Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index 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, and undoubtedly the best club basketball competition in the world. Its strength is such that most NBA sides could comfortably account for every national team except the US itself. 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 consists of the following teams: 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 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 official website Gatorade Virtual GM This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.