What does NBA stand for? The three letters stand for the National Basketball Association, the top professional men's basketball league in North America. It has 30 teams, 29 in the United States and one in Canada.
The name is older than many fans think. The league began in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America and took the name National Basketball Association in 1949, after it joined with a rival league. Since then, the short form NBA has become one of the best known sets of letters in sports.
Quick facts
Stands for
National Basketball AssociationType
InitialismHow to say it
N B A, one letter at a timeStarted
1946, renamed NBA in 1949Teams
30 (29 in the US, 1 in Canada)Other meanings
National Bar Association, a lawyers' groupNot to be confused with
NCAA, college sports
What does NBA stand for? The three words
| Letter | Word | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| N | National | The league plays across the country, plus one city in Canada |
| B | Basketball | The sport |
| A | Association | A league of member teams that agree on shared rules |
"Association" is the word people forget. A sports league is often set up as an association of teams, each owned separately, that agree on a schedule, rules and a championship. That is the sense here.
How the name came about
In the 1940s, two pro leagues competed for players and fans. One was the Basketball Association of America, founded in 1946, and the other was the National Basketball League, which was older. In 1949 they joined, and the combined league took parts of both names: National Basketball Association.
Leagues merging and taking new names is common in pro sports. The NBA name stuck and has not changed since.
How NBA is used in everyday talk
NBA works as a noun and also as a describing word in front of other nouns:
- "He was drafted into the NBA after one year of college."
- "NBA games start later on the West Coast."
- "She follows NBA stats more closely than the weather."
- "Who won the NBA Finals?"
- "That gym has an NBA size court."
On a sports schedule: "NBA: Tip off 7:30 p.m. ET." Here NBA marks the league of the game, tip off is the opening jump ball and ET is Eastern Time.
Leagues with similar letters
Basketball has several leagues, and their names are easy to mix up.
| Letters | Full form | Who plays |
|---|---|---|
| NBA | National Basketball Association | Pro men's teams |
| WNBA | Women's National Basketball Association | Pro women's teams, a league linked to the NBA |
| NCAA | National Collegiate Athletic Association | College athletes in many sports |
| AAU | Amateur Athletic Union | Youth and amateur teams |
The NBA also runs a development league for younger players who hope to move up. In college, the NCAA tournament is a separate event from the NBA playoffs.
Other meanings of NBA
Most people mean the league, but one other meaning comes up often enough to know. The National Bar Association is a professional group of Black lawyers and judges in the United States, founded in 1925. It appears in legal news, law school career pages and conference listings. You may also see the letters in made up phrases on social posts, but those are informal jokes, not real full forms.
If the setting is sports, TV or a jersey, read NBA as the basketball league. If it is a legal conference, it likely means the bar association.
Saying and writing NBA
Announcers and fans say "N B A," three separate letters, and the league prints it in uppercase with no dots. Because you hear "en" first, the right article is "an": "an NBA team," "an NBA player."
The league uses NBA so often that the full name rarely appears. That is a common pattern, also seen with ESPN and NASCAR. Leagues, tournaments and plenty of nonsports letters sit together on the famous acronyms hub.
Questions people ask
What does NBA stand for in basketball?
It stands for the National Basketball Association. It is the top professional men's basketball league in North America.
When did the NBA start?
The league started in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America. It became the National Basketball Association in 1949.
What is the difference between the NBA and the WNBA?
The NBA is the men's professional league. The WNBA, the Women's National Basketball Association, is the women's professional league.
Is NBA an acronym?
Plenty of fans call it one. A stricter label is initialism, because the three letters are spoken one after another.
How many NBA teams are there?
There are 30 teams. Twenty nine are in the United States and one is in Canada.