So, the other day I got curious, you know, exactly how long is the NBA season? It feels like it goes on forever sometimes, but I wanted to pin down the actual timeframe for myself.
My first step was just thinking about the main part, the regular season games everyone talks about. I remember hearing the number 82 games per team thrown around a lot. So, I checked that first. Yep, confirmed, each team plays 82 games. That’s quite a bit of basketball already.
Then I thought, okay, when does this usually happen? I pulled up some info and saw the regular season generally kicks off sometime in October. And it runs pretty much straight through winter and into spring, usually wrapping up around April. That’s a good chunk of the year right there, about six months just for the regular games.
But wait, there’s more…
I realized quickly that stopping in April didn’t sound right. The championship isn’t decided then. That led me to think about what comes next.
- The Play-In Tournament: I remembered they added this thing recently. Right after the regular season ends in April, there’s this mini-tournament. Teams ranked 7th through 10th in each conference basically fight it out for the last two playoff spots. It’s only a few days, but it definitely adds a bit more time and drama before the real playoffs start.
- The Playoffs: This is the main event after the regular season. Starting usually in late April, right after the Play-In, you’ve got multiple rounds. Each round is a best-of-seven series. I figured this part must take a while, easily pushing into May and then June, depending on how long the series go. Some finish quick, others go the full seven games.
- The NBA Finals: Finally, the championship series. This usually lands in June. The top team from the East plays the top team from the West, again, best-of-seven.
Putting it all together
So, after digging into it piece by piece, here’s what I found:
The whole process really starts around October with the regular season. Then you add the Play-In tournament in April. Then comes the long haul of the playoffs through May. And it all finishes up with the Finals in June.
So, when you look at the big picture, from the start of the regular season games in October all the way to the final buzzer of the championship in June, you’re looking at roughly 8 months of NBA action. That’s a significant commitment for the players and teams, much longer than just the 82 games might suggest at first glance. It was good to lay it all out like that for myself.
