National Basketball Association

==Regular season==
{{more citations needed|section|date=August 2020}}
Following the summer break, teams begin training camps in late September.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Metallinos |first= Nick|date=August 17, 2022|title=When does the NBA regular season start? Key dates for training camp, preseason entering 2022-23 season |url= https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/nba-key-dates-training-camp-preseason/vmiq2ozctylvqsvzwbvu3un3|magazine= [[Sporting News]]|location= |publisher= |access-date=March 18, 2024}}</ref> Training camps allow the coaching staff to evaluate players (especially rookies), scout the team's strengths and weaknesses, prepare the players for the rigorous regular season and determine the 12-man active roster (and a 3-man inactive list) with which they will begin the regular season. Teams have the ability to assign players with less than two years of experience to the [[NBA G League]]. After training camp, a series of preseason exhibition games are held. Preseason matches are sometimes held in non-NBA cities, both in the United States and overseas. The NBA regular season begins in the last week of October.

During the regular season, each team plays 82 games, 41 each home and away.<ref name="biclustering">{{cite book| editor-first1=Adetayo |editor-last1=Kasim |editor-first2=Sebastian |editor-last2=Kaiser |editor-first3=Sepp |editor-last3=Hochreiter |editor-first4=Willem |editor-last4=Talloen |editor-first5=Ziv |editor-last5=Shkedy |date=October 3, 2016 |title= Applied Biclustering Methods for Big and High-Dimensional Data Using R |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Applied_Biclustering_Methods_for_Big_and/p2gNDgAAQBAJ?hl=en |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |page= 298 |chapter=Chapter 19: Identification of Local Patterns in the NBA Performance Indicators |isbn= 9781482208245}}</ref> A team faces opponents in its own division four times a year (16 games).<ref name="biclustering"/> Each team plays six of the teams from the other two divisions in its conference four times (24 games), and the remaining four teams three times (12 games).<ref name="biclustering"/> Finally, each team plays all the teams in the other conference twice apiece (30 games).<ref name="biclustering"/> This asymmetrical structure means the [[strength of schedule]] will vary between teams (but not as significantly as the [[National Football League|NFL]] or [[Major League Baseball|MLB]]). Over five seasons, each team will have played 80 games against their division (20 games against each opponent, 10 at home, 10 on the road), 180 games against the rest of their conference (18 games against each opponent, 9 at home, 9 on the road), and 150 games against the other conference (10 games against each team, 5 at home, 5 on the road).

Starting the [[2023–24 NBA season|2023–24 season]], the regular season included an [[NBA In-Season Tournament|in-season tournament]], in which all games in the tournament (except for the final) counted towards the regular season.<ref>{{cite news|title=NBA In-Season Tournament to debut in 2023-24 season|url=https://www.nba.com/news/2023-in-season-tournament-debut-official-release|work=NBA.com|date=July 8, 2023|accessdate=July 8, 2023}}</ref>

The NBA is also the only league that regularly schedules [[NBA Christmas games|games on Christmas Day]].<ref name=Christmas>{{cite news|last=Schuhmann|first=John|title=Knicks, Kobe and more part of Christmas Day lore|url=http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/john_schuhmann/12/17/numbers.christmas/index.html|publisher=National Basketball Association|date=December 17, 2009|access-date=December 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202114508/http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/john_schuhmann/12/17/numbers.christmas/index.html|archive-date=December 2, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The league has been playing games regularly on the holiday since 1947,<ref name=ChristmasMatchups>{{cite news|title=Christmas Tradition|newspaper=The Riverside (Ca.) Press-Enterprise|date=December 24, 2009|page=B1|first=Jeff|last=Eisenberg}}</ref> though the first Christmas Day games were not televised until {{nbay|1983}}.<ref name=ChristmasGamesOnTV>{{cite news|last=Garcia|first=Art|title=Christmas Day clashes bring back fond memories|url=http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/art_garcia/12/13/christmas.history/index.html|publisher=National Basketball Association|date=December 13, 2009|access-date=December 27, 2010}}</ref> Games played on this day have featured some of the best teams and players.<ref name=Christmas/><ref name=ChristmasMatchups/><ref name=ChristmasGamesOnTV/> Christmas is also notable for NBA on television, as the holiday is when the first NBA games air on network television each season.<ref name=ChristmasMatchups/><ref name=ChristmasGamesOnTV/> Games played on this day have been some of the highest-rated games during a particular season.

The NBA has also played [[NBA MLK Day games|games on MLK Day]] every year since the holiday was first observed in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Martin|first1=Brian|url=https://www.nba.com/news/nba-on-mlk-day-history-records-2024|title=NBA on MLK Day: History and records|date=January 13, 2024|website=NBA}}</ref>

In February, the regular season pauses to celebrate the annual [[NBA All-Star Game]]. Fans vote throughout the United States, Canada, and on the Internet, and the top vote-getters in each conference are named captains. Fan votes determine the rest of the allstar starters. Coaches vote to choose the remaining 14 All-Stars. The player with the best performance during the game is rewarded with a [[NBA All-Star Game MVP|Game MVP award]]. Other attractions of the All-Star break include the [[Rising Stars Challenge]] (originally Rookie Challenge), where the top rookies and second-year players in the NBA play in a 5-on-5 basketball game, with the current format pitting U.S. players against those from the rest of the world; the [[NBA All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge|Skills Challenge]], where players compete to finish an obstacle course consisting of shooting, passing, and dribbling in the fastest time; the [[Three Point Contest]], where players compete to score the highest number of three-point field goals in a given time; and the [[NBA Slam Dunk Contest]], where players compete to dunk the ball in the most entertaining way according to the judges. These other attractions have varying names which include the names of the various sponsors who have paid for naming rights.

Shortly after the All-Star break is the [[trade deadline]], which is set to fall on the 16th Thursday of the season (usually in February) at 3&nbsp;pm [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Time]].<ref>{{cite web|title=NBA Trading Deadline Trades Since 1987|url=http://www.nba.com/history/deadline_deals.html|publisher=National Basketball Association|access-date=January 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109033255/http://www.nba.com/history/deadline_deals.html|archive-date=November 9, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> After this date, teams are not allowed to exchange players with each other for the remainder of the season, although they may still sign and release players. Major trades are often completed right before the trading deadline, making that day a hectic time for [[List of National Basketball Association general managers|general managers]].

Around the middle of April, the regular season ends. It is during this time that voting begins for individual awards, as well as the selection of the honorary, league-wide, postseason teams. The [[NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award|Sixth Man of the Year Award]] is given to the best player coming off the bench (must have more games coming off the bench than actual games started). The [[NBA Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year Award]] is awarded to the most outstanding first-year player. The [[NBA Most Improved Player Award|Most Improved Player Award]] is awarded to the player who is deemed to have shown the most improvement from the previous season. The [[NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award|Defensive Player of the Year Award]] is awarded to the league's best defender. The [[NBA Coach of the Year Award|Coach of the Year Award]] is awarded to the coach that has made the most positive difference to a team. The [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player Award]] is given to the player deemed the most valuable for (his team) that season. Additionally, ''[[Sporting News]]'' awards an unofficial (but widely recognized) [[NBA Executive of the Year Award|Executive of the Year Award]] to the general manager who is adjudged to have performed the best job for the benefit of his franchise.

The postseason teams are the [[All-NBA Team]], the [[NBA All-Defensive Team|All-Defensive Team]], and the [[NBA All-Rookie Team|All-Rookie Team]]; each consists of five players. There are three All-NBA teams, consisting of the top players at each position, with first-team status being the most desirable. There are two All-Defensive teams, consisting of the top defenders at each position. There are also two All-Rookie teams, consisting of the top first-year players regardless of position.<ref>{{cite web |title=Year-by-year NBA All-Rookie Teams |url=https://www.nba.com/news/history-all-rookie-teams |website=NBA.com |access-date=December 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Year-by-year NBA All-Defensive Teams |url=https://www.nba.com/news/history-all-defensive-team |website=NBA.com |access-date=December 27, 2022}}</ref>
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