the league added three teams through expansion: the Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Minnesota Timberwolves. In 2014, the NBA announced that the Pelicans would become the league’s 30th team. After the Pelicans’ introduction, no additional NBA teams have been added through expansion.

The following season, 2015–16, saw another team changes its name, as the New Orleans Pelicans elected to be known as the New Orleans Pelicans. The Charlotte Hornets returned to their original name of the Charlotte Bobcats (the name they used from 2004 to 2014), while keeping their history and records intact.

Why the number of teams has changed over time

The number of teams in the NBA has changed over time for a variety of reasons. Expansion, contraction, and relocation are all factors that have contributed to the changes in team count. Let’s take a closer look at how the number of teams has changed throughout the years.

Mergers and expansions

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men’s basketball league in North America, composed of 30 teams. It was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).[1] The NBA considers itself the premier professional basketball league in the world.[2] The league was originally founded as the Basketball Association of America with 17 teams in 1946, and became the NBA after merging with the National Basketball League in 1949. In 1950, three more teams joined to bring the total to 23. In 1951, a fourth team joined, bringing the total to nine. The league reached its current size of 30 teams in 2004 with the addition of its 29th franchise, and has shown no indications that it plans to stop growing any time soon.[3]

The number of teams in the NBA has changed over time as a result of two factors: mergers and expansions. Mergers are when two or more teams join together to form a new team. This generally happens when two leagues merge together, as was the case when the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the NBA. Expansions are when a new team is added to an existing league. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as when a city is awarded an expansion franchise or when an existing team moves to a new city.

Between 1946 and 1949, four teams merged into two and three new franchises were created through expansion. In 1950, no changes were made. In 1951, one franchise folded and another was created through expansion. From 1952 to 1967, there were no changes to the number of teams in the NBA. From 1968 to 1976, four teams merged into two and six new franchises were created through expansion. In 1977, no changes were made. From 1978 to 1988, three teams merged into one and seven new franchises were created through expansion. In 1989, no changes were made. From 1990 to 2004, five new franchises were created through expansion.[4]

## title:Different types of casts – (Casts 101)
## heading:Plaster casts
## Expansion:
A plaster cast is made up of two layers: an outer layer of plaster bandage which hardens quickly when it comes into contact with air; and an inner layer made up of plaster impregnated gauze that takes slightly longer to set hard[1]. Once set hard (usually after 10-15 minutes), plaster casts are strong enough for weight bearing[2]. They provide good immobilisation for limb fractures whilst allowing early mobilisation which reduces muscle wasting and joint stiffness[3].

There are different types/designs of plaster casts depending on where they are being applied e.g foot/ankle vs arm/hand[4][5][6]:

gravity-dependent – used for upper limb fractures where weight bearing is not required e.g collar bone breaks; not very strong so risks re-fracturing if used for lower limb fractures submersion – used at times for upper limb injuries above water level but mainly used underwater for treating scaphoid wrist fractures due long contact time with water which encourages bone healing[7]

circular – also called spica casts; extends from close to armpit or hip all way down past affected joints e..g stabilization humeral shaft fractures; needs extra care so child can fully extend elbows/hips

thumb spica – type design cast that only goes around thumb area

custom worded instructions depending on individual child’s needs must always be written on cast e..g “Do not wet cast”; “Please see Dr Smith if redness or swelling occurs under cast”

Team relocations

Between 1976 and 1984, the NBA absorbed four ABA teams: the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, and New York Nets. As part of the merger agreement, the NBA agreed to encourage its owners to merge ABA teams into their existing NBA squads. In 1976–77, three teams merged:
-The Kentucky Colonels were dissolved and their roster was absorbed by the Indiana Pacers
-The Spirits of St. Louis were bought by the Atlanta Hawks’ owner and absorbed into that team
-The New York Nets were sold to a group of investors who moved the team to New Jersey (now known as the Brooklyn Nets)

In 1980–81, two more teams joined the league through mergers:
– The Denver Nuggets merged with the San Francisco Warriors (who then became part of Golden State in 1971).
– The Utah Stars folded due to financial difficulties and their players were distributed among several different teams.

Contractions

Since 1949, there have been two NBA teams that have permanently ceased operations: the Indianapolis Olympians and the Pittsburgh Pipers. Both teams were members of the original six franchises in the NBA’s first season. The Pipers would eventually be replaced by the Minnesota Muskies (now the Timberwolves). After just one season, the Olympians would be replaced by the Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers). Over 60 years later, there hasn’t been another NBA team to fold.

However, there have been three occasions where an NBA team has temporarily ceased operations. In 1975, both the Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis elected not to participate in the ABA-NBA merger. As a result, their players were dispersed in a dispersal draft and both teams ceased to exist. In 1977, the Seattle SuperSonics and Milwaukee Bucks were sold to new ownership groups who then relocated them to Oklahoma City and St. Louis (now Atlanta) respectively. In both cases, the league absorbed the players of those teams in expansion drafts held before their inaugural seasons in their new cities.

The most recent case of an NBA team ceasing operations was in 2010 when the league allowed for contraction. The New Orleans Hornets were allowed to suspend operations for two seasons due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The team was eventually sold and renamed as the Pelicans. While there has been talk of contraction since 2010, no team has permanently ceased operations since then.