How Many Games In Nba Season

Why do NBA teams play 82 games?

The 82-game schedule dates back to the 1967-68 NBA season NBA officials opted to have each franchise to play other teams in their conference eight times a season and teams outside their conference seven times each season, Under that framework, each team played 82 games per season for the first time.

How many total games are in the NBA regular season?

How many games are in the NBA season? Brandon Ingram & Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) You’ve probably heard this before, but the NBA season can be long and grueling. But just how long and grueling is it? Well, the answer to that varies depending on how good (or bad) your team is.

• Despite many pushing for shortened seasons, normal NBA years (including this upcoming one) consist of an 82-game regular season.
• So, that means that every team is guaranteed at least 82 games.
• We say “normal NBA years” because, sometimes, the season can be shortened by exigent circumstances.
• For instance, the 2019-20 season was only 72 games because of COVID-19, and the 2011-12 season was cut to just 66 games because of a lockout.

(Sidebar: for the first time ever, the 2023-24 NBA Regular Season will feature an that will count toward each team’s 82-game schedule.) After the regular season, the length of each team’s season depends on the team’s success. Some middling teams end up in the,

And depending on seeding in performance, that can be an additional game or two played. Our have been a part of the play-in tournament in each of the last two seasons. Then there is the game’s second season, aka the NBA Playoffs. If you make the playoffs, you are guaranteed to play at least four more games.

Theoretically speaking, the maximum amount of games one could play in the playoffs is 28. That would only happen, though, if you played in four straight seven-game series’ (and emerged victorious in all four of them). If you made it through an entire normal regular season, played in both play-in games, and played the maximum number of playoff games, the most games you could play in an entire season would be 114.

Published on 07/30/2023 at 10:00 PM CDT Last updated on 07/30/2023 at 9:22 PM CDT

: How many games are in the NBA season?

Did the NBA always play 82 games?

When Did the NBA Go to 82 Games? – The NBA basketball tournaments introduced the 82-game format in 1967-68, more than 20 years after the league’s volatile beginnings. This change in the number of games was not without controversy. From the launch of the Basketball Association of America (BBA) in 1946, through its merger with the National Basketball League (NBL) that led to the creation of the NBA in 1949, until the near dawn of the Minnesota Lakers’ dynasty in the early 1950s, teams played from 48 to 71 games a season.

The schedule changed frequently, as franchises kept joining and leaving the newly-created Association. Some didn’t stand the test of time and folded soon after they were created. The number of participating times differed each year, ranging from eight to 17 franchises. The NBA reached a level of stability in 1953-54 when the Lakers competed against eight other sides to win their fifth — and last — NBA finals championship of the Minneapolis era.

The league set the length of season to 72 games that year, which would remain in place for half a decade. Barring the collapse of the Baltimore Bullets in 1954, the last NBA team to fold, the league would only grow in size from then on. But even before the Association’s rapid expansion began in the late 1960s, the schedule had already ballooned to 80 games per season in 1961.

How many games are in NBA Season 22?

2021–22 NBA season
Number of games	82
Number of teams	30
TV partner(s)	ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV
Draft

Has a NBA team ever went 82-0?

Has an NBA team ever finished a season with a record of 82-0? – No, no NBA team has ever achieved a record of 82-0. The team that came closest was the Golden State Warriors in 2015-2016, finishing the Regular Season with a record of 73-9. : NBA Record of Most Losses in a Regular Season

Has LeBron played 82 games?

LeBron James played all 82 games for the first time in his career. At the same time he became the oldest player ever to lead the NBA in total minutes played! No signs of slowing down.

Who is the most successful team in NBA history?

What NBA Team Has the Most Titles? – The two NBA teams with the most titles are the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics – each of which has 17 total championships. The Lakers won their last championship in 202, while the Celtic’s previous win was in 2008. If you’re wondering what 3 NBA teams have the most championships, it’s the Lakers (17), Celtics (17), and Golden State Warriors (7).

How long is a NBA season?

National Basketball Association

Upcoming season or competition: 2023–24 NBA season
Sport	Basketball
Founded	June 6, 1946 ; 77 years ago (as BAA ), New York City, New York, U.S.
Inaugural season	1946–47
Commissioner	Adam Silver
No. of teams	30
Countries	United States (29 teams) Canada (1 team)
Headquarters	645 Fifth Avenue New York City, New York 10022 U.S.
Most recent champion(s)	Denver Nuggets (1st title)
Most titles	Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers (17 each)
TV partner(s)	United States: ABC / ESPN TNT NBA TV Canada: TSN / TSN2 Sportsnet / Sportsnet One NBA TV Canada International: See list
Official website	NBA.com

The National Basketball Association ( NBA ) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.

• The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).
• It changed its name to the National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with the competing National Basketball League (NBL).
• In 1976, the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged, adding four franchises to the NBA.

The NBA’s regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league’s playoff tournament extends into June. As of 2020, NBA players are the world’s best paid athletes by average annual salary per player. The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States.

1. The league’s several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices in Midtown Manhattan, while its NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey,
2. In North America, the NBA is the third wealthiest professional sport league after the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) by revenue, and among the top four in the world.

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are tied for the most NBA championships with 17 each. The reigning league champions are the Denver Nuggets, who defeated the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals, Through its NBA Cares project, the NBA has also taken the initiative to help charitable causes and social issues, demonstrating its dedication to having a positive impact on communities all around the world.

When did the NBA go to 82 games?

How many games are in an NBA season? – Each team in a standard season plays 82 games. That means in total, an NBA season is comprised of 1,230 games. The 82-game season came to be in 1967-68, but there have been recent discussions of the possibility of shortening it,

1. NBA teams played between 68 and 80 games per season before the 82-game schedule was formally adopted.
2. Exceptions include the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season (50 games), the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season (66 games) and the 2019-20 season that was shortened and moved by the Coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in teams playing varying amounts of games.

The 2020-21 season was also shortened to 72 games as the previous season and the pandemic shortened the offseason calendar.

Why is there 76 in NBA 75?

The NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, ranked – Where 76 basketball legends check in on our list – ESPN Aug 1, 2022, 04:36 AM Early in the 2021-22 season,, a squad full of iconic players representing different points in the evolution of basketball. But the league never ranked them.

• We did. ESPN’s NBA expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head player matchups, taking into consideration the quality and quantity of their NBA contributions. vs.
• Michael Jordan? vs.
• Gary Payton? vs.
• Larry Bird? vs.
• Obe Bryant? Old school vs.
• New school? Although they come from different eras, each of these players changed the game.

Here’s where the NBA’s very best check in on our list, running from No.76 all the way to No.1. Note: Players’ accomplishments in the NBL, the ABA, college or international basketball were not considered during the voting process. The voting pool included 76 players, as there was a tie during the NBA’s voting for its 75th Anniversary Team.

Why did the NBA have 66 games?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2011–12 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	December 25, 2011 – April 26, 2012 April 28 – June 9, 2012 (Playoffs) June 12 – 21, 2012 (Finals)
Number of games	66
Number of teams	30
TV partner(s)	ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV
Draft
Top draft pick	Kyrie Irving
Picked by	Cleveland Cavaliers
Regular season
Top seed	Chicago Bulls
Season MVP	LeBron James ( Miami )
Top scorer	Kevin Durant ( Oklahoma City )
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Miami Heat
Eastern runners-up	Boston Celtics
Western champions	Oklahoma City Thunder
Western runners-up	San Antonio Spurs
Finals
Champions	Miami Heat
Runners-up	Oklahoma City Thunder
Finals MVP	LeBron James (Miami)
NBA seasons
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 NBA season was the 66th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which began with the signing of a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the owners of the 30 NBA teams and the NBA’s players. The previous CBA, which was ratified in 2005, expired at 12:01 AM EDT on July 1, 2011, resulting in a lockout,

With the new deal in place, the regular season was shortened from the normal 82 games per team to 66, because of nearly two months of inactivity. This was the league’s first season since 1991–92 without Shaquille O’Neal, who announced his retirement on June 1, 2011 via social media. A 4-time champion, O’Neal played 19 years for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics,

The season began on Christmas Day 2011, and ended on April 26, 2012. The playoffs started on April 28 and ended on June 21 when the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their series, 121–106, winning the Finals, 4–1 and to capture the franchise’s second NBA title.

How many years did LeBron play 82 games?

LeBron James has played 20 years with 82+ games played.

How many games are in the 2023 NBA season?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2022–23 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 18, 2022 – April 9, 2023 April 11–14, 2023 (play-in tournament) April 15, 2023 – May 29, 2023 (playoffs) June 1–12, 2023 (finals)
Number of games	82
Number of teams	30
TV partner(s)	ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV
Draft
Top draft pick	Paolo Banchero
Picked by	Orlando Magic
Regular season
Top seed	Milwaukee Bucks
Season MVP	Joel Embiid ( Philadelphia )
Top scorer	Joel Embiid (Philadelphia)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Miami Heat
Eastern runners-up	Boston Celtics
Western champions	Denver Nuggets
Western runners-up	Los Angeles Lakers
Finals
Champions	Denver Nuggets
Runners-up	Miami Heat
Finals MVP	Nikola Jokić ( Denver )
NBA seasons
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 NBA season was the 77th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the regular season began on October 18, 2022, and ended on April 9, 2023. The 2023 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 19, 2023, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City,

How many games in NBA season 2023 2024?

In-season tournament – The NBA will introduce the new NBA In-Season Tournament for the 2023–24 season, with some of the games counting towards the regular season standings. It will be modeled after the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup and in-season competitions in European football. The tournament will be structured as follows:

• Six intraconference pools of five.
• Tuesdays and Fridays during November will feature group games against each of the other teams in their pool (two at home and two on the road). These games will still count as regular season games.
• The winners of each pool and two wild-card teams will advance to a single-elimination tournament.
• The semifinals and finals will be played in Las Vegas
• Players for the tournament champion will each receive $500,000.
• To compensate, the NBA’s regular season scheduling formula will be modified so only 80 games apiece for each team are initially announced during the offseason. The first two rounds of the in-season tournament would then count as regular season games 81 and 82. The final would then be an extra 83rd game that would not count toward the regular season. Teams that do not qualify for the in-season tournament, or are eliminated in the quarterfinals, would then be scheduled additional games to reach 82.

When was NBA invented?

National Basketball Association (NBA), professional basketball league formed in the United States in 1949 by the merger of two rival organizations, the National Basketball League (founded 1937) and the Basketball Association of America (founded 1946). Britannica Quiz Great Moments in Sports Quiz

Is number 0 allowed in NBA?

Basketball – Although the NBA does not allow players to change numbers midseason, Andre Iguodala switched from #4 to #9 when Chris Webber arrived to the Sixers in 2005. American basketball leagues at all levels traditionally use single and double digits from 0 to 5 (i.e.0, 00, 1–5, 10–15, 20–25, 30–35, 40–45, and 50–55).

While numbering was relatively unrestricted at amateur levels in the sport’s early decades, numbering rules in the NCAA and most amateur competitions evolved to mandate that only these numbers be used. This eases non-verbal communication between referees, who use fingers to denote a player’s number, and the official scorer.

In college basketball, single-digit players’ numbers are officially recorded as having a leading zero, However, starting in the 2023–24 season, the NCAA has returned to allowing all numbers from 0 to 99 in both men’s and women’s basketball. The rule about “0” and “00” no longer applies in the NBA but previously, in 2000, Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag changed from “00” to “39” so Olden Polynice could wear No.0 and in 2003, Washington Wizards center Brendan Haywood switched from No.00 to No.33 so Gilbert Arenas (who had the nickname “Agent Zero” already at this point) could wear No.0.

Chicago Bulls backup guard Randy Brown wore No.0 during the 1995–96 season, but switched to No.1 after Robert Parish joined the team the following season, When Eric Montross joined the Boston Celtics in 1994, his preferred No.00 had been taken off circulation after Parish’s departure (it was eventually retired in 1998).

Montross wore No.0 in Boston, but would revert to No.00 after leaving the Celtics in 1996. Since then, a number of NBA teams have featured players wearing both 0 and 00, such as the 2014 Denver Nuggets ( Aaron Brooks and Darrell Arthur, respectively), the 2015–16 Denver Nuggets ( Emmanuel Mudiay and Arthur), the 2016–17 Indiana Pacers ( C.J.

Miles and Brooks), the 2017–18 Cleveland Cavaliers ( Kevin Love and Chris Andersen ), the 2018–19 Portland Trail Blazers ( Damian Lillard and Enes Kanter ), the 2019–20 Portland Trail Blazers ( Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony ), the 2020–21 Portland Trail Blazers (Lillard and Anthony), the 2021–22 Golden State Warriors ( Jonathan Kuminga and Gary Payton II ), and the 2022–23 Golden State Warriors ( Jonathan Kuminga and Donte DiVincenzo ).

The NBA has always allowed other numbers from 0 to 99, but use of digits 6 through 9 is less common than 0 through 5 since most players tend to keep the numbers that they had previously worn in college. However, with the increase in the number of international players, and other players who have been on national (FIBA) teams who change NBA teams and cannot keep their number with the previous team because another player has worn it or is retired, players have adopted such higher numbers ( Patrick Ewing with No.6 in Orlando ).

1. When Michael Jordan retired in 1993, the Chicago Bulls retired his 23; when he came out of retirement he chose to wear 45 until, during the 1995 NBA post-season, he went back to his familiar 23.
2. Also, players cannot change numbers midseason, but they used to be able to ( Andre Iguodala and Antoine Wright changed from No.4 and No.15 to No.9 and No.21 for Chris Webber and Vince Carter, respectively).

Since Kelenna Azubuike was inactive all season, Carmelo Anthony was able to wear Azubuike’s No.7 when traded to the Knicks in 2011, but since Rodney Stuckey was active, Allen Iverson could not wear No.3 when traded to the Pistons in 2009. (Anthony would not have been able to wear his normal No.15 anyway and would have had to trade jerseys; the Knicks have retired the jersey number).

• No NBA player has ever worn the number 69, which is believed to be implicitly banned due to its sexual connotations ; the NBA has never confirmed this.
• Dennis Rodman allegedly requested the number 69 when he joined the Dallas Mavericks but was refused and instead wore 70.
• The WNBA has aspects of NFHS (high schools), NBA, and NCAA numbering rules.

Like the NBA and post-2023 NCAA, digits 6–9 are allowed; however, like NFHS and pre-2023 NCAA, no number higher than 55 is allowed. Also, since 2011, no player can wear 00. Up to 2014, players in FIBA -organized competitions for national teams, including the Olympic Games, World Cup and Women’s World Championship (since renamed the Women’s World Cup), had to wear numbers from 4 to 15, due to the limitations of the digits in the human hand: Referees signal numbers 1 to 3 using their fingers to the table officials to indicate the number of points scored in a particular shot attempt, whereas numbers 4–15 are shown by the referee using their fingers (with the hands shown sequentially instead of simultaneously for number 11 to 15 to signify two separate digits instead of a singular number) after a personal foul to indicate the offending player.

1. The restriction was lifted following the implementation of video replay systems in basketball which allowed the table officials to quickly identify players on the court independently from the referees.
2. Starting in 2014, under FIBA rules, national federations could also allow any numbers with a maximum of 2 digits for their own competitions; this rule also applied in transnational club competitions, most notably the EuroLeague,

FIBA extended this change to its own competitions in 2018. At present, players are allowed any numbers from 1 to 99, additionally 0 and 00.

Who wore 0 first in the NBA?

A number on the rise – Though Woolridge’s rookie season with the 1981-82 Bulls marked the first time an NBAer wore zero permanently, another Chicago player beat him to the numerical distinction by 34 years. Windy City-born guard Johnny Jorgensen donned No.0 during the lone game he played for his hometown Stags in 1947-48, two seasons before that franchise went defunct.

1. Jorgensen scored four points in Chicago’s 80-70 win over the St.
2. Louis Bombers.) A few years before Woolridge belatedly took up Jorgensen’s mantle, Robert Parish made league history by wearing 00, the number the Celtics later retired in his honor.
3. That the singular zero has far surpassed its dual counterpart in league-wide popularity can be traced, in a way, back to the Hall of Fame center.

Polynice became the second player to wear No.0 on a regular basis after joking to his coach K.C. Jones – Parish’s former coach – that he figured he could play half as well as Parish. Jones suggested Polynice ditch his original number, 23, and extend that statement to its logical conclusion.

• Two pivotal points along zero’s NBA rise were Arenas’ entrance into the league as a second-round pick in 2001 and his subsequent ascent to stardom with the Wizards.
• Arenas established his Agent Zero bona fides by scoring at will in a significantly slower-paced league.
• From 2004-07, he averaged 27.7 points per game and made three straight All-Star teams.

(Knee injuries, as well as his suspension in the wake of a 2009 locker-room gun incident involving teammate Javaris Crittenton, soon precipitated his decline.) “When he was with the Wizards, he was dope,” Richardson said. “A lot of people forget he was playing for maybe a four-year window just as well as James Harden is playing right now, with the same type of moves,” said retired forward Drew Gooden, who wore No.0 intermittently throughout his own 14-year NBA career. Sporting News / Getty Images With No.0 growing ubiquitous on NBA scoresheets, membership in the club has increasingly come to depend on circumstance. Jersey distribution around the league can be something of a musical-chairs act; whether a coveted number is available on a given team is often beyond a player’s control.

Leonard was able to nab zero with the Heat because Miami sent Richardson to Philadelphia as part of the same trade. The Wizards haven’t retired No.0 in Arenas’ honor, but multiple Washington players – Gooden in 2013-14 and C.J. Miles this season – have been asked or have chosen to relinquish the number in deference to his legacy.

Boston represents another curious case. Tatum and teammate Jaylen Brown both wore No.0 in college, but Tatum has it with the Celtics despite joining the team one year later – when Boston dealt Avery Bradley, its 0-wearer for seven straight seasons, to Detroit.

1. The Celtics’ roster has featured a No.0 almost without interruption for more than 20 years, partly due to the glut of numbers (22) the franchise has retired over the years.
2. Pressed for options, forward Walter McCarty started the streak in 1997-98 because he preferred zero to a far-flung number such as, say, 57.

“Uh, that just looks weird,” McCarty said, describing his thought process at the time. “I’ll go for zero if I can get it.” In L.A., Kuzma has entrenched himself as the Lakers’ resident No.0 despite his relative lack of NBA seniority. Bradley is wearing No.11 in Lakerland after signing as a free agent in the summer; DeMarcus Cousins, formerly a 0-wearer with the Pelicans and Warriors, will sport No.15 if he returns from an ACL tear this season. Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images Naturally, some prospective 0-wearers have tried to test the extent to which money talks. Cousins commended Patrick McCaw’s prowess as a negotiator after he took No.0 from McCaw in Golden State in the summer of 2018.

(McCaw, then a restricted free agent, wound up not returning to the Warriors.) When Gooden joined Cleveland in a trade in 2004, he failed to pry zero from Jeff McInnis, another early adopter of the number: “He wouldn’t take the bribe.” Even Polynice attempted to cajole Woolridge into surrendering No.0 during their short stint as teammates with the 1992-93 Pistons.

Woolridge wouldn’t budge, not even for $5,000. Not all roads lead to zero. Shabazz Muhammad confused some onlookers when he declared his intent to wear No.0 as a rookie swingman with the 2013-14 Timberwolves – for the easily disprovable reason that it belonged to no one else in the league.

1. In the end, Muhammad settled on No.15, his first choice, when that number’s owner was waived.
2. Those who’ve stuck with No.0 over the years have run the risk of inviting ready-made chirps from opposing crowds.
3. Some fans used to ask Polynice if zero denoted his scoring or rebounding average.
4. In that sense, the number served as inspiration: “You didn’t want to hear anybody’s mouth.” “I used to hear (this) one a lot: ‘Zero stands for nothing!'” Gooden said with a laugh.

“By that time, I already had a double-double, so it really didn’t end up bothering me.” David Sherman / NBA / Getty Images

Has anyone ever gone 16 0 in NBA?

Several NBA teams have come close to sweeping the playoffs, but no team has stayed undefeated throughout the entire league postseason series.

Can LeBron play 1 5?

This is incredible, but is it true? – James is one of the most versatile players in league history because of his size and skill, but knowing how every position functions is at another level. There’s a reason this is difficult. While teams don’t run specific plays every possession, they do have repeatable motions each player at each position is supposed to make and different spots they should move and stand.

• For James to know all of those would make him the ultimate Swiss Army knife.
• We’ve seen this aptitude in action.
• That’s how James is able to make passes like this. And this.
• We’ve also seen James switch from being the screener in the pick-and-roll to delivering pristine dimes to cutters and shooters on the same possession.

We’ve seen James play both forward positions, both guard positions, and even play a bit at center throughout his career. That’s why his former coach Erik Spoelstra coined the nickname for the do-it-all superstar. James does great things at every position, and Spoelstra recognized that early.

How many 82 game seasons has Michael Jordan played?

Michael Jordan played in ALL 82 games in 9 of 15 seasons in his career, which leads every top 10-ish player of all-time. Jordan is tied for 4th behind John Stockton (16), AC Green (14), Karl Malone / Randy Smith (10) for the most 82 game seasons played in NBA history.

How many 82 game seasons did Kareem play?

In his 20 seasons in the NBA, Kareem has played in all 82 games five times, 80 games four times, and 81 games twice.

How does the NBA get to 82 games?

The break down – Once stadium availability is decided, then it’s time to adhere to the strict formula the NBA has set for each team. Each division has five opponents, so a team must play the four teams in the division four times, totaling 16 games (4×4=16),

Four games will played against 6 conference opponents that aren’t from the same division, amounting to 24 games (4×6=24). A team will play the four remaining teams from the same conference three times each which makes 12 games (3×4=12). The remaining 30 games of the 82 game schedule will be played against the 15 teams in the other conference.

A team will play each team from the other conference twice for a total of 30 games (2×15=30).

Why are there 82 games in a season?

Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN Staff Writer Oct 27, 2011, 05:40 PM ET Close

NBA writer for ESPN.com since 2008 Former contributor and editor at NPR

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Oct.27, 2011. Nobody can really tell you – not the NBA scheduler, those who work in the NBA offices in New York, nor historians of the game. Stuck on 82 NBA teams played 80 games each beginning in 1961-62.

The league added a game in 1966-67, bringing the total to 81, then ultimately settled on 82 games for the 1967-68 season, when the San Diego Rockets and Seattle SuperSonics joined the league. Now a 12-team league, the NBA had each team play its conference rivals eight times and its inter-conference foes seven times.

As the league continued to expand, the NBA maintained its 82-game schedule – the only exception being the 1998-99 season, when a lockout produced an abbreviated (and compressed) 50-game schedule. Too often, we allow tradition to govern the way we do things, and that holds true in the NBA.

• Rules and laws that were drawn up ages ago become entrenched and are rarely reexamined to see if they’re working to their intended effect or whether we can improve upon them.
• A couple of weeks ago in the New York Times, Richard Sandomir made the case for a shortened NBA schedule, noting that fewer games might save some wear and tear on NBA players.

He consults with Jeff Van Gundy (who advocates for fewer games, but over the same duration) and Bill Simmons, who each support trimming a handful of games from the NBA schedule, while David Thorpe counters not so fast, At TrueHoop last week, J.A. Adande filed a concurring opinion in support of a 76-game schedule.

• The wear-and-tear argument for fewer games certainly has merit, but the best reason to play fewer games is to create more compelling basketball, an NBA where there are more meaningful games and a greater number of fans who make appointments to watch.
• March Madness and the NFL Eighteen months ago, CBS and TNT agreed to pay the NCAA $10.8 billion for the rights to broadcast the 67 games that compose March Madness over a span of 14 years.

That’s more than $771 million per year. Throw in the digital rights (including the ingenious boss button ) and that figure crosses $11 billion. The NBA currently receives approximately $930 million deal from its broadcast partners, ESPN/ABC and TNT, in a deal that will run through the 2015-16 season.

The two networks combine to televise 142 regular-season games. TNT gets the All-Star Game and a slew of playoff games, while ABC airs The Finals and a handful of weekend postseason games. In other words, the NCAA sells the 11 broadcast dates of March Madness for just a smidgen less per year than the NBA earns for the rights to eight months of NBA basketball.

It’s important to note that March Madness has a lot of things going for it. Seemingly every office in America hosts a bracket pool, and the sudden-death nature of the tournament produces a level of drama that’s tough to replicate in any sport. The NFL, whose broadcast contracts are staggering, provides another measuring stick.

Pro football is the ultimate appointment-viewing sport in North America and rakes in an obscene amount of money. ESPN pays $1.8 billion per season for the rights to Monday Night Football, streaming rights, expanded highlight packages and the draft. That’s nearly twice what the NBA earns from its partners for nearly its entire national package, and doesn’t include the enormous amount of cash the league generates from Sunday broadcasts on Fox, CBS and NBC.

NBA Stars Who Carried Their Team To A Championship

The NBA, of course, generates significant revenue from local television rights, though few of those numbers are publicly available – and few of those deals likely come close to the $150 million per season the Lakers will reportedly earn from their new agreement with Time Warner.

1. Finding the sweet spot How can the NBA tap into some of magic of the NCAA tournament or the NFL? Many skeptics insist that the NBA product just isn’t as telegenic or engaging as March Madness or the NFL.
2. NBA enthusiasts would argue that’s not the case – it’s just that the league hasn’t cracked the code on how to translate all the virtues of the pro game into something people really, really, really want to watch, even in January.

If the NCAA and NFL have taught us one thing, it’s that scarcity matters. Simply put, the fewer the games, the more eventful they feel. When games have greater consequences, they’re imbued with a special relevance. We congregate with friends, families and sometimes people we merely tolerate to create a community gathering around a game.

1. But how much does scarcity matter? How would we determine the ideal length of the NBA schedule? In Economics 101, students learn about the utility or indifference curve, and how to find the sweet spot on the graph where a product’s availability matches market demand.
2. Right now, there are 82 games.
3. Why? Because it’s been that way for decades.

But “been that way for decades” – or tradition – is generally a lousy way to make decisions or to determine utility. Your local grocery doesn’t buy inventory for the frozen food aisle based on purchasing and sales figures from 1972. The smart retailer constantly evaluates and re-evaluates consumer demand.

One mid-week game : National doubleheaders on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with the remaining 22 teams playing on Wednesday night – which would also feature the current nationally televised double-header, with the remaining 18 teams playing on local television outlets. Mondays and Fridays are essentially travel days. One weekend game : Teams playing on Saturday and Sunday. Following the NFL season, the NBA’s Sunday schedule would feature a quintuple-header, with the remaining teams playing on Saturday.

Teams would play conference rivals twice – home and away – and inter-conference opponents just once. Since that equals an awkwardly-numbered 43 games, the extra contest would be an additional matchup with an inter-conference opponent. The team that finished No.1 the previous season in the Western Conference would play its counterpart in the East a second time; No.2 would play No.2, etc.

This doesn’t offer the balancing act the NFL performs to give lesser teams an easier schedule while planting land mines for the juggernauts, but it’s something. Take into account the All-Star break and you have a 23-week season that would extend from approximately Nov.1 through the first week in April, virtually identical to what we have now.

In the current scheme, it’s difficult to answer the question, “When does your NBA team play?” Tuesdays? Sometimes. Every other day? Occasionally it works out that way. Sundays? It depends. A twice-a-week format (once during the week/once over the weekend) would provide the NBA with the comfy consistency we see in the NFL schedule (once a week) and Major League Baseball schedule (every day).

In the process, the NBA would have at least 88 nationally televised dates prior to the postseason – dates that feature games of far greater magnitude. Inter-conference matchups become real novelties. The days of the dreaded second-night-of-a-back-to-back would be history. Revenue costs up front, but a better product Clearly, a 44-game schedule wouldn’t come without a cost.

The hit would be especially hard for teams like the Lakers, Knicks and Celtics who have lucrative television deals. Both local broadcast revenues and gate receipts (and associated game-night revenue) would be drastically reduced, but some of that revenue would be recaptured with increased ticket prices tighter and healthier national ratings right off the bat.

1. That’s still a tough sell to the owners – and it might be a tougher sell to the players if fewer games meant smaller paychecks, even if less wear-and-tear could translate into longer, healthier careers.
2. And try telling a small-market owner that the Lakers or Heat will appear in their building only once every other year.

But fewer games would introduce the kind of randomness that makes the NCAA Tournament and the NFL so tantalizing. When you play fewer games with higher stakes, a couple of bounces here and there over the course of a season can vault Cinderella to the ball.

1. A greater number of teams would hang around the playoff chase later into the season.
2. For a league that insists an NFL-like “competitive balance” is a priority, a shorter schedule that encourages parity is the place to start.
3. In an era when the league’s fortunes are driven by broadcast revenues, a 44-game schedule during which rested athletes are playing their best basketball in front of more vested fans would create a superior product the NBA could televise to a global audience with more capacity than ever to tune in.

A nod toward a made-for-broadcast schedule would go a long way toward evenly distributing the NBA’s dominant income stream, because local television rights would be secondary to the global reach of a superior product. The Lakers aren’t playing the majority of their games for the Los Angeles and San Diego markets at 7:30 p.m.

Pacific Standard Time on a weeknight. Instead, they’re playing half their games (each of which is twice as meaningful) as the showcase event at 12:30 p.m. Pacific, 3:30 p.m. Eastern and 8:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on a Saturday or Sunday. Everyone watches, and everyone profits. If the NBA wants that NFL feel – “competitive balance” driven by non-local broadcast revenue – this is a far better blueprint than redistribution.

Would 44 games enhance fan interest in the NBA? If so, would that interest translate into greater revenues that would compensate for fewer games? We simply can’t say and it’s virtually impossible to conduct an experiment. For all we know, the best way to maximize profits for the NBA, its owners, players, coaches landlords and ushers might be to increase the number of games to 94 – start in mid-October and host Game 7 of the Finals the weekend before the Major League All-Star Game.

How are the 82 games split?

What is the NBA regular-season schedule breakdown? – NBA scheduling is not a very straightforward process, because the officials responsible for scheduling need to account for travel to and from games, the time between games, and other factors. As such, every team has a different schedule, in terms of when and where their games are played (this has led to the creation of metrics such as “strength of schedule”).

• Some things, however, remain valid for all teams.
• Every team will play 82 games in the regular season, barring cancellation.41 of these games are home games (played at the team’s own stadium), while 41 games are away games (played at the opponent’s stadium).
• There are three types of games in the NBA: division games, conference games, and interconference games.

Each team plays the other 4 teams in its division 4 times each, 2 home and 2 away (total 16 division games). Each team also plays games with teams from the other conference twice each, 1 home and 1 away (total 30 interconference games). The remaining games are games played within their own conference but outside of their division.

Why did the NBA have 66 games?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2011–12 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	December 25, 2011 – April 26, 2012 April 28 – June 9, 2012 (Playoffs) June 12 – 21, 2012 (Finals)
Number of games	66
Number of teams	30
TV partner(s)	ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV
Draft
Top draft pick	Kyrie Irving
Picked by	Cleveland Cavaliers
Regular season
Top seed	Chicago Bulls
Season MVP	LeBron James ( Miami )
Top scorer	Kevin Durant ( Oklahoma City )
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Miami Heat
Eastern runners-up	Boston Celtics
Western champions	Oklahoma City Thunder
Western runners-up	San Antonio Spurs
Finals
Champions	Miami Heat
Runners-up	Oklahoma City Thunder
Finals MVP	LeBron James (Miami)
NBA seasons
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 NBA season was the 66th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which began with the signing of a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the owners of the 30 NBA teams and the NBA’s players. The previous CBA, which was ratified in 2005, expired at 12:01 AM EDT on July 1, 2011, resulting in a lockout,

• With the new deal in place, the regular season was shortened from the normal 82 games per team to 66, because of nearly two months of inactivity.
• This was the league’s first season since 1991–92 without Shaquille O’Neal, who announced his retirement on June 1, 2011 via social media.
• A 4-time champion, O’Neal played 19 years for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics,

The season began on Christmas Day 2011, and ended on April 26, 2012. The playoffs started on April 28 and ended on June 21 when the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their series, 121–106, winning the Finals, 4–1 and to capture the franchise’s second NBA title.