The National Basketball Association (NBA) is North America's premier professional basketball league, featuring 30 teams and recognized globally as the best. Its origins trace back to the Basketball Association of America (BAA), founded on June 6, 1946, officially forming on August 3, 1949, through a merger with the National Basketball League (NBL), and later incorporating teams from the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1976. The very first NBA game was played on November 1, 1946, between the Toronto Huskies and New York Knickerbockers. Financially, the NBA stands as the world's second-wealthiest professional sports league by revenue, with its players enjoying the highest average annual salaries among all athletes. Its demanding regular season runs from October to April, culminating in playoffs and the NBA Finals in June, where historical powerhouses like the Boston Celtics boast a record 18 championships (most recently in 2024), and the Oklahoma City Thunder secured the 2025 title, their second overall.