Who Made the NBA?
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We all know the NBA is huge. But who made it what it is today? Find out in our latest blog post.
The Beginnings of the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the premier professional basketball league in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1946, the league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the National Governing Body (NGB) for basketball in the United States.
The NBA is Formed
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a men’s professional basketball league in North America, composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). It is widely considered to be the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world.
The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The BAA was formed by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On August 3, 1949, the BAA agreed to merge with the National Basketball League (NBL), creating the NBA. The new league had seventeen franchises based 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 1953–54, when the league reached its smallest size of eight franchises: the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals (presently known as the Sacramento Kings), Fort Wayne Pistons (presently known as the Detroit Pistons), Tri-Cities Blackhawks (presently known as the Atlanta Hawks), and Syracuse Nationals (presently known as the Philadelphia 76ers).
The First NBA Game
The first NBA game was played on October 26, 1946, between the New York Knicks and the Toronto Huskies at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. It was a historic moment for both teams and the league as a whole. The Knicks won by a score of 68-66, with Nat Holman leading the way with 17 points. The game was not televised, but it was broadcast on radio to a national audience.
The Early Years of the NBA
The National Basketball Association was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. With help from the newly formed Basketball Association of America, the NBA was able to get off the ground.
The First NBA Season
The first NBA season was played in 1946-47, just one year after the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. The BAA originally consisted of 11 teams: the New York Knickerbockers, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Stags, Cleveland Rebels, Washington Capitols, Baltimore Bullets (later the Washington Wizards), Toronto Huskies, Providence Steamrollers and Denver Nuggets (later the Indiana Pacers). Of these teams, only the Celtics, Pistons and Nuggets remain in the NBA today.
In that first season, each team played a 56-game schedule. The top five teams then advanced to the playoffs, which were a best-of-seven format until 1949. The Warriors won the first NBA championship by defeating the Stags 4 games to 2. Philadelphia’s Joe Fulks was named the league’s first MVP after averaging 23.2 points per game.
The First NBA All-Star Game
The first ever NBA All-Star game was played in 1951 in Boston, Massachusetts. The game was played between the Eastern Conference All-Stars and the Western Conference All-Stars. The Eastern Conference won the game by a score of 111-94. Boston Celtics players Ed Macauley and Chuck Cooper were the first African American players to be selected for an All-Star game.
The Modern NBA
The NBA Today
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world. It is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada), and is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States.
The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The BAA was formed by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On August 3, 1949, at a meeting in Springfield, Massachusetts, the name of the league was changed to the National Basketball Association, after absorbing three other professional basketball leagues: the National Basketball League,the Central Basketball League, andthe Eastern Professional Basketball League.
The NBA today is a multibillion-dollar enterprise, with television contracts that are amongthe most lucrative in North American professional sports. The league broadcasts games on national television partners TNT (Turner Network Television) and ESPN (Entertainment & Sports Programming Network), as well as regional television networks. In addition, each team has a local television contract to broadcast its games. The averageNBA game is watched by approximately 1.5 million people on television in the United Statesand Canada.
The NBA is an international league with players from all over the world. In fact, more than100 international players from 39 countries and territories were on NBA rosters at thestart of the 2017–18 season. Forbes magazine has estimated that approximately one-thirdof all players in the NBA are African American, while another one-third are European orfrom other international locations outside North America.
The NBA Finals
The NBA Finals are the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The winning team of the series receives the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, which replaced the Walter A. Brown Trophy in 1983.
