National Basketball Association
![](/Images/godic/202501/29/NBALogo.svg4104.png")
![Cities that hosted teams that played for more than one season in the NBA and/or BAA from 1947–1959. Only New York, Boston, and Detroit still have the same franchise.](/Images/godic/202501/29/NBAteams194719594104.png")
![Bill Russell defending Wilt Chamberlain in 1966.](/Images/godic/202501/29/Wilt_Chamberlain_Bill_Russell_24104.jpg")
![Los Angeles Lakers' Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics' Larry Bird in Game Two of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden.](/Images/godic/202501/29/Magic_Bird_Lipofsky4104.jpg")
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada), and is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. NBA players are the world's best paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.