Everything you need to know about the 2024-2025 NBA season

The NBA is divided into two conferences with 15 teams in the Eastern Conference (EC) and 15 in the Western Conference (WC). From there, three divisions with five teams each make up each conference. In the EC it is the Atlantic, the Central and the Southeast, while the WC includes the Northwest, the Pacific and the Southwest.

• Each team plays 82 games (41 home and 41 away) from October to April, with all 30 teams in action on April 13, the last day of the regular season.

After the regular season come the playoffs – The top six teams in each conference automatically qualify for the postseason, while the teams ranked seventh through tenth compete in a play-in tournament for the final two playoff spots in each conference. Bring the drama.

This season also sees the NBA’s second tournament of the season, the NBA Cup. Unlike traditional tournaments, it takes place parallel to the regular season, with all results (except the championship game on December 17th) factoring into the team standings.

• The goal is to increase fan engagement early in the season by creating an additional level of competition with a significant incentive: $500,000 for each player on the championship-winning team.

• The tournament begins November 12th with group play, where 30 teams will be randomly divided into six groups (three per conference). This leads to sudden death knockout rounds in preparation for the final showdown.

Sometimes the rich get richer, and that’s exactly what happened in last season’s NBA Finals as the Boston Celtics raised their banner for the league’s 18th championship. And they did so in dominant fashion, losing just three playoff games before rocking the duck boats in The Hub.

• Even more impressive? The Cs are in the best position to do it all again – everyone The key player on last year’s roster, including a particularly motivated Finals MVP in Jaylen Brown and his scoring partner Jayson Tatum, returns.

Despite Boston’s repeated efforts, parity has been the name of the game in the NBA lately: In each of the last six seasons, a different squad has taken home the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. A trend this potentially dynastic Celtics squad wants to buck.

⛈️ Oklahoma City Thunder (WC): Despite losing in the Western Conference semifinals last season, OKC is the youngest team always to secure an NBA top seed is back with a vengeance. With an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a strong returning core and new additions Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, the Thunder have depth And Talent in attack and defense.

🐴 Dallas Mavericks (WC): Last year’s Western Conference champions have only improved since losing the NBA Finals in five games after making impressive moves in the offseason, including signing four-time NBA champion and former Splash Bro Klay Thompson.

• Thompson’s sharpshooting should be a perfect complement to the dynamic play structure of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.

🟠 New York Knicks (EC): Always that Bridesmaid Wedding guest, never the bride, the Knicks improved this year, completing a blockbuster trade to bring Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota to the Big Apple. With KAT in town, the Orange and Blue have the best chance of displacing the Celtics in the East.

⚖️ Aside from these three title favorites, the league has talent from top to bottom. Other teams and names to know include Nikola Jokić’s Denver Nuggets and Anthony Edwards’ Minnesota Timberwolves. Forget MomTok, the NBA is the biggest reality show in the world.

🔄 The offseason shuffle: As usual, the NBA carousel spun over the summer, but the biggest name on the market was former LA Clipper Paul George, who signed a four-year, $212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, completing Philly’s three-pronged attack with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

• Elsewhere, Chicago Bull DeMar DeRozan flew across the country to join the Sacramento Kings, while Atlanta Hawk Dejounte Murray found a home in the bayou with Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans.

🏅 The MVP race: The battle for the league’s top honor lasts about six players. There’s Jokić, who has won three of the last four MVPs, 2023 MVP Embiid, the aforementioned Dončić and Gilgeous-Alexander, both of whom finished in the top three last year, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and reigning champion Tatum. Buckle up.

🟣 This family connection: LeBron James is no stranger to making basketball history, and the King has done it again, this time with his son Bronny, after the pair became the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game during the preseason played on the same team.

⛳ Capture the Flag: So superstar contender Cooper Flagg. He has yet to play a regular season game for the Duke Blue Devils, but he is already this season’s Diamond (aka the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft).

• The league’s bottom three teams each have a 14 percent chance of securing first place, which means the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers, lose could actually be a successful strategy.

🔄 The offseason shuffle: As usual, the NBA carousel spun over the summer, but the biggest name on the market was former LA Clipper Paul George, who signed a four-year, $212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, completing Philly’s three-pronged attack with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

• Elsewhere, Chicago Bull DeMar DeRozan flew across the country to join the Sacramento Kings, while Atlanta Hawk Dejounte Murray found a home in the bayou with Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans.

🏅 The MVP race: The battle for the league’s top honor lasts about six players. There’s Jokić, who has won three of the last four MVPs, 2023 MVP Embiid, the aforementioned Dončić and Gilgeous-Alexander, both of whom finished in the top three last year, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and reigning champion Tatum. Buckle up.

🟣 This family connection: LeBron James is no stranger to making basketball history, and the King has done it again, this time with his son Bronny, after the pair became the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game during the preseason played on the same team.

⛳ Capture the Flag: So superstar contender Cooper Flagg. He has yet to play a regular season game for the Duke Blue Devils, but he is already this season’s Diamond (aka the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft).

• The league’s bottom three teams each have a 14 percent chance of securing first place, which means the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers, lose could actually be a successful strategy.

🦕 Toronto Raptors outlook: It’s no secret that the Dinos have had some forgettable seasons of late – they finished last year with an abysmal record of 2-19, but it’s a new departure in Jurassic Park as the Raps sign Scottie Barnes to a long-term contract and extend this offseason with Immanuel Quickley.

• The six will go as far as the talented trio of Barnes, Quickley and Canadian RJ Barrett can take them.