The National Basketball Association reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

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 club basketball competition in North America. Most of the world's best players play in the NBA, and the overall standard of the competition is considerably higher than any other club competition.

The NBA was founded in 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.

The NBA currently is devised in this format:

Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division	Boston Celtics	Miami Heat	New Jersey Nets	New York Knicks	Orlando Magic	Philadelphia 76ers	Washington Wizards
Central Division	Atlanta Hawks	Chicago Bulls	Cleveland Cavaliers	Detroit Pistons	Indiana Pacers	Milwaukee Bucks	New Orleans Hornets	Toronto Raptors
Western Conference:
Midwest Division	Dallas Mavericks	Denver Nuggets	Houston Rockets	Memphis Grizzlies	Minnesota Timberwolves	San Antonio Spurs	Utah Jazz
Pacific Division	Golden State Warriors (located in Oakland, California)	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns	Portland Trail Blazers	Sacramento Kings	Seattle SuperSonics
Future teams	Charlotte Bobcats 2004-05

On November 17,2003 the NBA announced that the 2004-2005 season will 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 (located in Oakland, California)	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns	Sacramento Kings
Southwest Division	Dallas Mavericks	Houston Rockets	Memphis Grizzlies	New Orleans Hornets	San Antonio Spurs

Past 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
• 1999-2000 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

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 1949-50
• Baltimore Bullets 1947-55 (Last NBA team to Fold)
• Chicago Stags 1946-50
• Cleveland Rebels 1946-47
• Denver Nuggets 1949-50
• Detroit Falcons 1946-47
• Indianapolis Jets 1948-49
• Indianapolis Olympians 1949-53
• Pittsburgh Ironmen 1946-47
• Providence Steamrollers 1946-49
• St. Louis Bombers 1946-50
• Sheboygan, Wis Redskins 1949-50
• Toronto Huskies 1946-47
• Washington Capitols 1946-51
• Waterloo, IA Hawks 1949-50

NBA Presidents and Commissioners

• Maurice Podoloff......... 1946–63 President
• Walter Kennedy........... 1963–67 President
• Walter Kennedy........... 1967-75 Commissioner
• Larry O'Brien............ 1975–84 Commissioner
• David Stern.............. 1984– Commissioner

Players

• List of NBA players

See also

• National Basketball Association All-Star Game
• Basketball Hall of Fame

External Links

• NBA Draft Prospects Site
• NBA official website
• Gatorade Virtual GM
• NBA Summer Ball
• NBA Links
• NBA Draft Coverage

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