NBA Basketball Facts for Kids

The National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league with multiple teams competing each season for a championship. The league began play as the Basketball Association of America in 1946-47, with the Philadelphia Warriors earning the first league title.

  1. Early Years

    • George Mikan was the first huge star in the NBA, dominating the league with an average of 23.1 points over his career and helping the Lakers to four NBA titles.

    Stars

    • Players such as Jerry West, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant won multiple titles in the NBA and are considered to be among the greatest basketball players ever.

    Three-Pointers

    • One of the rules in the NBA is that a shot that goes in the hoop from a distance past a line on the court 23 feet 9 inches from the basket is worth three points. The rule was instituted in 1979.

    Differences

    • The NBA differs from the college game in that a player needs six fouls to foul out of the contest rather than five and there are four quarters of 12 minutes each instead of two 20-minute halves.

    Playoffs

    • The top eight teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences qualify for thr NBA playoffs. The taems within each conference compete against each other until a champion from each conference emerges to face off in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.