# NBA referred to as a "league" **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 9, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925 "2013-12-09T21:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/1 "2013-12-09T21:41:06Z")
Why is the NBA oftentimes called a “league,” even though “NBA” stands for “National Basketball Association”? The reason I ask is because Dick Stockton (who was once the lead CBS NBA play-by-play man) said this of Boston forward Larry Bird in Game 4 of the '85 NBA World Championship: “Bird is the first non-center to win back-to-back MVP awards in the league; quite a distinction in its own right.” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/2 "2013-12-09T21:44:35Z")
Seems to fit the definition nicely: > [@](#): > > league > 1 [leeg] Show IPA noun, verb, leagued, lea·guing. > noun > 1. > a covenant or compact made between persons, parties, states, etc., for the promotion or maintenance of common interests or for mutual assistance or service. > 2. > the aggregation of persons, parties, states, etc., associated in such a covenant or compact; confederacy. > 3. > an association of individuals having a common goal. > 4. > a group of athletic teams organized to promote mutual interests and to compete chiefly among themselves: a bowling league. > 5. > Sports. > a. > major league. > b. > minor league. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/3 "2013-12-09T21:45:48Z")
Because it is a league, obviously. The fact that it styles itself “National Basketball Association” does not change the fact that it is a league in the sense understood by virtually any English-speaking North American; “a group of teams organized to play a planned schedule of games of a particular sport.” ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/4 "2013-12-09T21:50:48Z")
Why are the 32 NFL Member Clubs referred to as “teams”? ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/5 "2013-12-09T22:01:52Z")
Good responses! Another reason I asked is because while the NBA is, to my knowledge, the only major pro sports entity that calls itself an “association,” with MLB, the NFL, and the NHL being what they are, at one time, in the very early years, it was actually called a “league”; the name of it was the National Basketball League. I think this lasted from 1946 to 1949 (I may be incorrect, though). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/6 "2013-12-09T22:40:49Z")
> [@bmasters1](#): > > Good responses! Another reason I asked is because while the NBA is, to my knowledge, the only major pro sports entity that calls itself an “association,” with MLB, the NFL, and the NHL being what they are, at one time, in the very early years, it was actually called a “league”; the name of it was the National Basketball League. I think this lasted from 1946 to 1949 (I may be incorrect, though). Here’s some history courtesy of Wikipedia: –[The National Basketball League](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_League_(United_States)) –[The Basketball Association of America](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_Association_of_America) In a nutshell, the National Basketball League (NBL) was formed in 1937 and competed with the Basketball Assciation of America (BAA) from 1946 to 1949. The BAA got the upper hand on the NBL by raiding the league and taking its best players. This resulted in the NBL dissolving in 1949 and six of its most successful franchises joining the BAA. When the former NBL teams were added, the BAA rechristened itself the National Basketball Association (NBA). ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/7 "2013-12-09T22:42:29Z")
Talking heads on TV love to refer to the NBA as the “Association” as too-cool-for-school insider speak. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/8 "2013-12-10T00:15:06Z")
I’ve read a book called “The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association”. The words league and association are interchangeable in North America in a sports context, but possibly not in the U.K, where terms like rugby league (as opposed to rugby union) and association football have specific meanings. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/9 "2013-12-10T02:55:01Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Talking heads on TV love to refer to the NBA as the “Association” as too-cool-for-school insider speak. I remember Todd Wright, an overnight host on ESPN radio in the early 2000s, first using the term. Don’t know if he invented it though. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/10 "2013-12-11T23:01:01Z")
fwiw, in Englad the FA (the Football Association) oversees the administation of the game in England, it runs major leagues as well as the national team. It links into the international organisations (UEFA (Europe) and FIFA (World)) as, I guess, the body recognised as governing the game in England. > **[The website for the English football association, the Emirates FA Cup and the...](https://www.thefa.com/)** > > Find out more ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/11 "2013-12-12T00:43:42Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Talking heads on TV love to refer to the NBA as the “Association” as too-cool-for-school insider speak. The windy bastards really cherish that lingo. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/12 "2013-12-12T01:11:14Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > fwiw, in Englad the FA (the Football Association) oversees the administation of the game in England, it runs major leagues as well as the national team. It links into the international organisations (UEFA (Europe) and FIFA (World)) as, I guess, the body recognised as governing the game in England. > > [http://www.thefa.com/](http://www.thefa.com/) And FIFA stands for the International Federation of Association Football. Association? Federation? It took me a while to make sense of it before I realized Association referred to the name of the sport and not the body. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/13 "2013-12-12T01:51:39Z")
Yes yes, that’s all good and well for answering the question of why people may refer to the NBA as a league. As for why they refer to it as league, it’s probably 2 parts _we’re used to saying league in other sports_, and 3 parts _“league” is one syllable, “association” is five_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/14 "2013-12-12T02:37:10Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > I’ve read a book called “The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association”. The words league and association are interchangeable in North America in a sports context, but possibly not in the U.K, where terms like rugby league (as opposed to rugby union) and association football have specific meanings. There were also the American Basketball Association, the National Association, Union Association, and American Association (all baseball), and the American Pro Football Association. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-referred-to-as-a-league/675925/15 "2013-12-13T04:25:58Z")
> [@bmasters1](#): > > The reason I ask is because Dick Stockton (who was once the lead CBS NBA play-by-play man) said this of Boston forward Larry Bird in Game 4 of the '85 NBA World Championship: “Bird is the first non-center to win back-to-back MVP awards in the league; quite a distinction in its own right.” I’m glad to see I’m not the only person who’s been bothered by that for the past 28 years.