On This Day In NBA History: August 3 - The NBA Is Officially Formed

On this day in 1949, the Basketball Association of American (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) merged to officially form the National Basketball Association (NBA).

August 3 is perhaps the biggest day in NBA history not because of a game-winning shot or a team winning a championship, but because this is truly when the NBA became the start of one of the greatest professional sports leagues ever.

Founded in 1946, the Basketball Association of American (BAA) was nothing more than a start-up basketball league run by the owners of the major hockey arenas in the United States and Canada. The league was home to the Boston Celtics, Minneapolis Lakers (later LA Lakers), New York Knicks, Philadelphia Warriors (later Golden State Warriors), and the Rochester Royals (later Sacramento Kings).

The National Basketball League (NBL) was another professional basketball league established earlier on in 1937 with the support of three well-known companies in General Electric, Firestone and Goodyear, all of which were based in the Great Lakes area. This league was home to the Syracuse Nationals (later Philadelphia 76ers), the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (later Atlanta Hawks) and other teams stretching from Illinois to New York.

On August 3, 1949, the BAA and the NBL merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). While the league still went by the BAA initially with NBL teams joining the league, the NBA still recognizes BAA history as its own, starting in 1947 with the championship series between the Philadelphia Warriors defeating the Chicago Stags in what was a five-game series.

From 1950 to now, the main basketball league in the United States of America has been referred to as the NBA and quite a lot of changes have occurred.

Initially a 17-team league consisting of the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and Syracuse Nationals, all of which are still NBA franchises that have remained the same or have rebranded/relocated through the years, the NBA really began to take off.

Following the 1949-50 season, the league dropped from 17 teams to 11 teams and for the next decade, the league’s total number of teams declined until the 1966-67 season when the Chicago Bulls joined the league.

Other teams such as the Houston Rockets, Seattle SuperSonic (now the Oklahoma City Thunder), Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns began to form over the course of the next several years, joining the NBA and increasing the league’s total number of teams and revenue at the same time.

In 1976, the league really started to take shape as to what we know it to be today with the ABA merger. The Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets (now Brooklyn Nets) and San Antonio Spurs joined the NBA at this time, taking the total number of teams from 18 to 22.

The rest of the teams in the modern day NBA in the Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets (now New Orleans Pelicans), Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, Vancouver Grizzlies (now Memphis Grizzlies) and Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets) joined as expansion franchises spanning from 1980 with the Mavericks joining all the way to the most recent NBA expansion in 2004 with the creation of the Bobcats franchise in Charlotte.

A total of 30 different teams and over 450 unique basketball players make up what we know the NBA to be today, one of the richest professional sports leagues in the world.

Celebrating their 75th anniversary this past season, the NBA is stronger than ever heading into its 76th season in operation!