When Did the NBA Begin?

The National Basketball Association was founded on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America. The league began with 11 teams, and through a series of expansions, mergers and relocations, has grown to 30 teams.

The Beginnings of Professional Basketball

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the premier professional basketball league in North America. It was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league originally consisted of eleven teams, and has grown to thirty franchises as of 2020.

The National Basketball League

The National Basketball League was founded in 1937 as the successor to the National Basketball League of 1925. The NBL was created by three Midwest businessmen: George Halas, Harold Olsen, and Leo Fischer. The NBA’s preeminent predecessor was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). On August 3, 1949, the BAA agree to merge with the NBL and took on its name to form the National Basketball Association.

The American Basketball Association

The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a professional men’s basketball league that existed for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The ABA was the predecessor to the modern NBA, and it was initially founded as a competitor to the more established National Basketball Association. The ABA began with eight charter members, and it eventually expanded to include a total of 11 teams. The league was known for its innovative style of play, which included features such as the three-point shot and Slam Dunk Contest. The ABA also had a strong influence on NBA rules and culture, and several ABA teams and players were absorbed into the NBA when the two leagues merged in 1976.

The Merger of the NBA and ABA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On August 3, 1949, the NBA merged with the rival Basketball Association of America (BAA), expanding the league to 17 teams. In 1950, the NBA started to sign black players, and in 1951 the league initiated a draft system.

The NBA-ABA Merger Agreement

In 1976, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the American Basketball Association (ABA) finally merged after years of negotiations. The NBA was the more established league, while the ABA was the upstart that was trying to gain a foothold in the basketball world.

The two leagues had been in talks for a while, but it wasn’t until the ABA’s most successful team, the Indiana Pacers, threatened to join the NBA that a real agreement was reached. The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that were absorbed into the NBA in the merger agreement. The other three teams were the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, and New York Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets).

As part of the agreement, each ABA team had to pay a $3.2 million dollar entry fee to join the NBA. The four ABA teams were also given reduced schedule rights for their first few years in the NBA.

The merger increased the number of NBA teams from 22 to 26 and gave the league a much-needed boost of talent and popularity. Some of the biggest names in basketball today got their start in either the NBA or ABA, including Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, and Larry Bird.

The First NBA-ABA Season

The first NBA-ABA season was the 1976–77 season. The NBA absorbed four of the ABA’s six remaining teams: the Denver Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs, the Indiana Pacers, and the Kentucky Colonels. The Nuggets and Spurs both had successful starts to their NBA careers; each team won their division in their first season in the NBA. The Pacers and Colonels, however, did not fare as well; each team finished last in their respective divisions and failed to make the playoffs.

The Modern NBA

The NBA Today

Today, the National Basketball Association is a global organization with 30 teams in the United States and Canada. The league has players from all over the world and is shown on television in over 200 countries. The NBA Finals are one of the most watched sporting events in the world.