National Basketball Association

NBA redirects here, as it's the most common usage of the abbreviation; for more uses, see NBA (disambiguation).

The National Basketball Association of the USA, commonly known as the NBA, is the premier professional basketball league in North America. Many of the world's best players play in the NBA, and the overall standard of the competition is considerably higher than any other professional competition.

The NBA was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946 as the Basketball Association of America. It adopted the name National Basketball Association in the fall of 1949 after adding several teams from the rival National Basketball League.

On November 17, 2003 the NBA announced that the 2004-2005 season would be realigned as the following:

Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division	Boston Celtics	New Jersey Nets	New York Knicks	Philadelphia 76ers	Toronto Raptors
Central Division	Chicago Bulls	Cleveland Cavaliers	Detroit Pistons	Indiana Pacers	Milwaukee Bucks
Southeast Division	Atlanta Hawks	Charlotte Bobcats	Miami Heat	Orlando Magic	Washington Wizards
Western Conference:
Northwest Division	Denver Nuggets	Minnesota Timberwolves	Portland Trail Blazers	Utah Jazz	Seattle SuperSonics
Pacific Division	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns	Sacramento Kings
Southwest Division	Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets	Memphis Grizzlies	New Orleans Hornets	San Antonio Spurs

NBA Champions:

1946–47 Philadelphia Warriors 4–1 Chicago Stags
1947–48 Baltimore Bullets 4–2 Philadelphia Warriors
1948–49 Minneapolis Lakers 4–2 Washington Capitols
1949–50 Minneapolis Lakers 4–2 Syracuse Nationals
1950–51 Rochester Royals 4–3 New York Knicks
1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers 4–3 New York Knicks
1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers 4–1 New York Knicks
1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers 4–3 Syracuse Nationals
1954–55 Syracuse Nationals 4–3 Ft. Wayne Pistons
1955–56 Philadelphia Warriors 4–1 Ft. Wayne Pistons
1956–57 Boston Celtics 4–3 St. Louis Hawks
1957–58 St. Louis Hawks 4–2 Boston Celtics
1958–59 Boston Celtics 4–0 Minneapolis Lakers
1959–60 Boston Celtics 4–3 St. Louis Hawks
1960–61 Boston Celtics 4–1 St. Louis Hawks
1961–62 Boston Celtics 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1962–63 Boston Celtics 4–2 Los Angeles Lakers
1963–64 Boston Celtics 4–1 San Francisco Warriors
1964–65 Boston Celtics 4–1 Los Angeles Lakers
1965–66 Boston Celtics 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers 4–2 San Francisco Warriors
1967–68 Boston Celtics 4–2 Los Angeles Lakers
1968–69 Boston Celtics 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1969–70 New York Knicks 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks 4–0 Baltimore Bullets
1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 New York Knicks
1972–73 New York Knicks 4–1 Los Angeles Lakers
1973–74 Boston Celtics 4–3 Milwaukee Bucks
1974–75 Golden State Warriors 4–0 Washington Bullets
1975–76 Boston Celtics 4–2 Phoenix Suns
1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers 4–2 Philadelphia 76ers
1977–78 Washington Bullets 4–3 Seattle SuperSonics
1978–79 Seattle SuperSonics 4–1 Washington Bullets
1979–80 Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 Philadelphia 76ers
1980–81 Boston Celtics 4–2 Houston Rockets
1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 Philadelphia 76ers
1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers 4–0 Los Angeles Lakers
1983–84 Boston Celtics 4–3 Los Angeles Lakers
1984–85 Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 Boston Celtics
1985–86 Boston Celtics 4–2 Houston Rockets
1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers 4–2 Boston Celtics
1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers 4–3 Detroit Pistons
1988–89 Detroit Pistons 4–0 Los Angeles Lakers
1989–90 Detroit Pistons 4–1 Portland Trail Blazers
1990–91 Chicago Bulls 4–1 Los Angeles Lakers
1991–92 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Portland Trail Blazers
1992–93 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Phoenix Suns
1993–94 Houston Rockets 4–3 New York Knicks
1994–95 Houston Rockets 4–0 Orlando Magic
1995–96 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Seattle SuperSonics
1996–97 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Utah Jazz
1997–98 Chicago Bulls 4–2 Utah Jazz
1998–99 San Antonio Spurs 4–1 New York Knicks
1999-00 Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Indiana Pacers
2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 Philadelphia 76ers
2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers 4-0 New Jersey Nets
2002-03 San Antonio Spurs 4-2 New Jersey Nets
2003-04 Detroit Pistons 4-1 Los Angeles Lakers

Table of contents

1 Defunct NBA Teams

2 NBA Presidents and Commissioners

3 Players

4 See also

5 External Links

Defunct NBA Teams

Anderson, IN Packers 1949-1950
Baltimore Bullets 1947-1955 (Last NBA team to fold)
Chicago Stags 1946-1950
Cleveland Rebels 1946-1947
Denver Nuggets 1949-1950
Detroit Falcons 1946-1947
Indianapolis Jets 1948-1949
Indianapolis Olympians 1949-1953
Pittsburgh Ironmen 1946-1947
Providence Steamrollers 1946-1949
St. Louis Bombers 1946-50
Sheboygan, Wis Redskins 1949-50
Toronto Huskies 1946-47
Washington Capitols 1946-51
Waterloo, IA Hawks 1949-50