NBA TV

NBA TV is an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that is owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner; the NBA also uses the network as a way of advertising the league's out-of-market sports package NBA League Pass, and partner channel TNT. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular season and playoff game telecasts from the NBA and related professional basketball leagues, as well as NBA-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries. The network also serves as national broadcaster of the NBA D-League and WNBA games. NBA TV is the oldest cable network in North America to be owned or controlled by a professional sports league, having launched on March 17, 1999.

As of February 2015, NBA TV is available to approximately 57,129,000 households that subscribe to cable, satellite or telco television service (totaling 49.1% of households with at least one television set) in the United States.

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 franchised member clubs (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada), and is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. NBA players are the world's best paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.

The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with its rival National Basketball League (NBL). The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

NBA Development League

The NBA Development League, or NBA D-League, is the National Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. Known until the summer of 2005 as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), the NBA D-League started with eight teams in the fall of 2001. In March 2005, NBA commissioner David Stern announced a plan to expand the NBA D-League to fifteen teams and develop it into a true minor league farm system, with each NBA D-League team affiliated with one or more NBA teams. At the conclusion of the 2013–14 NBA season, 33% of NBA players had spent time in the NBA D-League, up from 23% in 2011. Beginning in the 2015–16 NBA Development League season, the league will consist of 19 teams; all of whom will be either single-affiliated or owned by an NBA team. The Fort Wayne Mad Ants had been the lone exception, until they were acquired by the Indiana Pacers in September 2015.

History

The league began its play as the NBDL in the 2001–02 season; the original eight franchises were all located in the southeastern United States (specifically in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia).

Charles Barkley

Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Nicknamed "Chuck", "Sir Charles", and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards. He was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 5th pick of the 1984 NBA draft. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' "Dream Team". Barkley is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2006 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team".

New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, commonly referred to as the Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in New York City. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, located in the borough of Manhattan. They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City; the other is the Brooklyn Nets. The team, established by Ned Irish in 1946, was one of the founding members of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which became the NBA after merging with the rival National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949. Along with the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of only two original NBA teams still located in its original city. As they played the debut game, the Knicks is technically the oldest franchise in league history.

The Knicks were successful during their early years and were constant playoff contenders under the franchise's first head coach Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950, the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of which were losing efforts. Lapchick resigned in 1956 and the team subsequently began to falter. It was not until the late 1960s when Red Holzman became head coach that the Knicks began to regain their former dominance. Holzman successfully guided the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success that included six playoff appearances; however, they failed to participate in the NBA Finals.