NBA 2020 Season: When you think of basketball, the one word that comes to your mind is the NBA. NBA or National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league in North America. It is the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world. The league started way back on 6 June 1946 in New York, which is still the headquarters of the league. Initially, it was named as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). Almost 3 years later, on 3 August 1949, the BAA merged with the competing National Basketball League (NBL) to form the present NBA.

NBA Line Up

A league is an annual event which starts from October to April. There are 30 teams which participate in the tournament with 19 teams from America and 1 team from Canada. The playoffs of the tournament extend till June. Each team gets to play 82 games each in the tournament. The players signed for the NBA are the highest-paid athletes in the world. This data is concluded by taking into account the average annual salary per player. The league is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB). The USAB Is the national governing body for basketball in America. The body is also recognized by the International Basketball Federation (IFB). The league is the third wealthiest professional sports league after National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) in terms of revenue.

NBA Teams

NBA currently is a league of 30 teams. However, it was not the case from the beginning. The inaugural season of NBA in 1946 witnessed only 11 teams competing for the trophy. There was a sequence of team expansions, reductions and relocations which finally made NBA a 30 team game. Currently, the league consists of 30 teams. Out of these 30 teams, 29 are from the United States and one is from Canada. In the present format, the teams are divided into 2 conferences of 3 divisions with 5 teams each. This system of forming a divisional alignment of teams was conceptualized in 2004-05 season. As per the current standings out of the 30 teams participating, 13 teams are in the Eastern Time Zone, 9 in the Central Time Zone, 3 in mountain zone and 5 in the Pacific time zone. According to population analysis, most teams are in the eastern half of the country.

NBA Schedule

The NBA schedule starts training camps in late September soon after the summer break. The coaching staff evaluates the players during the training camps especially the rookies. The training also facilitates the player’s selection and shortlisting of the probable 12 and standby 3 players for the season. The player’s which have less than 2 years of experience can directly be designated to the NBA ‘G’ league. After analyzing the strength and weakness of the team’s players are ready to face the rigorous regular season. A preseason is planned before the final season. These exhibition games are played are organized even outside the country. The games are held in non-NBA cities. Following which, the regular season of NBA starts in October.

NBA 2020 Season

The current season of 2020-21 was scheduled to start from Dec 22 and ends on May 16th. The much-hyped pre-season for this tournament was from 11-19th December. In the preseason each team played with a minimum of two and a maximum of 4 teams. There were 49 games planned in the preseason. As for the final NBA, the total number of games is reduced to 72 from the usual 82 games which complete the NBA annual calendar. Currently, only the first half of the schedule is announced the second half of the tournament is slated to be announced in the second half of the tournament. Each team is scheduled to play 3 games each intraconference opponent and 2 against each interconference opponent. This would mean that each team faces 42 and 30 games respectively.

NBA amid COVID-19

COVID-19 outbreak brought the entire world to a standstill. With complete lockdown imposed in most countries and remaining observing restrictions in one form or the other, international sports too had suffered a setback. Also for a league event which is slated around the country requires a lot of frequent travelling. The imposed travel restrictions were also a big spoiler for NBA lovers. However, with improved conditions, the entire world has restarted travel and sports.

It is very essential to observe the requisite safety protocols for the NBA season 2020-21. The following strict measures are planned for this season

Daily testing of players and staff beginning 1 December 2020.
The occurrence of independence cases would not account to cancellation of the season.
In case any player is tested positive, he would be directed to wait for 10 days and then will be monitored for additional 2 days in individual workouts.
The team travelling parties would be limited to 45 individuals, including 17 players.
For possible violations of the safety protocol during the entire stretch of the tournament, a tip line would be generated.

NBA Standings

The much prestigious and the third wealthiest professional sports league confers a host of awards. The regular season culminates in mid-April and in this period the individual awards are voted for.

Sixth Man of the Year Award – This award is given to the best player coming off the bench.
Rookie of the Year award – The most outstanding first-year player gets this award.
Most Improved Player award – The player showing maximum improvement from the previous season.
Defensive Player of the Year award – It is awarded to the league’s best defender
Coach of the Year Award – Awarded to the Coach who has made the most positive difference to a team.
Most Valuable Player award – This award is for the player deemed the most valuable for his team in the season

Apart from these popular choice awards which are selected by voting, the selection of the honorary, league-wide and postseason teams is finalized. Also, the Sporting News renders an unofficial award, however, it is widely recognized. It is the award for Executive of the Year. This award is for the General Manager who is adjudged to have performed the best job for the benefit of his franchise.

The postseason teams are selected as the

All NBA team, consisting of top players at each position.
All-Defensive team, consisting of top defenders at each position.
All-Rookie team, consisting of top first-year players regardless of their position.

Out of the 3 teams, the All NBA team is considered as the most prestigious.

NBA Scores

The NBA is very popular amongst the masses. It has a global following and every basketball player dreams of participating in this league. The fans can view the game on television as well as live stream it online. Hope you enjoy this NBA 2020 Season!