The NBA (National Basketball Association) is a well-known men’s professional basketball league of North American comprised of thirty teams, among which 29 are from the US while one is from Canada. It is also the professional sports league in the US and Canada. It is also an active member of USA Basketball and recognized by FIBA.
The NBA TV and entertainment studios are located in New Jersey. NBA has quite a long history of strong partnerships with TV networks in the US. During the 1954 season, the NBA signed a contract with the DuMont TV network, and that was the first time when the NBA got national TV broadcaster, and now it has a contract with TNT and ESPN.
Inception
NBA was founded on 6th June in the year 1946 as BAA (BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA), but later its name was changed as NBA in the year 1949 when it merged with NBL. It was founded by ice hockey significant owners in the US and Canada. The first basket was designed and made by Ossie Schectman. In the early times, the play quality wasn’t better than its competitors and clubs.
On 3rd August, in the year 1949, the name of the association was changed to the NBA, which had 17 franchises in small and large cities both. In the year 1950, it had 11 franchises, and then the league had only eight franchises after two or three years. From the year 1959 to the year 1966, Boston won 8 championships straight in NBA led by Cousy and Russell. One can say that this championship-winning is the longest streak in history till now.
In the year 1967, the league had to face a threat with AMERICAN BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION, and these leagues got engaged in bidding war. This year, the NBA got college star, Kareen Jabbar, but the leading scorer of NBA jumped to ABA. During the 1970s, ABA got succeeded in signing various significant stars, and this included Julius Erving from Virginia Squares. In the year 1974, the NBA had 18 franchises. After the 1976 season, the league settled with providing 4 ABA franchises to NBA, and this raised their franchises to 22. There was a decline in TV ratings, and drug-related issues prevailed with the low attendance of players.
Evolution
The popularity of ABA rose from 1979 to 1998 when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird joined Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, respectively. This initiated a time of growth for the NBA in fan interest. Both of the teams faced in 1979 Basketball Championship Game. On 1st February in the year 1984, David Stern became NBA’s commissioner.
In the year 1984, Michael Jordan joined Chicago Bulls, and this increased interest in the league. In the year 1989, the NBA had a total of 27 teams, and this increase fans all over the globe. In the year 1955, the NBA got expanded with Canada to add Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies. In the year 1996, the NBA created a women’s league, the WOMEN’s NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION.
The modern era of the NBA started from the year 2014, and this was the time when LeBron James announced to return to CLEVELAND CAVALIERS. In the year 2018, LeBron signed with the team Lakers. In the late 1980s, Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac were following pioneers and these increased international players. In the year 2001, NBA G (National Basketball Development League) was formed. In between, the NBA also got involved in controversies with some criticism, but that didn’t stop the association.
After the summer break, every team starts training from September and, teams are evaluated by the coaches. This is focused on finding the weaknesses and strengths of the team. Each team gets the chance to play 82 games every season and 41 at home and rest away. A team gets to face the opponents in their division four times in one year, and this makes it sixteen games.
NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the US and Canada in which teams get to play with every other team during regular seasons. NBA is only the league that schedule game on Christmas every year. The league has been playing on holiday since the year 1947.
February is the regular season when they pause to celebrate the NBA All-Star game. At this time, Fans vote in the US and Canada from the Internet, and then top vote receivers are termed as captains. Coaches have to vote to select 14 All-stars. The player who does the best performance can get the GAME MVP award.
Awards and achievements
NBA has struggled to get at this position for many years, and today, it is a brand. When it comes to basketball, the NBA is the name to be taken at first. Toronto Raptors have got the recent title in the year 2019. Boston Celtics have got seventeen titles. The TV partners of the NBA are ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV. In Canada, the channels connected to the NBA are NBA TV Canada, Sportsnet One, and TSN. There is a total of thirty teams in the NBA at present.
Net Worth of NBA in 2024
NBA makes money through a lot of ways, including tickets, sponsorships, television, merchandise, and business. There is a total of thirty teams that make NBA and get $1.9 billion of valuation each. Within a decade, the NBA has almost $80 billion of net worth as of December 2024. The association has contracts with channels like ESPN 1, ESPN2, CBS, and Fox.
NBA has got a quite long history of partnerships with the best TV networks in the US, and it also signed a contract with DuMont TV network in the 8th season. Just like the NFL, there was a lack of TV stations until 1955. At present, the NBA has a contract with TNT and ESPN through 2024-25 seasons. NBA has also participated in several international club competitions sporadically.
From the year 1987 to the year 1999, the champions of NBA also played against FIBA during the McDonald championship. In the year 2012, tickets of NBA cost from $10 to $3000 per piece, and it depended on the location and success of teams. In the year 2020, ticket prices for the NBA became expensive than before because of increasing popularity.