Who’s Playing in the NBA Today?

Keep up with the NBA schedule and find out who’s playing today.

The Teams

The Boston Celtics are playing the Brooklyn Nets, the Houston Rockets are playing the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Indiana Pacers are playing the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Los Angeles Lakers are playing the Sacramento Kings.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, and have won 16 NBA championships, their last being in 2010.

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of the league’s original eight teams, the team play their home games at TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League (NHL)’s Boston Bruins. The Celtics are one of the most successful teams in NBA history; the franchise has won the most championships in the East and overall with 17 NBA titles, which is a record that remains unbroken as of 2019.

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The Heat play their home games at American Airlines Arena, and have won three NBA championships.

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league’s Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the American Airlines Center, which it shares with the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars.

The Mavericks were founded in 1980 as an expansion team, and won their first NBA Championship in 2011. They are one of the two NBA teams to have never lost an NBA Finals series (the other being the San Antonio Spurs), and hold the record for having captured 13 seasons with 50 or more wins, while posting only 3 losing seasons during their existence. As of 2019, according to Forbes, they are the sixth most valuable basketball franchise in the United States, valued at $2.4 billion.

The Players

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the premier men’s professional basketball league in North America. It is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). Today, let’s take a look at the some of the players in the NBA.

LeBron James

LeBron James is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. James has won four NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, four NBA Finals MVP Awards, and two Olympic gold medals. He has also been selected to fourteen NBA All-Star teams, twelve All-NBA teams, and six All-Defensive teams, and is the all-time leader in points per game in the playoffs.

Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving was born on March 23, 1992, in Melbourne, Australia to Drederick and Elizabeth Irving.Kyrie and his family moved to the United States when he was two years old and settled in West Orange, New Jersey. He has an older sister, Asia, and a younger sister, London. Kyrie’s father, Drederick, played college basketball at Boston University before going on to have a professional career overseas.

Drederick taught Kyrie the game of basketball at a young age and stressed the importance of hard work and dedication if he wanted to achieve his dreams. Kyrie began playing organized basketball when he was four years old. He played in local youth leagues and AAU tournaments throughout New Jersey before eventually attending Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, New Jersey for high school.

At Montclair Kimberley Academy, Kyrie quickly established himself as one of the best players in the state of New Jersey. He was named first team all-state as a junior and senior and led his team to consecutive state championships in his final two years of high school. Kyrie’s stellar play earned him scholarship offers from several colleges, but he ultimately decided to attend Duke University.

Irving played one season of college basketball at Duke before declaring himself eligible for the 2011 NBA Draft. He was selected with the first overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kyrie went on to have a successful rookie season, being named Rookie of the Year after averaging 18.5 points per game.

In his second season with the Cavaliers, Irving emerged as one of the best young point guards in the NBA after averaging 22.5 points per game along with 5.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game en route to being named an All-Star for the first time in his career. Kyrie has continued to improve since then and is now considered one of the best players in the NBA today.

Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler III (born September 14, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing one year of college basketball for Tyler Junior College, he transferred to Marquette University. Born in Houston, Texas, Butler attended Tomball High School before transferring to Tyler Junior College. He played two years of college basketball for the Tyler Junior College Eagles, and was named a junior college All-American in his second year.

After Marquette missed out on the NCAA tournament his junior year, Butler helped lead the team back to the tournament his senior year. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big East Tournament after leading Marquette to the tournament championship. After going undrafted in the 2011 NBA draft, Butler signed a deal with the Chicago Bulls. He quickly became an important part of their rotation, and by his third season had established himself as one of their best players. In 2015, he was named an NBA All-Star for the first time.

Butler has been selected to three All-Star teams and has been named to four All-NBA teams. He has also represented Team USA at various international competitions.

Luka Doncic

Slovenian professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for Real Madrid of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. As a teenager, he became the youngest player ever to play and score in both competitions. He was closely associated with Spanish Hall of Famer Dražen Petrović, whom he cites as one of his basketball idols. In 2018, Dončić was named European Player of the Year and Rising Star Award winner in addition to leading Real Madrid to victory in the EuroLeague Final Four. The Mavericks traded up to select Dončić with the third overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft

The Coaches

Brad Stevens and Quin Snyder are the two coaches who’ll be facing off today in the NBA. They’re both young coaches who have had a lot of success in recent years. Snyder is the head coach of the Utah Jazz, and Stevens is the head coach of the Boston Celtics.

Frank Vogel

Frank Vogel is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Vogel was hired as the Lakers’ head coach on May 30, 2019. He had previously served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic.

Brad Stevens

Brad Stevens is an American professional basketball coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2016 and 2020.

Stevens grew up in Zionsville, Indiana, and began his coaching career at age 22 as an assistant at Butler University. In 2007, he became Butler’s head coach. In 2010, his team advanced to the National Championship game, which they lost to Duke University.

In 2013, Stevens was hired by the Celtics. During his time with the team, they have made the playoffs every year and won the Eastern Conference title in 2017 and 2018. He has been named NBA Coach of the Year twice: in 2016 after leading the Celtics to 48 wins (the most by any coach in their first season with the team) and again in 2020 after guiding them to 49 wins despite losing several key players to injury.

Erik Spoelstra

Erik Spoelstra is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a two-time NBA champion, winning back-to-back titles with the Heat in 2012 and 2013. Prior to his career as a head coach, Spoelstra served as an assistant coach and video coordinator for the team.

Spoelstra was born in Evanston, Illinois, to Jon Spoelstra, a former executive with the NBA’s Buffalo Braves and Portland Trail Blazers. He is of Filipino descent from his mother’s side. He grew up in Portland and Seattle, Washington, before moving to Miami, Florida, where he attended high school at Miami Palmetto Senior High School. He then played college basketball for the University of Portland.

In 1997, Spoelstra joined the coaching staff of Mike Dunleavy Sr. with the Portland Trail Blazers as an assistant video coordinator. He remained in that position until 1999, when he was promoted to assistant coach under Dunleavy Sr.’s successor, Maurice Cheeks. In 2001, he became an advance scout for the team before being promoted to Director of Scouting in 2003. In 2004, he returned to his position as an assistant coach under new head coach Nate McMillan.

Rick Carlisle

Rick Carlisle is an American basketball head coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a position he has held since 2008. Carlisle led the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals in 2000 and the Detroit Pistons to the NBA Championship in 2004. He also served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans.

During his playing career, Carlisle was a member of the Boston Celtics team that won two NBA championships in 1984 and 1986. As a coach, Carlisle has led teams to fifteen playoff appearances, eight division titles, two conference championships, and one NBA championship. He has also coached in three All-Star Games.