NBA Basketball

NBA stands for National Basketball Association. It is probably the most active and popular basketball association in the world. One of the individuals who can take the majority of the credit for this is Michael Jordan who worked indefatigably on its behalf in the 1980's and 1990's.

The NBA is the leading professional, male basketball league of north America, which includes the USA and Canada. The NBA has the best players, pays the highest salaries and has the top level of competition. At present there are thirty teams playing in the NBA, which are based in both Canada and the USA.

The NBA began life as the Basketball Association of America or BAA in 1946. It was established in order to organize the top professional teams, to promote them and to heighten their popularity.. The first BBA game was played between the Toronto Huskies and the New York Knickerbockers in Toronto. It changed its name to NBA in 1949.

The NBA grew steadily and attracted the best basketball players in the world. In the early days there were such names as George Mikan - 'the First Big Man'; Bob Cousey and Bill Russell Other great stars that followed were: Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

Lots of the best players came from the United States, but not all. Some were international players. Such players include names like: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Leandro Barbosa, Paul Gasol, Manu Ginobili and Dirk Nowitzki.

Others include Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs; Peja Stojakovic a Serb who won awards at home before switching to north America and the Russian, Andrei Kirilenko who was known as the AK-47. He also won European awards before relocating to the States.

Yet other well-known international players are Yao Ming who was chosen for the Houston Rockets in 2002 and Andrea Bargnini who was chosen to play for the Toronto Raptors in 2006.

The teams in the NBA are organized into two conferences with three divisions in each. 29 of these teams are located in the United States and one in Canada.

The Eastern Conference consists of the Atlantic Division, the Central Division and the Southeast Division.

The Atlantic Division has: the Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors.

The Central Division has:the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks.

The Southeast boasts: the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards.

The Western Conference consists of the Northwest Division, the Pacific Division and the Southwest Division.

The Northwest Division has:the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA Oklahoma City, Portland Trailblazers, and Utah Jazz.

The Pacific Division boasts the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings.

The Southwest Division has: the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets and San Antonio Spurs.

The NBA basketball league can now be watched all around the world by subscription on the Internet, although the Internet connection speed is just too slow in some countries to make it worthwhile.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with London Olympics 2012 venues. Click a link if you are interested in 2012 London Olympics Volunteers.