NBA

The league has 30 clubs, arranged into the Eastern and Western conferences and further grouped into divisions within each conference. As of 19 September 2026 no club has been added since that figure was reached.

Clubs play a regular-season schedule that is weighted towards their own conference and division, then are ranked within their conference. Unlike the NFL, divisional position does not itself guarantee a post-season place — the conference standings do, which is why a strong division can leave a good club outside the bracket.

The play-in tournament

Before the bracket begins, a play-in tournament settles the lowest seeds in each conference. Clubs finishing in the play-in positions play a short set of single-game matches: the higher-seeded pairing decides one seed directly, and the loser drops into a second game against the winner of the lower-seeded pairing, which decides the remaining seed.

The consequence is that a club finishing just outside the automatic places is not eliminated. It has a route in, but that route is single elimination — one bad night ends the season, which is a materially different test from the series that follow.

The playoff bracket

Sixteen clubs — eight from each conference — enter the main bracket. Each round is a series rather than a single game, with the higher seed hosting more games. Because a series rewards the better team more reliably than one game does, the play-in and the bracket test different qualities, and a play-in survivor arrives with less rest than a top seed.

Expansion status

In March 2026 the league's Board of Governors voted to explore expansion, with Las Vegas and Seattle the markets under consideration and a target of the 2028–29 season. That is a decision to examine bids, not a decision to add clubs. As of the date checked below, the league still comprises 30 clubs, and any change would be reported by the league first.

How the game is played and scored

• Possession and the shot clock. A team must attempt a shot within a fixed number of seconds. The limit forces decisions and is the main reason late-game tactics look different from early-game play.
• Scoring. A field goal inside the arc is worth two points, beyond it three, and a free throw one. Because the three-point line is a fixed distance from the basket, shot selection is a spatial decision as much as a tactical one.
• Fouls and the bonus. Once a team commits a set number of fouls in a period, the opposing team shoots free throws on each subsequent foul. This turns the closing minutes into a free-throw contest, and is why intentional fouling exists.
• Overtime. A tied game at the end of regulation goes to an additional period. Repeated ties produce further periods.

The salary rules that shape rosters

The NBA operates a salary cap with a set of exceptions rather than a hard ceiling. Clubs may exceed the cap in defined circumstances, which is why trades and signings depend on matching salaries and managing exceptions. A related mechanism, the luxury tax, penalises clubs whose payroll exceeds a threshold. A draft lottery allocates the order of the annual draft among the clubs that did not make the post-season, with weighted probabilities intended to discourage deliberate losing. These rules are renegotiated periodically through the collective bargaining agreement, so the current version is a figure to check.