What are the NBA’s major eras?
Working through a series of articles on CHIPS, I got to thinking about eras and era strength. How much credit should be given to Mikan, Russell, Jordan, and LeBron for their CHIPS, given the strength of the league in their respective eras? How difficult was it for each of these guys to lead their team to a championship?
And how should you even divide the history of the league into eras? Off the top of my head, there are many factors to consider:
- Number of teams, number of playoff rounds
- Introduction of diffusion of black and international players
- Competing leagues (ABA) dividing the talent pool
- Number of prime-aged all-time greats
- Rule changes and adaptations, rise in 3 point shooting
- Player movement, “player empowerment”
- Salary caps, aprons, team building restrictions, parity vs. dynasties
- Popularity of the league, size of player pool competing to make the league
- Sophistication of stategy, Analytics era, “Moneyball”
Below is a timeline with stats and milestones. The "Prime All-Time Greats" is a count of the top 50 players in history (this top-40 list, plus Giannis, Davis, Jokic, Embiid, Kawhi, SGA, Luka, Tatum, Edwards, and Wemby) playing at least 20 games, in their age-23 through age-31 seasons.
| Season | Teams | % Black Players | % Foreign Players | Prime All-Time Greats | Milestones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949-50 | 17 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| 1950-51 | 11 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| 1951-52 | 10 | 2.8 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| 1952-53 | 10 | 3.6 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| 1953-54 | 9 | 4.4 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| 1954-55 | 9 | 5.2 | 0.2 | 0 | 24 second shot clock |
| 1955-56 | 8 | 6.0 | 0.2 | 1 | |
| 1956-57 | 8 | 8.8 | 0.2 | 1 | |
| 1957-58 | 8 | 11.6 | 0.2 | 2 | |
| 1958-59 | 8 | 14.4 | 0.3 | 3 | |
| 1959-60 | 8 | 17.2 | 0.3 | 4 | |
| 1960-61 | 8 | 20.0 | 0.3 | 4 | |
| 1961-62 | 9 | 23.0 | 0.4 | 6 | |
| 1962-63 | 9 | 26.0 | 0.4 | 6 | |
| 1963-64 | 9 | 29.0 | 0.4 | 7 | |
| 1964-65 | 9 | 32.0 | 0.5 | 6 | Lane widened to 16 feet |
| 1965-66 | 9 | 35.0 | 0.5 | 6 | |
| 1966-67 | 10 | 38.0 | 0.6 | 4 | |
| 1967-68 | 12 | 41.0 | 0.7 | 4 | ABA launches |
| 1968-69 | 14 | 44.0 | 0.8 | 4 | |
| 1969-70 | 14 | 47.0 | 0.9 | 4 | |
| 1970-71 | 17 | 50.0 | 1.0 | 3 | |
| 1971-72 | 17 | 53.0 | 1.2 | 3 | |
| 1972-73 | 17 | 56.0 | 1.4 | 3 | |
| 1973-74 | 17 | 59.0 | 1.6 | 3 | |
| 1974-75 | 18 | 62.0 | 1.8 | 3 | |
| 1975-76 | 18 | 65.0 | 2.0 | 3 | |
| 1976-77 | 22 | 67.0 | 2.2 | 4 | ABA merges, free-agency |
| 1977-78 | 22 | 69.0 | 2.4 | 3 | |
| 1978-79 | 22 | 71.0 | 2.6 | 4 | |
| 1979-80 | 22 | 73.0 | 2.8 | 4 | 3 point line |
| 1980-81 | 23 | 75.0 | 3.0 | 4 | |
| 1981-82 | 23 | 75.3 | 3.4 | 3 | |
| 1982-83 | 23 | 75.6 | 3.8 | 3 | |
| 1983-84 | 23 | 75.9 | 4.2 | 3 | |
| 1984-85 | 23 | 76.2 | 4.6 | 4 | Salary cap |
| 1985-86 | 23 | 76.5 | 5.0 | 8 | |
| 1986-87 | 23 | 76.8 | 5.4 | 11 | 5% Three Pointers |
| 1987-88 | 23 | 77.1 | 5.8 | 10 | |
| 1988-89 | 25 | 77.4 | 6.2 | 11 | |
| 1989-90 | 27 | 77.7 | 6.6 | 12 | |
| 1990-91 | 27 | 78.0 | 7.0 | 12 | |
| 1991-92 | 27 | 78.1 | 7.6 | 11 | |
| 1992-93 | 27 | 78.2 | 8.2 | 11 | 10% Three Pointers |
| 1993-94 | 27 | 78.3 | 8.8 | 9 | |
| 1994-95 | 27 | 78.4 | 9.4 | 5 | 3 point line shortened to 22 feet, 15% Three Pointers |
| 1995-96 | 29 | 78.5 | 10.0 | 4 | |
| 1996-97 | 29 | 78.6 | 11.0 | 4 | 20% Three Pointers |
| 1997-98 | 29 | 78.7 | 12.0 | 3 | 3 point line reverted |
| 1998-99 | 29 | 78.8 | 13.0 | 3 | Max salaries |
| 1999-00 | 29 | 78.9 | 14.0 | 5 | |
| 2000-01 | 29 | 79.0 | 15.0 | 6 | Illegal defence removed |
| 2001-02 | 29 | 78.7 | 16.0 | 8 | |
| 2002-03 | 29 | 78.4 | 17.0 | 8 | |
| 2003-04 | 29 | 78.1 | 18.0 | 8 | |
| 2004-05 | 30 | 77.8 | 19.0 | 8 | |
| 2005-06 | 30 | 77.5 | 20.0 | 7 | 20% Three Pointers |
| 2006-07 | 30 | 77.2 | 20.2 | 6 | |
| 2007-08 | 30 | 76.9 | 20.4 | 7 | |
| 2008-09 | 30 | 76.6 | 20.6 | 6 | |
| 2009-10 | 30 | 76.3 | 20.8 | 5 | |
| 2010-11 | 30 | 76.0 | 21.0 | 3 | |
| 2011-12 | 30 | 75.7 | 21.4 | 5 | Luxury tax |
| 2012-13 | 30 | 75.4 | 21.8 | 6 | |
| 2013-14 | 30 | 75.1 | 22.2 | 5 | 25% Three Pointers |
| 2014-15 | 30 | 74.8 | 22.6 | 6 | |
| 2015-16 | 30 | 74.5 | 23.0 | 6 | |
| 2016-17 | 30 | 74.2 | 23.0 | 6 | 30% Three Pointers |
| 2017-18 | 30 | 73.9 | 23.0 | 6 | |
| 2018-19 | 30 | 73.6 | 23.0 | 8 | 35% Three Pointers |
| 2019-20 | 30 | 73.3 | 23.0 | 6 | |
| 2020-21 | 30 | 73.0 | 23.0 | 6 | |
| 2021-22 | 30 | 72.7 | 23.7 | 6 | |
| 2022-23 | 30 | 72.3 | 24.3 | 8 | |
| 2023-24 | 30 | 72.0 | 25.0 | 7 | |
| 2024-25 | 30 | 71.7 | 25.7 | 7 | Second apron, 40% Three Pointers |
| 2025-26 | 30 | 71.3 | 26.3 | 6 |
How would you divide the history of the league into eras? And how strong was each one?
Posted Sep 1, 2026, 4:44 PM UTC