The NBA: Everything you need to know 

When did the NBA first start?

The NBA was first formed in 1949, when just like in the NFL, two of America’s finest basketball leagues, the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League decided to merge and join forces. 

The result was that the National Basketball Association was born.

The first champions of the newly formed league were the Minneapolis Lakers who defeated the Syracuse Nationals four games to two. 

When does the NBA season start?

Ever since the NBA’s formation, the NBA season has always started in October. Each year teams play 82 regular season games before the post season begins in April. 

The playoffs usually run all the way until June, when a champion is crowned. 

How is the NBA constructed?

The NBA consists of 30 teams that are split into two conferences, the Western Conference and Eastern Conference.

Within each conference are six divisions. The Atlantic Division, Southeast Division and Central Division help make up the Eastern Conference. The Northwest Division, Pacific Division and Southwest Division form the Western Conference.

Each team plays the four other teams in their division four times, resulting in each team playing 16 in division fixtures. The other 66 games are made up of playing other teams within each of the two respective conferences. 

What does the NBA postseason involve?

In order to be crowned NBA champions, teams need to reach and advance through the playoffs.

The playoffs consist of 16 teams: eight teams from the Western Conference and eight teams from the Eastern Conference. The first six teams from each conference will automatically qualify for the post season whilst the teams that finish between 7th and 10th compete in a mini-series where the two winners from the four teams will fill the last two spots. 

Where each qualified team finishes will impact where they are seeded for the postseason, so the team that finishes at the top of their conference will play the team ranked eighth. The team that finishes second will play the team that finished seventh. The team that finishes third will play the team that finishes sixth, and the team that finishes fourth will play the fifth-ranked team. 

In order to be crowned the champion, a team needs to advance through four different opponents.

The first goal is to become champion of the conference. In order to do this a team will need to win three rounds of matches.

Once both the Western and Eastern Conference Champions have been crowned, the two winners will face off against one another in the NBA Finals. The winner of this matchup will be crowned the NBA Champions.

How many matches do you need to win to advance through the playoffs?

Unlike in most sports, where the outcome of just one match is used to determine the winner, in the NBA, the playoffs feature a series of matches.

Each round is the best of seven games, meaning that in order to advance a team must win four games. If required, each team will host at least three matches in their home stadium with the highest ranked team heading into the matchup being the team that hosts the fourth home game.

Who are the current NBA Champions?

The current NBA Champions are the Boston Celtics. One of the most storied franchises in the NBA, the Celtics won their first NBA title since 2008 as they defeated the Dallas Mavericks four games to one to be crowned champions for the 18th time. 

What other teams should we keep an eye out for?

The Boston Celtics were already considered one of the best teams in the NBA when winning their 18th NBA crown. 

The Celtics latest victory moved them to the top of the all time standings in terms of overall championships and with a team that is loaded from front to back with talent they will start the 2024/2025 season as one of the favourites.

By virtue of winning another championship the Celtics moved one title ahead of the LA Lakers who have won seventeen titles. 

Throughout the NBA’s existence the Lakers have been blessed with extraordinary talent such as Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

The current Lakers squad is led by LeBron James. With James’ historic career looking like it’s coming to an end, he will want to end 2024/2025 by guiding the Lakers to yet another NBA title. 

Over the last ten years, no team has won as many NBA titles as the Golden State Warriors, led by Steph Curry. Curry has redefined the game with his ability to shoot three-pointers from almost anywhere on the court. 

The Warriors missed the playoffs altogether in 2023/2024 and will hope to return back to where they belong this season. 

Often finding themselves in contention are teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets and the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for new exciting teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Who have been the best players to have ever played in the NBA?

Throughout the NBA’s long and distinguished history there have been many players that have been able to take the game to new heights.

For many the best player in NBA history is Michael Jordan. Drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, Jordan was able to turn the ailing franchise around and helped guide the Bulls to six championships. 

A force of nature at both ends of the court, Jordan was named league MVP five times and after retiring was immediately inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame. 

While many still regard Jordan as the best player to have ever played, some argue that the title of GOAT should belong to LeBron James. 

James has won NBA titles with three different teams and has been able to enjoy a magnificent career which has seen him top the all-time scoring charts and become the first player to have ever recorded at least 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists.

Leading the way for the likes of Jordan and James was Magic Johnson. Johnson brought flair and character to the game and is still regarded as one of the best all-round players the game has ever seen. 

Retiring back in 1996, Johnson left a huge mark on the game, having won five NBA Championships.