The ultimate rebel basketball league, it ran from 1967 to 1976, featured a colorful cast of players, coaches, and owners, launched the careers of Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and more, all before merging with the NBA and providing the Pacers, Spurs, Nets, and Nuggets

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One of the NBA’s most tumultuous but prosperous early franchises, with three relocations but also a 1958 title. Settled into Atlanta in the late ’60s but are now over a half century removed from their last NBA Finals appearance.

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The ultimate basketball victor, he was a two-time NCAA champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and won a record 11 NBA titles in just 13 seasons with the Celtics. Additionally a tireless civil rights promoter and the first Black head coach

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A charter NBA franchise, the all-time leaders in championships and arguably the league’s quintessential team, with superstars like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Dave Cowens roaming the parquet floor at the Boston Garden

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An ABA powerhouse that struggled with financial issues post-merger, settling into a lengthy malaise until Jason Kidd came to town and turned them into a contender.

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The NBA’s Sisyphus, a warrior memorably remembered for fighting stubbornly against impossible odds, he was league MVP in ’92-’93 and is now a memorable and controversial media figure

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Their ’90s Starter jackets were the ultimate NBA fashion statement and Larry Johnson matched that flashy style on the court, but it’s been nothing but mediocrity for the team in the 21st century, since reconstituting as the Bobcats.

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One of the earliest expansion franchises, they made some inspiring runs in the ’70s but were floundering until Michael Jordan came along, transforming and defining the Bulls with his eight-year dynasty run. Post-Jordan has been a series of stops and starts.

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Everything can be split into BL (Before LeBron) and LE (LeBron Era), a franchise wandering in the wilderness until a King led them to the promised land in 2016 and brought new hope to a championship starved city.

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Joined the NBA in 1980 to complete the Texas trifecta, had some early spotty success, then rocketed into title contention with Dirk Nowitzki’s drafting and Mark Cuban’s purchasing.

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The fourth commissioner of the NBA and by far the most impactful, shepherding the league and sport into unprecedented growth while also courting near constant controversy with his policies

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Points have always come easy in the Mile High City, from their early days in the ABA through the Doug Moe up-tempo ’80s, but championship success wasn’t attainable until Nikola Jokic came to town.

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One of the earliest NBA franchises with one of the most colorful histories, from their days in Fort Wayne to the Dave Bing/Bob Lanier eras to the “Bad Boys” dynasty and beyond

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The premier program of the modern NCAA era, with 13 Final Four appearances and five titles under Coach K. NBA success… not so much, but there have been some superstars over the years like Grant Hill, Kyrie Irving, and Jayson Tatum.

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Basketball and live broadcasting have a lengthy history together and over the years and more recently, the sport has aligned itself with movies, music, variety shows, home video, advertisements, books, video games, and yes, of course, reality television.

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Lighthearted explorations of the goofs, spoofs, colorful characters, and extraneous details that make basketball the most entertaining sport on Earth. From mascots to jerseys to nicknames to fans.

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The biggest star of the NBA’s first 10 years was a bespectacled awkward giant, lumbering around the court like an Apatosaurus en route to five Lakers championships over the course of just six years

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Began life in San Diego but the Rockets nickname carried over perfectly to their permanent home in Houston. Consistently solid since the late ’70s, peaking with Hakeem Olajuwon leading them to back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995.

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Greatest player of all time to never win league MVP, the only player ever to earn Finals MVP in a losing cause and yet so synonymous with the NBA that his silhouette is unofficially the league’s logo

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An innovator in above-the-rim play, who was NBA MVP once and ABA MVP three times, an All-Star 16 times across the two leagues, and winner of the fabled 1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest

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A paragon of durability, who held the NBA’s all-time points record for nearly 40 years, he was league MVP a record six times, appeared in 10 NBA Finals, and won six titles

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One-time MVP and two-time Finals MVP with so many memorable moments, from his breakout performance in the 2002 Finals to his 81-point outburst in 2006 to his fraught showdowns with Shaquille O’Neal to his 60-point denouement

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Almost as much as what happens on the court, the history of the NBA is a determined by business, especially the dynamics and contradictions of the league’s labor and its capital.

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Nicknamed “Legend” for good reason, his career was brilliant but brief, winning three consecutive MVP awards, Finals MVP twice, and becoming the original member of the 50/40/90 club

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What do you get when you combine the skill of Wilt Chamberlain with the longevity of Kareem? A four time champion, four time Finals MVP, four time league MVP, and the all-time leading scorer in NBA history

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Seemingly cursed from the beginning, even as the Buffalo Braves, they had multiple franchise saviors come and go until Chris Paul and Blake Griffin ushered in a new era, followed by the cathartic jettison of Donald Sterling and Elgin Baylor.

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Originally based in Minneapolis, the Lakers relocated to Los Angeles and came to embody Hollywood glamour in basketball form, with superstar players like Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and Kobe Bryant leading them to the most NBA Finals appearances ever

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One of just three players to earn league MVP three times and Finals MVP three times, he’s the original “Unicorn,” possessing the size and skill even as a rookie to fill in at center in game six of the 1980 NBA Finals

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Every year the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments bring out the best of basketball, providing upsets, buzzer beaters, chaos, drama, and more

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Originally based in Vancouver, where they barely made a dent in the standings, relocated to Memphis and became a playoff perennial albeit with a ceiling of success

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A young franchise that’s punched above its weight thanks to a lengthy relationship with Pat Riley, who built championship teams around Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, and coached the former to glory.

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An instant success thanks to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, they’ve had peaks and nadirs ever since, with highlights including a memorable “Nellie Ball” ’80s era and a second title thanks to Giannis

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In 2021, the NBA celebrated its diamond anniversary after 75 years. As tribute, we published a series of lists dedicated to that milestone and celebration.

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A yearly event since 1951, the mid-season exhibition highlights the league’s best and brightest, with varying degrees of interest and effort but always some level of intrigue

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Staged since 1947 to crown an NBA champion, the Finals are the yearly crown jewel event on the basketball calendar and have made or broken the careers of nearly every legend of the league

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The Magic Kingdom has not always been the happiest place on Earth, with the two biggest superstars in franchise history (Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard) fleeing for greener pastures after leading the team to a Finals loss.

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The first player ever to average a triple-double in a season, he was league MVP in ’63-’64, a champion with the ’70-’71 Bucks, an Olympic gold medalist, and a pioneer in NBA free agency and labor relations.

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Legendary coach of the ’80s Lakers, ’90s Knicks, and ’00s Heat, he defined ‘”Showtime” cool with his slick-backed hair, Armani suits, and incredible success, winning four championships

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Originally the Syracuse Nationals, champions in 1955, they relocated to Philadelphia in the early ’60s and produced two of the greatest teams of all time in ’66-’67 and ’82-’83; legends include Julius Erving, Allen Iverson, Billy Cunningham, Moses Malone, and Wilt Chamberlain.

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Maybe the most star-crossed franchise in NBA history, they’ve played in three NBA Finals and come up just short each time. Most of their biggest stars are associated with injuries (Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Johnson) and/or playoff disappointments (Charles Barkley, Steve Nash).

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Last bastion of the NBA foray into the Pacific Northwest, the Blazers found early success with Bill Walton and have remained in contention nearly constantly since, thanks to superstars like Clyde Drexler and Damian Lillard.

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Careers can end for an assortment of reasons, almost all of which we’ve detailed in some way or another. As for comebacks, they can be heroic or they can be disastrous, and it tends towards the latter in the world of basketball

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A scoring champion and misanthrope who fled for the ABA in his prime but returned to the Warriors in ’72-’73 and managed to shed his selfish reputation, delivering a title in 1975 and earning Finals MVP for an all-around dominant performance

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Good, old fashioned hate: From during the games to off the court to even in the stands, basketball has a long history of teams, players, coaches, owners, and even leagues challenging each other in one form or another

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The NBA’s oldest franchise, having begun life in 1923 as a Seagram distillery company team, they won a title in 1951 as the Rochester Royals but have stumbled through later stints in Kansas City, Omaha, and Sacramento.

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Once an NBA institution, with a 1979 title run and exciting ’90s stars like Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp. They were wrested away from Seattle in 2008 to become the Thunder but fans look forward to the franchise’s inevitable return via expansion

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A jolly, seen giant, who is one of just two players to win three consecutive Finals MVP awards and was the leading scorer and rebounder for the Lakers each time; also league MVP in ’99-’00, and finished second in voting twice

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Long time powerhouse of international basketball, especially at the Olympics, where the star-studded rosters have fallen short of gold just three times.

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A player so effective that they labelled him boring, who is top 10 in NBA history in career rebounds, blocks, and win shares. A five-time champion with the Spurs with two league MVP and three Finals MVP trophies

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Founded in 1995, they mostly struggled for their first two decades of existence but turned it around in the ’10s thanks to Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, eventually winning the first championship by a Canadian team in 2019.

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College basketball’s ultimate dynasty in the ’60s and ’70s, with coach John Wooden winning 11 championships thanks to superstars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. Has continued to produce legends since (Russell Westbrook, Reggie Miller) but has won only one title in modern era.

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Their incongruous name comes from an early relocation from New Orleans and their status as one of the league’s smallest market teams has kept a ceiling on their success, with Karl Malone and John Stockton as living proof of playoff disappointments.

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A record books shatterer, 100-point scorer, and four time league MVP who is inexorably linked with Bill Russell, who got the better of him seven times in eight postseason matchups

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