The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a men's professional basketball league in North America; composed of 30 teams. It is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player.
In sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best-performing player in an entire league, for a particular competition, or on a specific team. Initially used in professional sports, the term is now also commonly used in amateur sports, as well as in other completely unrelated fields such as business and music. In many sports, MVP awards are presented for a specific match—in other words, a man of the match award.
The National Basketball League (NBL) was a professional men's basketball league in the United States established in 1937. After the 1948–49 season, its twelfth, it merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) to create the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The EuroLeague, known as the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier European professional basketball club competition, organized by Euroleague Basketball since 2000.
The second Negro National League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated.
The Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was also known as the Colored World Series, especially during the 1920s, and as the Negro League World Series, in more recent books, though contemporary black newspapers usually called it simply, the "World Series", without any modification.
The National Basketball Association Conference Finals are the Eastern and Western championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a major professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The NBA adopted its current name at the start of the 1949–50 season when the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). The league currently consists of 30 teams, of which 29 are located in the United States and 1 in Canada. Each team plays 82 games in the regular season. After the regular season, eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. At the end of the playoffs, the top two teams play each other in the Conference Finals, to determine the Conference Champions from each side, who then proceed to play in the NBA Finals.
Cumberland Willis Posey, Jr. was an American baseball player, manager, and team owner in the Negro leagues, as well as a professional basketball player and team owner.
In American sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in the semi-final round play another single-elimination game whose winner is the tournament champion. In some tournaments, the two teams that lose in the semi-final round compete for third place in a consolation game.
The bj league was a professional basketball league in Japan that began in November 2005 as a six-team league. The league was operated as a competitor to the established Japan Super League which was run by the Japan Basketball Association, the official governing body of basketball in Japan. Over the next ten years the league saw continual expansion, with at least one new team joining every season, reaching 24 teams divided into two conferences in its final season in 2015–16. Turkish Airlines was the major sponsor of the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons.
The FIBA Americas League, officially abbreviated as the LDA, is the only intercontinental basketball club competition played annually by clubs of the entire Americas. It is organized by FIBA Americas. The first edition started on 4 December 2007. The FIBA Americas League is a recreation of the now defunct Pan American Club Championship, that existed from 1993 to 2000.
Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) is the Brazilian premier professional men's basketball league. It is organized by the Liga Nacional de Basquete (LNB), in a new format of Brazil's previous top-tier level basketball competition, the Campeonato Brasileiro de Basquete. The NBB is managed by the Brazilian basketball associations, which were founding members of the LNB.
The U.S. state of Florida has three NFL teams, two MLB teams, two NBA teams, two NHL teams, and one MLS team.
The Pittsburgh Phantoms were an American professional basketball team whose office is based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. The Phantoms were a member of the current American Basketball Association, and began play in December, 2009. The Phantoms played their home games in Munhall, Pennsylvania at the Carnegie Library of Homestead - Athletic Club as well as the Langley High School (Pittsburgh) Gymnasium. Although the Phantoms intended to play games in the ABA during the 2010-11 season, no games were held.
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA and the National Basketball League (NBL) merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Norman Cottom was an American professional basketball player for the Indianapolis Kautskys in the National Basketball League for two seasons. A native of Terre Haute, Indiana, Cottom attended Wiley High School and earned four varsity letters playing for the basketball team. He led the Red Streaks to 3 IHSAA Sectionals and 1 Regionals, reaching the state semi-finals in 1931 His HS teammate, John Miklozek would become a star at Indiana State University. Cottom was also an all-state performer in football.
The National Basketball League of Canada is a Canadian professional men's basketball league. The NBL was founded in 2011, when three teams formerly of the Premier Basketball League joined with four new franchises to form the NBL's "Original Seven". By 2017, the league had grown to ten teams, with six located in the Atlantic provinces and four in Ontario. The current champions are the London Lightning, having defeated the Halifax Hurricanes 4–3 in the 2017 NBL Finals. The league's season begins in November and ends in April of the following year.
Caleb Swanigan is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. He was ranked among the top prep players in the national class of 2015 by Rivals.com, Scout.com and ESPN. He completed his senior season in the 2014–15 academic year for Homestead High School, who went on to win the first state championship in the school's history. Swanigan was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball and a McDonald's All-American.
Of those Americans citing their favorite sport, basketball is ranked second behind American football. However, in regard to money the NBA is ranked third in popularity. More Americans play basketball than any other team sport, according to the National Sporting Goods Association, with over 26 million Americans playing basketball.
Basketball was invented in 1891 by Canadian physical education teacher James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts.
