NBA Teams by State 2023

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a North American professional basketball league. It is one of four major professional sports leagues in the U.S. and Canada, along with the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), and National Hockey League (NHL). The NBA was founded as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) on June 6, 1946, in New York, New York, and started with 11 teams. The BAA merged with the competing National Basketball League (NBL) on August 3, 1949, and changed its name to the National Basketball League. Currently, the NBA is the third-wealthiest professional sports league in North America behind the NFL and MLB by revenue. As of 2020, NBA players have the world’s highest average annual salary per player, making them the best-paid athletes. The NBA’s regular season runs from October to April and each team plays 82 games. The playoff tournament runs into June.

NBA Teams

There are currently 30 NBA teams: 29 in the U.S. and one in Canada. The Canadian team is the Toronto Raptors. The 30 teams are divided into two conferences of three divisions with five teams each. The Eastern Conference’s three divisions are Atlantic, Central, and Southeast. The Western Conference’s three divisions are Northwest, Pacific, and Southwest. Of the 30 NBA teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have won the most championships, with 17 each. Together, these two teams have accounted for 45.9% of the 74 championships in NBA history. In the table below are the 30 NBA teams and their city.