NBA Republic
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the foremost men’s professional basketball league to emerge in North America in 1946. Before this, there were two leagues. But these two leagues were merged to form the current NBA sports league we have today. The league has since evolved into a global phenomenon with a huge fan base around the world. Thanks to the super-talented players that play in the league for the various 30 teams.
The 30 wonderful teams that make up the league are scattered across the United States, except the Toronto Raptors, which are based in neighboring Canada. A critical look at the NBA teams map shows that even though the Raptors are in Canada, they are geographically very close to the US State of New York.
However, in this article, we will focus on the geographical location of each of the teams in the league. This will help us to know where to locate an NBA sports team on the US and Canadian sports map.
Now, what is NBA Teams Map
The sports map is simply the visual representation of where all the teams in the NBA are located. With this map, fans of the sports get to know the geographical distribution of the teams in the US and Canada.
As you may know, the league is currently divided into two conferences. These include the Eastern Conference which is further divided into three division, as well as the Western Conference which is also further divided into three divisions. Each divisions can only have one sports team.
Below is the distribution of the teams across the US
Eastern Conference
The Eastern Conference has three divisions namely; the Atlantic, Central, and the Southeastern divisions. The conference is believed to have a huge fan base due to the presence of many heavyweight teams such as the Boston Celtics
To start with, the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference is made up of five teams as indicated earlier. On the NBA teams map, all these five teams are all located in northeastern US. They include; the Celtics, the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Toronto Raptors.
The Central Division is also made up of five teams, including the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers, and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Teams in the Southeastern division are; the Atlanta Hawks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Miami Heat, the Orlando Magic, and the Washington Wizards. All these teams are geographically located in the southeastern part of the US which extends into the sea.
Western Conference
Just as the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference is also divided into three divisions. These divisions include; the southwest, northwest and the pacific divisions.
Per the NBA teams map, teams in the southeastern division are located at the Southeastern part of the US. Teams in this division are Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets. Others are the Memphis Grizzlies, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the San Antonio Spurs.
Teams such as the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Utah Jazz are under the northeastern division. The remaining one is the Oklahoma City Thunder which is based in Oklahoma City.
Finally, the pacific division has Golden State Warriors, the Phoenix Suns, and the Sacramento Kings. The rest are the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Los Angeles Lakers which are all based in Los Angeles.
Current NBA teams and their arenas
Name of arenas are often changed depending on sponsorship deals. For instance, the name of Clippers and Lakers’ arena, was recently changed from Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena.
The location of all these arenas can be found using Google Maps.
| Team | Arena |
| Hawks | Georgia State Farm Arena |
| The Celtics | TD Garden |
| The Nets | Barclays Center |
| The Hornets | Spectrum Center |
| Chicago Bulls | United Center |
| The Cavaliers | R. Mortgage FieldHouse |
| Mavericks | American Airlines Center |
| The Nuggets | Ball Arena |
| The Pistons | Little Caesars Arena |
| The Warriors | Chase Center |
| The Rockets | Toyota Center |
| Ind. Pacers | Bankers Life Fieldhouse |
| Clippers | Crypto.com Arena |
| LA Lakers | Crypto.com Arena |
| The Grizzlies | FedExForum |
| Miami Heat | FTX Arena |
| The Bucks | Fiserv Forum |
| The Wolves | Target Center |
| The Pelicans | Smoothie King Center |
| NY Knicks | Madison Square Garden |
| The Thunders | Paycom Center |
| The Magics | Amway Center |
| The 76ers | Wells Fargo Center |
| Suns | Footprint Center |
| The Blazers | Oregon Moda Center |
| The Kings | Golden 1 Center |
| The Spurs | AT&T Center |
| The Raptors | Scotiabank Arena |
| Utah Jazz | Vivint Arena |
| The Wizards | Capital One Arena |
Can the NBA teams map change?
A good question that may be in the mind of some basketball fans is if the map can ever change.
Yes, the map can change. In the past decades, several teams changed locations. And when this happens today, there will be a change to the current map of NBA teams.
Some states in the US once had basketball teams that played in the NBA. However, due to the relocation of these teams, those states are now left with no teams. And as a result, these states will be missing from the NBA teams map.