Alright, listen up, y’all. Let’s talk about this NBA thing, this basketball stuff. You know, the tall fellas runnin’ around throwin’ a ball into a hoop? Yeah, that thing. So, someone asked me, “How long is a NBA season?” Well, let me tell ya, it ain’t short, that’s for sure. It’s a long haul, like plantin’ corn in the spring and waitin’ all summer to harvest it.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, they say. This here NBA season, it’s 82 games, y’hear? 82! That’s a whole lotta games. Each team plays 41 games at their place, you know, at home, and then they go traipsin’ off to play 41 games at other folks’ places, away games, they call ‘em. Lordy, that’s a lot of travelin’. Must get mighty tired, them boys do.
Now, this 82-game thing, it ain’t always been like that. Way back when, before I was even born, they played fewer games. But then, in 1967 or somethin’ like that, they started playin’ 82 games. Guess they figured more games meant more money, or somethin’. Seems like everything’s about money these days.
So, you got these 82 games, and that takes a long time to play. They start in October, when the leaves are fallin’, and they keep on playin’ all the way through winter, past Christmas and New Year’s, and into spring, almost to April. It’s like six months of basketball! That’s longer than it takes for my tomatoes to grow! And that’s just the regular season.
- 82 games total.
- 41 home games.
- 41 away games.
After all them 82 games, some teams get to keep playin’ in somethin’ called the playoffs. That’s when the best teams go head-to-head to see who’s the real champ. The playoffs, now those can go on for another month or two, all the way into June sometimes. So, if your team is really good, they could be playin’ basketball for almost eight months! That’s a lot of basketball, I tell ya.
And get this, they even have a special game in the middle of the season, called the All-Star Game. It’s like a big party where the best players from all the teams get together and play. It’s kinda fun to watch, but it don’t really count for nothin’, you know? Just for show, I guess. Like them fancy chickens at the county fair, all puffed up but not layin’ no eggs.
Now, there have been a couple of times when they didn’t play a full 82 games. Like that time when the owners and players got into a fight about money, or somethin’ they called a “lockout”, and that other time when everyone got sick and they had to shorten the season. But mostly, it’s 82 games, year in and year out.
So, how long is a NBA season? It’s long, that’s what it is. It’s 82 games, spread out over six months, from October to April, and then maybe even longer if your team makes it to the playoffs. It’s a whole lotta basketball, that’s for sure. Enough to make your head spin. But folks seem to like it, so I guess it’s alright. Just don’t ask me to explain all the rules, ’cause I ain’t got a clue about all that jumpin’ and dribblin’ and foul-callin’ nonsense.
And you know what? They even got two games they don’t set the dates for right away. They wait until they play some cup games in December, and then they figure out who plays who for those last two games.
