How Many Months Are There in an NBA Season?
Since the 1967 to 1968 season, each team in the National Basketball Association plays 82 games in 6 months for the regular season beginning on the last week of October to April of the following year. As of the 69th 2014 to 2015 NBA season, the 82-game, 6-month schedule regular season was retained from 1967 to 1968 NBA season, which then only had 12 participating teams. The number of NBA teams has expanded to 30 as of the 2014 to 2015 season.
The 82-game schedule for 6 months allow the NBA teams to play around three games per week. The league and team owners have deemed this schedule feasible for the athletes to have ample time to recover between the games and for the teams to recoup the expenses and profit off of their team franchises.
To cite the 2014 to 2015 season as an example of a typical NBA season, the 6-month, 82-game regular season schedule begins on Oct. 28, 2014 and ends on April 15, 2015. After the regular season, the NBA year continues with the playoffs on April 18, 2015, and the NBA Finals occur during June 2015.
NBA teams play against each other throughout the year, with games scheduled even on Christmas Day. Every February, the NBA players get time off from the regular season games for the NBA All-Star weekend celebrations, which feature slam dunk contests, three-point shootouts and the NBA All-Star Game.
