Basketball in the NBA NBA = National Basketball Association - Basketball is very popular in the USA - Stars have got high – endowed1 contracts History of Basketball and the NBA: - 1891 basketball was originated by Dr. James Naismith - 1936 basketball was an event of the Olympic Games for the first time - 1937 the first basketball league was founded : the NBL ( = National Basketball League) - 1946 another basketball league was installed: the BAA ( = Basketball Association of America) - 1949 formation of the NBA out of the two other leagues - today the NBA contents 29 teams spread over whole North America Distribution of the teams: 2 Conferences (29 teams) Western Division (14 teams) Eastern Division (15 teams) Pacific Division (7) Midwest Division (7) Central Division (8) Atlantic Division (7) Sacramento Kings Utah Jazz Milwaukee Bucks Philadelphia 76ers Los Angeles Lakers San Antonio Spurs Charlotte Hornets Miami Heat Portland Trailblazers Dallas Maveriks Toronto Raptors New York Knicks Phoenix Suns Minnesota Timberwolves Indiana Pacers Orlando Magic Seattle Supersonics Houston Rockets Detroit Pistons Boston Celtics Los Angeles Clippers Denver Nuggets Cleveland Cavaliers New Jersey Nets Golden State Warriors Vancouver Grizzlies Atlanta Hawks Washington Wizzards Chicago Bulls Season: - the regular season goes from November to April - the play-off-round from May until June, where the best eight teams of both conferences took place 1) to endow = dotieren Special feature: the all-year All-star-game, which is very popular: - The best of the East play against the best of the West - Three-point-shootout - Dunking contest - former famous players were e.g. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Michael Jordan - today´s stars are Shaquille O`Neal, Kobe Bryant, Allan Yverson,… - the only two German in the USA are Detlev Schrempf and Dirk Nowitzki The direction of the homepage is: www. .