Ian JohnWelcome to the first in a series of posts which will delve into a number of different sporting competitions, all of whom are popular for punters to bet on.
- What Is The History Of The NBA?
- How Is The NBA Regular & Post Season Organised?
- Who Competes In The NBA?
- Eastern Conference
- Atlantic Division
- Central Division
- Southeast Division
- Western Conference
- Northwest Division
- Pacific Division
- Southwest Division
- How Do NBA Teams Make Changes To Their Teams/Squads/Staff?
- What Are The Most Popular NBA Betting Markets?
- Who Are The NBA’s Most Successful Teams?
- Who Are The NBA’s Most Famous Players – Past
- Who Are The NBA’s Most Famous Players – Present
In each of these articles, we will explore more about that sport, its history, how it is organised, who competes in it.
We will also look at the most successful teams and players in its history in addition to a look at some of the most popular betting markets.
The aim is to give any reader who wants to know more about how a certain tournament is organised, can find the information here, as well as details on what markets are the most popular to bet on.
To tip things off, we are going to start with one of the younger sporting competitions but one that has huge popularity around the world, especially in North America; the National Basketball Association, better known as the NBA.
What Is The History Of The NBA?
The NBA began life under a different name when in 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed by owners of Ice Hockey stadia in the northern and midwestern states of the U.S and Canada.
The BAA was the first American basketball league to play in arenas in major cities and after a few years, it had established itself as the best option for college basketball players to turn professional.
In 1949, the merger of a number of teams from the rival NBL merged into the BAA and to avoid any legal issues, and in respect of the two leagues coming together, the BAA became the National Basketball Association.
By now, the league had 17 franchises across the United States and Canada, with a real mix of teams, some from large cities, others from smaller towns that played their games in small gymnasiums.
After that initial growth, the league downsized to reach just eight teams in the 1954-55 season.
However, over the next 20 years or so, with the emergence of players like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, the league grew in popularity and soon the number of teams competing expanded reaching 22 by the 1976 season.
The NBA introduced the three-point field goal in 1979 at the beginning of a period of surging interest in the game, powered by players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
Over the years, the NBA grew in popularity around the globe and an increasing number of franchises joined the NBA to offer greater competition, and alongside that a number of foreign stars began to make their name in the competition, giving it a more global reach.
The league has now grown to 30 teams in total, 29 of which are in the United States and one, the Toronto Raptors, are based in Canada.
How Is The NBA Regular & Post Season Organised?
There are 30 teams in the NBA, which are split first into two Conferences, the Western and the Eastern.
Within each of the Conferences, there are three mini divisions, in the Eastern Conference they are the Atlantic, Central and South East, while n the Western it is the Northwest, Pacific and Southwest.
While teams and fans may pay attention to how each team forms in its division, it is their position within their conference which is the ultimate factor in deciding how they perform over the course of the regular season.
- Regular Season
Each team in the NBA will play a total of 82 games in the regular season, which begins on the final week of October, after a month of training camps and warm up games.
Each team plays 41 games at home and the same number away.
Each team’s fixture list comprises of the following games:
- Playing each of the other teams from its division four times a year (16 games)
- They also play six teams from the other two teams in its conference four times (24 games)
- They play the remaining four teams in its conference three times (12 games)
- Each team then plays all 15 teams from the other conference home and away (30 games)
The season pauses for the All Star Game in early February with the trade deadline for the season happening on the 16th Thursday of the season, which usually falls in mid-February.
The regular season ends in the middle of April.
- Play In & Playoffs
The top ten teams in the rankings for the Eastern and Western Conferences will qualify for the next stage of the season.
The top six seeds in each conference are automatically seeded into the Conference Playoffs 1st Round.
However, the seeds from 7th to 10th in each conference will take part in a Play In tournament to decide the final two teams to clinch a spot in the Playoffs 1st Round.
The Play In seeds the 7th and 8th seed play each other over one game, with the winner taking the 7th seed spot in the playoffs and the loser going on to contest the final play In Game.
Similarly, the 9th and 10th seed play each other over one game with the loser being eliminated and the winner going on to face the losing team from the 7th & 8th Play In game.
The winner of this final Play In game then is awarded the 8th seed and final spot in the Playoffs.
The playoff draw is determined by seeding with the first round of games being:
- Seed 1 v Seed 8
- Seed 2 v Seed 7
- Seed 3 v Seed 6
- Seed 4 v Seed 5
From this point on all Play off games are a best of seven contest with the higher seed having the advantage of playing four of the proposed seven games series at home.
However, if a team wins four games before the seven games are played, they move onto the next round of the playoffs immediately and the series ends.
Each Conference completes its playoff quarterfinals, semi finals and then Conference Championship game to decide who are the Champions of each conference.
These two teams then meet in the NBA Finals in another best of seven contest which sees the first team to win four games lift the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
Who Competes In The NBA?
Here is how the 30 teams in the NBA are organised into their Conference and Divisions. The state in which teams is located is also shown in brackets.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
- Boston Celtics (Massachusetts)
- Brooklyn Nets (New York)
- New York Knicks (New York)
- Philadelphia 76ers (Pennsylvania)
- Toronto Raptors (Ontario)
Central Division
- Chicago Bulls (Illinois)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (Ohio)
- Detroit Pistons (Michigan)
- Indiana Pacers (Indiana)
- Milwaukee Bucks (Wisconsin)
Southeast Division
- Atlanta Hawks (Georgia)
- Charlotte Hornets (North Carolina)
- Miami Heat (Florida)
- Orlando Magic (Florida)
- Washington Wizards (Washington DC)
Western Conference
Northwest Division
- Denver Nuggets (Colorado)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (Minnesota)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (Oklahoma)
- Portland Trail Blazers (Oregon)
- Utah Jazz (Utah)
Pacific Division
- Golden State Warriors (California)
- Los Angeles Clippers (California)
- Los Angeles Lakers (California)
- Phoenix Suns (Arizona)
- Sacramento Kings (California)
Southwest Division
- Dallas Mavericks (Texas)
- Houston Rockets (Texas)
- Memphis Grizzlies (Tennessee)
- New Orleans Pelicans (Louisiana)
- San Antonio Spurs (Texas)
How Do NBA Teams Make Changes To Their Teams/Squads/Staff?
There are several ways a team can change its team or staff members.
Coaching staff are usually hired and fired by the teams GM, who in turn is usually appointed by the team or franchise owner.
Players can be signed for and moved away from the club either by:
- Free Agency (when a player is out of contract, they become a free agent and able to sign for any other team)
- Trades (When a team puts together a deal where they offer a player and/or draft picks in exchange for another team or teams players and or/draft picks. Financial considerations can also be part of any trade deal.
- The NBA Draft (Each year the NBA holds its draft of eligible talent, aged 19 or older, from colleges across North America and also from similar organisations around the world. This comprises of two rounds, each of 30 picks. This is how teams can pick up young talent and the poorest performing teams from the previous season in the NBA will get the chance to pick earliest in the draft).
What Are The Most Popular NBA Betting Markets?
A look at Bet365 Sport reveals that spread betting (or handicap betting as it is known in the UK) is a popular market for NBA games.
This is where each team is given a handicap of plus or minus a certain number of points and depending on the team you back to win, the handicap is applied before the result of your bet is determined.
So for example, a team with a handicap of -5.5 points would need to win their game by six points or more in order for your bet on them in this market to be a winner. Similarly, if their opponent had a +5.5 point handicap, this team could afford to lose the game by anything up to and including five points and when the handicap is applied, your bet on them would be a winner.
Other popular bets include Line Bets, Main Props, Team Props, Player Props and Quarter/Half Prop bets.
Who Are The NBA’s Most Successful Teams?
The most successful two teams in the history of the NBA are the Boston Celtics (Eastern) and Los Angeles Lakers (Western) who each have won a total of 17 NBA Championships.
Golden State Warriors, the current champions at time of writing, have seven wins and are third in the all-time rankings.
Of the current 30 teams in the NBA, six have never reached the NBA Finals (Charlotte Hornets, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grilies, Minnesota Timberwolves and the New Orleans Pelicans) while five more teams have reached one or more NBA Finals but are yet to win the NBA Championship (Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic, Utah, Hazz, Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns)
Who Are The NBA’s Most Famous Players – Past
Some of the most famous NBA Players of the past are listed below with the teams they are most often associated with shown in brackets:
- Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)
- Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia Warriors/76ers & Los Angeles Lakers)
- Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
- Earvin “Magic” Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
- Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Shaquille O’Neal (Orlando Magic)
- Dennis Rodman (Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls)
- Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers)
- Scottie Pippen (Chicago Bulls)
- Patrick Ewing (
- Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)
- John Stockton (Utah Jazz)
- Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)
- Allen Iversen (Philadelphia 76ers)
- Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics)
- Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
- Oscar Robinson (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
Who Are The NBA’s Most Famous Players – Present
Top players in the game at present include:
- LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns)
- Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
- Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
- Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)
- Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
- Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
- James Harden (Philadelphia 76ers)
- Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Russell Westbrook (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks)
- Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)
- Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies)
- Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans)
- LaMelo Ball (Charlotte Hornets)
- Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks)
- Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns)
With its fast-paced high-octane action and often close finishes that can be decided in the very last fraction of a second of a game, the NBA remains a hugely popular event and with the International series of games, more fans from all over the world can enjoy the action up close too!
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