NBA basketball

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the premier professional basketball league in North America and is widely considered to be the highest level of play in the sport worldwide. The NBA was founded on June 6, 1946 as a merger between two leagues that had existed since before World War II: the National Basketball League (founded 1937) and the Basketball Association of America (founded 1946). Its current president is Adam Silver, who took office on February 1, 2014 after being elected unanimously by owners.

The league currently consists of 30 teams from across both countries – 29 from United States cities and one from Canada – divided into two conferences with three divisions each. Those teams compete for a championship trophy known as “the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy”. Playoffs are held at season’s end to determine which team will win it; all 16 playoff-qualifying teams have an equal chance regardless of regular season record or seedings. Seeding for playoffs follows regular season performance within each conference but not necessarily between them.

Teams typically play 82 games during a standard NBA regular season – 41 home games and 41 away games – although this number can vary depending on scheduling conflicts caused by other events such as All-Star Games or international tournaments like FIBA competitions.. Each game lasts 48 minutes plus any additional time needed due to overtime periods or delays caused by injury substitution rules . Five players make up each side–four starters plus one substitute—while coaches may also use several more interchangeably throughout matches depending upon their strategy decisions. In lieu of traditional positions most commonly seen in amateur basketball, complex offensive sets tailored specifically for certain players has become increasingly common among top tier professional sides recently resulting in positional designations like ‘point guard’, ‘shooting guard’, ‘small forward’, ‘power forward’ and sometimes even multiple centers becoming less relevant when discussing player roles than they were decades ago

Aside from its domestic popularity, NBA basketball has gained immense success internationally over recent years with many foreign stars now playing regularly alongside American counterparts while various franchises hold marketing campaigns targeting localized viewership abroad including some having established dedicated offices outside U.S borders even if only temporarily active during pre-season tours etc… A unique feature relative to other major sports organizations around world however is how heavily invested ownership groups have been historically involved directly shaping direction & management decisions organization wide rather than relying solely upon individual franchise decision makers which allows league executives greater control over what happens behind closed doors allowing implementation initiatives ranging everything from salary cap regulations through rule changes designed improve entertainment value product itself without drastically overturning existing traditions something that would likely prove difficult achieve any other way given competitive nature business