All articles starting with N
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NBA Defensive Player of the Year
NBA Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy, honors the NBA's best regular-season defender; awarded since 1982-83, first won by Sidney Moncrief, with Victor Wembanyama the first unanimous winner in 2025-26.
NBA draft
NBA draft: annual two-round, 60-pick player selection held since 1947; top picks set since 1985 by a weighted lottery among non-playoff teams, reformed in 2019 (14% flat odds) and again by the 2027 3-2-1 Lottery.
NBA draft lottery
NBA draft lottery: annual weighted drawing among the 14 non-playoff NBA teams setting the top draft picks; 14 balls, 1,000 combinations, 14% top odds since 2019, 3-2-1 reform in 2027.
NBA Europe
NBA Europe: planned 16-team professional men's basketball league run by the NBA with FIBA, announced March 2025, targeting an October 2027 launch to rival the EuroLeague.
NBA Finals
NBA Finals: annual best-of-seven NBA championship series since 1947 (first won by Philadelphia Warriors over Chicago Stags). 2-2-1-1-1 format since 2014; Celtics and Lakers lead with 17 titles each; Knicks won 2026.
NBA Finals television ratings
NBA Finals television ratings: Nielsen-measured US audiences for the NBA championship series since 1988. Peak 1998 Bulls-Jazz (18.7 rating, 29.0M average); low 2020 bubble Finals (4.1, 7.66M); 2026 Knicks-Spurs rebound to 20.6M average.
NBA G League
NBA G League: the NBA's official minor league, founded 2001 as the NBDL, renamed 2017 with Gatorade. 31 teams, 30 NBA affiliates, two-way contracts, call-ups, and rule testing.
NBA G League Ignite
NBA G League Ignite, the G League's owned-and-operated developmental team for elite NBA Draft prospects, launched April 2020, based in Henderson, Nevada; produced 13 draft picks including Jalen Green and Scoot Henderson before ending in March 2024 amid NIL changes.
NBA high school draftees
NBA high school draftees are basketball players drafted directly out of high school, from Reggie Harding in 1962 to a 1995–2005 wave including Garnett, Kobe, and LeBron.
NBA in-season tournament
NBA in-season tournament, also called the Emirates NBA Cup, is the NBA's annual mid-regular-season competition: 30 teams in conference group play, then an eight-team single-elimination knockout for the NBA Cup, with $500,000 per champion player; Lakers, Bucks, and Knicks have won.
NBA Jam
NBA Jam is Midway's 1993 two-on-two arcade basketball game, the first licensed sports coin-op, created by Mark Turmell. It grossed about $1 billion, omitted Michael Jordan over likeness rights, and EA last released a series game in 2011.
NBA League Pass
NBA League Pass is the NBA's out-of-market live and on-demand game subscription, launched in 1994, sold via NBA App, Prime Video, and TV providers, with US local and national blackouts but full live coverage internationally.
NBA Most Valuable Player Award
NBA Most Valuable Player Award (Michael Jordan Trophy), annual regular-season honor since 1955-56; first won by Bob Pettit; voted by 100 media members on a 10-7-5-3-1 ballot; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won a record six; eight straight international winners through Gilgeous-Alexander.
NBA on ABC
NBA on ABC: Disney/ABC-ESPN's NBA broadcast package, exclusive home of the NBA Finals since 2003, airing Saturday Primetime, Sunday Showcase and Christmas games under the 11-year, $76 billion rights deal through 2035-36.
NBA on ESPN
NBA on ESPN: NBA game and studio coverage on ESPN and ABC. First rights deal 1982, returned 2002-03, and since 2025-26 holds the A package with every NBA Finals through 2035-36.
NBA on Prime Video
NBA on Prime Video: Amazon's NBA game and studio coverage under an 11-year rights deal from 2025-26, with 66 exclusive regular-season games, NBA Cup knockouts, Play-In, and conference finals coverage.
NBA on TNT
NBA on TNT: branding for TNT's National Basketball Association coverage from 1988 to 2025, anchored by Inside the NBA; it ended when TNT lost game rights to a $76 billion deal and the studio show moved to ESPN.
NBA playoffs
NBA playoffs: the league's 16-team, eight-per-conference postseason, all best-of-seven series in 2-2-1-1-1 format, with a Play-In Tournament (since 2020, full-time since 2022) deciding the 7th and 8th seeds; 2026 champion New York Knicks.
NBA salary cap
NBA salary cap: soft cap on team player payroll, set at $164.961 million for 2026-27, derived from Basketball Related Income, with luxury tax ($200.428M) and first/second apron spending limits under the 2023 CBA.
NBA Summer League
NBA Summer League: annual July off-season tournament, main event in Las Vegas (UNLV Thomas & Mack Center), all 30 teams, 76 games, modified rules, used to evaluate rookies and test rule changes.
NBA TV
NBA TV, also known as NBA.com TV, is an American sports network owned by the National Basketball Association. Launched in 1999, it was the first league-owned sports network.
NBC
NBC, short for National Broadcasting Company, is an American broadcast television and radio network founded by RCA in 1926, the first commercial broadcasting network in the world.
NBC Europe
NBC Europe, originally Super Channel (launched 30 January 1987), was a UK-based pan-European satellite and cable channel owned by NBC from 1993, renamed NBC Super Channel then NBC Europe, sold to Germany in 1998 and closed 29 September 2005, becoming Das Vierte.
NBC logo
NBC logo: the peacock emblem of the NBC broadcast network, introduced in 1956 to promote color TV with 11 feathers, redesigned to six feathers by Steff Geissbühler in 1986; preceded by 1926 microphone, 1954 chimes, 1959 snake, and 1976 N marks.
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of NBC's broadcast network, part of NBCUniversal News Group under Comcast. Flagships include TODAY, NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press, Dateline, and NBC News NOW streaming; TV news lineage dates to 1940.
NBC News Now
NBC News Now is a free, advertising-supported streaming news channel operated by NBC News, launched on May 29, 2019, with live breaking news and programs including Top Story with Tom Llamas.
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is NBC's flagship weeknight evening newscast, rooted in the 1948 NBC Television Newsreel and named since August 3, 1970. Anchored by Tom Llamas since 2025 after Lester Holt, it averages about 6.5–7 million viewers.
NBC page
The NBC page program is a highly selective paid fellowship at NBCUniversal, founded in 1933, whose alumni include Regis Philbin, Ted Koppel, Michael Eisner, and Aubrey Plaza.
NBC Radio Network
The NBC Radio Network (NBC Red Network before 1942) was America's first permanent national radio network, launched November 15, 1926 by RCA under David Sarnoff; it ran Red and Blue networks, sold the Blue (which became ABC) in 1943, and dissolved as a service by 1990.
NBC Sports
NBC Sports, the sports division of NBCUniversal (Comcast), airs NFL, NBA, MLB, Olympics, horse racing, golf, and soccer on NBC, Peacock, and NBCSN. Distinguished by 1939 first televised MLB and NFL games, Sunday Night Football's 15-year primetime ratings streak, and rights to the Preakness and U.S. Open through 2032.