National Basketball Association
美国篮球职业联盟

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. It is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. NBA players are the world's best paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.
美国篮球职业联盟(简称NBA)是北美地区重要的男子职业篮球联盟，被公认为世界上头号男子职业篮球联盟。美国篮球职业联盟是美国篮球联盟(简称USAB)的一名活跃成员，美国篮球联盟是FIBA(也称国际篮球联盟)认可的管理美国篮球的机构。美国篮球职业联盟是北美地区四大主要的职业运动联盟之一，而且从人均年收入来看，它的球员是世界上薪酬最高的运动员。

The league was founded in New York City on 6 June, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on 3 August, 1949, after merging with its rival National Basketball League (NBL).
美国篮球职业联盟于1946年6月6日在纽约市成立，创建之初它被称为美国篮球协会(简称BAA)。该协会在1949年8月3日与它的对手国家篮球联盟(简称为NBL)合并，更名为“美国篮球职业联盟”(简称NBA)。

The NBA originated in 1946 with eleven teams, and through a sequence of team expansions, reductions, and relocations currently consists of thirty teams. The United States is home to twenty-nine teams and one is located in Canada. The NBA is also the only league that regularly schedules games on Christmas Day. The league has been playing games regularly on the holiday since 1947, though the first Christmas Day games weren't televised until 1983-1984.
创办于1946年的NBA最初有11支球队，后来经过一系列的扩张、裁减以及重置，发展成为现在的30支球队。其中29支球队位于美国本土，1支球队位于加拿大境内。美国篮球职业联盟也是唯一把比赛安排在圣诞节这一天的联盟，从1947年开始该联盟就在圣诞节这一天安排比赛，不过直到1983—1984年才第一次有了圣诞节比赛的电视直播。