What day will the NBA start?

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has made it easy for lovers of Basketball to closely keep tabs on their favourite game. Having been in existence for several decades now, the association has built up a system; the NBA season, that is an intense yearly activity that brings different basketball teams to play against each other in the most coordinated way.

Table of Contents Show

What are the opening night teams?
How many games are expected per season?
Has there been any spectacular start offs to NBA seasons?
In conclusion
Free agency
Coaching changes
International games
International games

Typically, an NBA season begins October 1 and ends in April. This fixed date makes it easier for it to keep its viewer’s attention and maintain order, asides the attraction of the game itself.

This article would provide you with all that you should know about the NBA season.

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An NBA season has its fixed begin and end date that has been kept constant for many years now, however, the pandemic caused some changes to these dates. It is therefore of no great surprise that the association is trying to bring the dates back on track. Before a regular season begins, there is a training camp for the players. This camp period is for a period of three weeks and it typically ends on September 28. The regular season then starts on Oct 19 and runs through to end on April 10. Without any delays or cancellations, a season would end in April.

This end date, however, is not inclusive of the playoffs which are usually not a part. Asides the set end date for April 10, a play-in tournament for the seventh and eighth seeds in the Western and Eastern Conferences officially ends the season on April 12 and April 15 respectively.

The playoffs then commence April 16 and run through till June 19, of which the Game 7 of the NBA Championship will be played on the earliest date possible.

Afterwards, the NBA draft will be held on June 23 with the All-Star break scheduled for the weekend of February 18-20.

On the start date, the winner of the previous season; the Milwaukee Bucks, would be fixed for a match against the Brooklyn Nets. The months’ duration of a regular NBA season typically includes about 5 to 16 different plays that are set for each month.

What are the opening night teams?

On Opening Night, October 19 2022 at 7:30 p.m. ET, the reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks face the Brooklyn Nets in a rematch of last season's Eastern Semifinals. At 10 p.m. ET, the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors. TNT.

On October 20th of 2022, the Boston Celtics will play the New York Knicks at 7:30 p.m. ET, while the Denver Nuggets will play the Phoenix Suns at 10 p.m. ET. ESPN will broadcast both games.

How many games are expected per season?

Throughout its existence, the NBA has mostly maintained an 82-game season schedule. Despite the fact that the NBA season consisted of just 8 to 17 teams for the first 10 years, the league established a large schedule of 60 to 72 games.

Recently, there have been a number of complaints from the players who think that the league takes too long and it is starting to affect them, however, this didn’t change anything as it is believed that the long years of play without rest is the actual cause for the weariness and not the gameplays. However, after years of playing college and AAU basketball, professional players cannot afford to take any days off for fear of the competition catching up and putting them behind in terms of performance.

The first 80-game season took place in 1962, with only nine clubs in the league. It implies that during the season, a club will encounter another team eight to 10 times. Over the years, the season settled at having an 82-game season. The only time this was disrupted was the last two seasons and this was due to the coronavirus pandemic which shut down a lot of things generally. This disruption is however set to be normalised back to its pre-pandemic state.

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The NBA season in 2022-23 will return to its traditional 82-game schedule after being reduced to 72 games the previous two seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic's disruptions. The game tournament will determine each league's last two playoff berths from the first round to the NBA Finals, with the finals following the normal best-of-seven format for every game.

The NBA playoffs are a great time to watch basketball. Many basketball fans will disregard the regular season in favour of the postseason. The playoffs begin in mid-April and last through the beginning of June.

The NBA draft in 2022 will also take place in June, just after the playoffs have ended and considerably closer to the completion of the collegiate basketball season. The draft for 2021 is set for July 29, whereas the draft for 2020 was held on November 18.

After the COVID-19 pandemic threw the league off the previous two seasons, these dates will get the league back on track.

Has there been any spectacular start offs to NBA seasons?

In the history of the NBA season, there have been some start-offs that are worthy of mention. In the 1971/72 season, Jerry West started the season by leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 33-game winning streak to start the 1971/72 season. Over the course of the 82-game season, the team won 69 games and lost 13. This was the greatest record in league history for any team.

Ever since then, the NBA record for most wins in a season has been split twice since then, the first time by the Chicago Bulls in 1995/96, when they dropped 10 games while winning 72.

In the 2015-16 season, there was a new record break by Steph Curry and Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors of winning 73 games and losing only nine.

In conclusion

This article provides a great insight to how the NBA season runs. It can also be seen that the NBA follows a very steady schedule year after year as long as there are no interruptions, such as a pandemic.

The 2022–23 NBA season is the upcoming 77th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), with the regular season beginning on October 18, 2022, and ending on April 9, 2023. The 2023 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to be played on February 19, 2023, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.[1] The playoffs are then scheduled to begin on April 15, 2023, and ending with the NBA Finals in June 2023.

2022–23 NBA seasonLeagueNational Basketball AssociationSportBasketballDuration

October 18, 2022 – April 9, 2023
April 11–14, 2023
(Play-in tournament)
April 15, 2023 – May 2023 (Playoffs)
June 2023 (Finals)

Number of games82Number of teams30TV partner(s)ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TVDraftTop draft pickPaolo BancheroPicked byOrlando MagicRegular seasonPlayoffsFinals NBA seasons

← 2021–22

2023–24 →

On July 21, 2022, J. J. Barea announced his retirement from professional basketball. He won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 and multiple gold medals with the Puerto Rican national team.[2]
On August 20, 2022, Gustavo Ayón retired from professional basketball. He played three seasons in the NBA and won multiple titles in the EuroLeague and Spanish League in his 16-year career.[3]
On September 3, 2022, Jodie Meeks retired from professional basketball. He played for seven teams in his 13-year career and won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.[4]
On September 6, 2022, Toure' Murry retired from professional basketball. He played for three teams in two NBA seasons, as well as numerous teams overseas.[5]

The 2022 NBA draft took place on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.[6] Paolo Banchero was selected with the first overall pick.

Free agency

With the previous season's NBA Finals ending in June for the first time since 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the period for free agency returned to its normal July 1 starting date, along with the July moratorium period before players can begin signing new contracts.[7]

Coaching changes

Coaching Changes

Team	2021–22 season	2022–23 season
Charlotte Hornets	James Borrego	Steve Clifford
Los Angeles Lakers	Frank Vogel	Darvin Ham
Sacramento Kings	Alvin Gentry (interim)	Mike Brown
Utah Jazz	Quin Snyder	Will Hardy

Off-season

On April 11, 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers fired Frank Vogel after missing the playoffs. In his three seasons with the team, Vogel led the team to two playoff appearances and the NBA championship in 2020.[8]
On April 11, 2022, the Sacramento Kings relieved interim head coach Alvin Gentry of his duties. Gentry was named interim head coach after the team fired Luke Walton in November 2021.[9]
On April 22, 2022, the Charlotte Hornets fired James Borrego after four years with the team with no playoff appearances.[10]
On May 9, 2022, the Sacramento Kings hired Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown to become the Kings' new head coach.[11]
On June 3, 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers hired Darvin Ham as their new head coach.[12]
On June 5, 2022, Quin Snyder resigned from his position as head coach of the Utah Jazz after eight seasons with the team.[13]
On June 24, 2022, the Charlotte Hornets hired Steve Clifford as their head coach for the second stint.[14]
On June 29, 2022, the Utah Jazz hired Will Hardy as their head coach.[15]

The NBA often hosts preseason games in non-NBA markets, with the following being played domestically:

Date	Teams	Arena	Location	Reference
October 3	Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers	Climate Pledge Arena	Seattle, Washington	[16]
October 5	Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks	BOK Center	Tulsa, Oklahoma	[17]
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns	T-Mobile Arena	Paradise, Nevada	[18]
October 6	Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
October 7	Charlotte Hornets vs. Boston Celtics	Greensboro Coliseum	Greensboro, North Carolina	[19]
October 14	New Orleans Pelicans vs. Atlanta Hawks	Legacy Arena	Birmingham, Alabama	[20]

International games

Date	Teams	Arena	Location	Reference
September 30	Golden State Warriors vs. Washington Wizards	Saitama Super Arena	Tokyo, Japan	[21]
October 2
Toronto Raptors vs. Utah Jazz	Rogers Place	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada	[22]
October 6	Atlanta Hawks vs. Milwaukee Bucks	Etihad Arena	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	[23]
October 8
October 14	Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics	Bell Centre	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	[22]

The regular season schedule was released on August 17, 2022.[24]

International games

After nearly three years without an international regular season game due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA brought back the NBA Global Games with two regular season matchups:

NBA Mexico City Game 2022
Date	Teams	Arena	Location	Reference
December 17	Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs	Mexico City Arena	Mexico City, Mexico	[25]
NBA Paris Game 2023
January 19	Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons	Accor Arena	Paris, France	[25]

This will be the seventh year of a nine-year deal with ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV.[26]

With December 25 landing on a Sunday in 2022, this season's NBA Christmas Day games will have to compete with NFL Christmas Day games for viewers, with the NFL planning its tripleheader for the first time on that day.[27]

The NBA and NBPA announced a pension plan for former ABA players who played at least three seasons in the league.[28]
The Board of Governors approved the permanent adoption of the NBA Play-In Tournament that had been in place for the previous two seasons. Previously, the Board approved the tournament on a season-by-season basis.[29]
The league instituted a new penalty for the "take foul". The offensive team will be allotted one free throw and retain possession with this penalty in place. The defensive player who commits the foul will be assessed one common personal foul. Previously, the penalty was a common personal foul on the offending player in addition to a side out for the offensive team if they were not in the bonus.[30]
Following the death of 11-time champion Bill Russell, the NBA announced it would permanently retire the number 6 across the league, the first time a player's number has been retired across the league.[31] However, players who had the number 6 beforehand can keep their number unless they voluntarily change it or retire.[32]
The NBA will honor Russell with a jersey patch. Every team will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve of their jerseys. Every NBA court will honor Russell with a clover-shaped logo featuring the No. 6 on the sideline.[31]
In commemoration of Election Day in the United States, the league did not schedule regular season games on November 8 to encourage civic engagement.[33] Typically, the league does not schedule games for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and the NCAA men's basketball championship game.
Between January 24–28, 2023, the NBA will debut "NBA Rivals Week", which will feature 11 nationally televised games across ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV featuring "classic and budding rivalries between teams and players".[25]
On September 13, 2022, the NBA and WNBA suspended Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver for one year after an independent investigation determined that he used the n-word multiple times, sexually harassed and assaulted multiple male and female employees, and engaged in demeaning behavior towards employees.[34][35]

^ Young, Jabari (October 24, 2019). "NBA All-Star Game returning to Utah in 2023". CNBC.
^ "JJ Barea ends his glorious career without playing his last game in San German and without regrets: "I'm calm about finishing" | Rival Times". July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
^ "Gustavo Ayon retires from professional basketball". August 22, 2022.
^ Drumwright, Steve (September 3, 2022). "Jodie Meeks, a Seasoned NBA Veteran, Takes the International Stage for the First Time". USA Basketball. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
^ Adams, Luke (September 6, 2022). "Former NBA Guard Toure' Murry Announces Retirement". Hoops Rumors. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
^ "NBA Announces Dates And Locations For Its 2022 NBA Draft Events". National Basketball Association. March 17, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
^ "Here are the best NBA players who could be free agents this summer". NBC Sports. May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
^ "Frank Vogel Fired In Part Because He Couldn't Make Westbrook Experiment Work". NBCSports.com. May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
^ "Sacramento Kings Alvin Gentry No Longer Kings Interim Head Coach". ABC10.com. April 11, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
^ "Charlotte Hornets Firing Coach James Borrego After Four Seasons". ESPN. April 22, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
^ "Kings hire Mike Brown: Warriors assistant takes over as Sacramento's head coach". CBS Sports. May 9, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
^ "Lakers Announce Hiring of Darvin Ham as Head Coach". National Basketball Association. June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
^ Hundman, Gabby (June 5, 2022). "Quin Snyder to Conclude Tenure as Head Coach of the Utah Jazz". National Basketball Association. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
^ "Charlotte Hornets Name Steve Clifford Head Coach". National Basketball Association. June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
^ "Utah Jazz Name Will Hardy Head Coach". National Basketball Association. June 29, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
^ "Clippers, Trail Blazers to play preseason game in Seattle". National Basketball Association. June 29, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
^ "Thunder Announces Preseason Game in Tulsa". National Basketball Association. March 22, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
^ "Los Angeles Lakers to play 2 preseason games in Las Vegas". Fox5Vegas.com. June 1, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
^ "Charlotte Hornets to host Boston Celtics in NBA preseason game at Greensboro Coliseum". National Basketball Association. July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
^ "New Orleans Pelicans to host preseason game in Birmingham, AL". National Basketball Association. June 21, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
^ "Warriors, Wizards to play 2-game preseason slate in Japan in 2022". National Basketball Association. March 14, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
^ a b "Raptors Will Face Jazz & Celtics in Preseason Games in Edmonton & Montreal". National Basketball Association. August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
^ "Bucks, Hawks to play 2 preseason games in Abu Dhabi". National Basketball Association. May 10, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
^ @nbapr (August 16, 2022). "🗓️ The NBA will announce its complete game and national television schedules for the 2022–23 regular season tomorrow, Wednesday, August 17, at 3 PM ET" (Tweet). Retrieved August 16, 2022 – via Twitter.
^ a b c "NBA announces schedule for 2022–23 regular season". NBA.com: NBA Communications. August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
^ "NBA announces 9-year TV deal with ESPN, Turner Sports". Sports Illustrated. October 5, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
^ "NFL Plans Christmas Day Tripleheader For 2022 Schedule, Tweaking The NBA's Traditional Big Day". Deadline Hollywood. April 22, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
^ "NBA, NBPA announce recognition payments for former ABA players". National Basketball Association. July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
^ "NBA adopts Play-In Tournament on full-time basis". National Basketball Association. July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
^ "NBA Board of Governors approves heightened penalty for 'transition take foul'". National Basketball Association. July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
^ a b "NBA, NBPA announce league will permanently retire No. 6 in honor of Bill Russell". Yahoo! Sport. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
^ "NBA players who currently wear No. 6 jersey". NBA.com. August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ "NBA to not schedule any games on Election Day". ESPN. August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
^ "NBA statement about independent investigation regarding Robert Sarver and the Phoenix Suns organization". NBA.com: NBA Communications. September 13, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
^ "Suns' owner Sarver suspended from NBA/WNBA for one year, fined $10 million". Retrieved September 19, 2022.