The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men’s basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty teams: twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada. The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball, which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
Basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in 1891. He was a physical education instructor at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Naismith developed the game to provide an indoor activity during winter months when his students were confined to their school building because of bad weather outside. Basketball spread throughout North America and Europe even further.