What Is the National Basketball Association? Origins, Rules and Structure
What is the National Basketball Association? A plain guide to how the NBA began in 1946, how its season and playoffs work, and how its rules differ from FIBA.
The National Basketball Association, usually shortened to NBA, is a professional basketball league based in North America. It was set up in New York City in 1946 under a different name and took its present name in 1949. The league organizes its own regular season and playoffs, decides its champion in the NBA Finals, and publishes its own official rulebook.
How the NBA Began
The league’s own history material dates its creation to June 6, 1946, when it was set up in New York City. At first it was not called the NBA at all. Its original name was the Basketball Association of America, usually shortened to the BAA.
The BAA played its first game on November 1, 1946, in Toronto. The NBA counts that game as the first in its history.
In those early years another professional league, the National Basketball League, was also operating. When the 1948-49 season was over, the BAA took in much of that rival league, and in 1949 the combined organization became the National Basketball Association. The NBA describes this merger as the step that created the modern league.
The title of the league’s leader has also changed. The first person to lead the league held the title of president, and that title was later changed to commissioner.
How an NBA Season Is Organized
The teams are grouped into conferences, and each conference is split into divisions. The competition then moves through three stages.
- Regular season. Teams play a regular season schedule, and the standings decide which teams from each conference reach the postseason and how they are seeded.
- Playoffs. The qualifying teams from each conference meet in rounds. Every round is played as a best-of-seven series, so a team needs four wins to move on.
- NBA Finals. The two conference champions face each other in a best-of-seven series for the league title.
The NBA Rulebook
The NBA writes and publishes its own NBA Official Rulebook, separate from the Official Basketball Rules that FIBA issues for international basketball. Some of the main points in the NBA rulebook are:
- Team size on court: each side has five players, and a team may never be reduced to fewer than five.
- Game length: every regulation period lasts twelve minutes. A level score once the fourth period ends sends the game to overtime, so regulation has four periods.
- Overtime: each overtime period lasts five minutes, and more are added until the tie is broken.
- Shot clock: the shot clock begins at 24 seconds, and in some situations, such as the attacking team regaining the ball after a missed shot hits the ring, it is set to 14 seconds instead.
- Fouls: a sixth personal foul disqualifies a player.
- Scoring: a basket from on or inside the three-point line is worth two points, a basket from outside it is worth three, and each made free throw is worth one.
The Court and Equipment
Rule 1 of the rulebook and its court diagram set out the playing surface. The diagram shows a court 94 feet long and 50 feet wide. The three-point arc is drawn 23 feet 9 inches out from the middle of the basket, and the free throw line sits 15 feet out from the face of the backboard.
Above the floor, the top of each ring is 10 feet high, and the ring has an 18-inch inside diameter. The backboard is a flat, see-through rectangle 6 feet wide and 3 and a half feet tall.
Who Runs the Games
Rule 2 sets out the officiating crew. Four game officials are named: a Crew Chief, a Referee, an Umpire and a Replay Center Official. Helping them are an official scorer, a courtside administrator and two timers, with the game clock and the shot clock each handled by one of the timers. Before tip-off, the officials check the court, baskets, balls, backboards and the scoring and timing equipment, and they must approve all of it.
The rulebook also gives instant replay and the coach’s challenge their own rules, Rule 13 and Rule 14.
How the NBA Differs From International Basketball
The FIBA Official Basketball Rules describe a game between two teams of five players, the same starting point as the NBA. Several key numbers are different:
- Quarter length: FIBA quarters last ten minutes, against twelve-minute NBA periods.
- Foul limit: a FIBA player must leave after five fouls, while an NBA player is disqualified on the sixth.
- Court size: a FIBA court is 28 metres by 15 metres, against 94 feet by 50 feet in the NBA.
- Three-point arc: FIBA draws its arc with a 6.75-metre radius, against 23 feet 9 inches in the NBA.
Both books use a 24-second shot clock and five-minute overtime periods.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the National Basketball Association in simple terms?
It is a professional basketball league with teams across North America. It runs its own regular season, playoffs and NBA Finals, and it publishes its own official rulebook.
When was the NBA founded?
The league was set up in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America. It became the National Basketball Association in 1949 after taking in much of the rival National Basketball League.
Does the NBA use the same rules as FIBA?
No. The NBA follows its own Official Rulebook. Its games use twelve-minute periods and a six-foul limit, while FIBA games use ten-minute quarters and a five-foul limit.
