You can’t truly appreciate the beauty of Fantasy Sports games without knowing the history behind it. So, as part of our series on major league sports, Fantasy Factor is taking a look at the story of the National Basketball League.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men's basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America (twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada). It is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body (NGB) for basketball in the United States.

The NBA was a result of Basketball Association America (BAA) merging with National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as large arenas and smaller gymnasiums and armories. In 1950, the NBA consolidated to eleven franchises, a process that continued until 1953-54, when the league reached its smallest size of eight franchises, all of which are still in the league (the Knicks, Celtics, Warriors, Lakers, Royals/Kings, Pistons, Hawks, and Nationals/76ers).

In 1970s, the American Basketball Association (ABA) signed up with a number of major stars including Julius Erving of the Virginia Squires, in part because it allowed teams to sign college undergraduates. The NBA grew from nine franchises in 1966 to 18 in 1974. New teams included are Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) all made their debuts expanding the league to 17. The New Orleans Jazz (now in Utah) came aboard in 1974 bringing the total to 18.

Following the 1976 season, the leagues reached a settlement that provided for the addition of four ABA franchises to the NBA, raising the number of franchises in the league at that time to 22. The franchises added were the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and New York Nets (now the New Jersey Nets). In early '80s, the NBA added one more expansion franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, bringing the total to 23 teams.

Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 with the Chicago Bulls, providing an even more popular star to support growing interest in the league. This resulted in more cities demanding teams of their own. In 1988 and 1989, four cities got their wishes as the Charlotte Hornets (now the New Orleans Hornets), Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, and Minnesota Timberwolves made their NBA debuts.

Jordan and Scottie Pippen would lead the Bulls to six championships in eight years during the 1990s. Hakeem Olajuwon won back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets in '94 and '95.

The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team, the first to use current NBA stars, featured Michael Jordan as the anchor, along with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Charles Barkley, and Christian Laettner.

In 1995, the NBA expanded to Canada with the addition of the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors. In 2001, the Vancouver Grizzlies were relocated to Memphis, which left the Raptors as the only Canadian team in the NBA.

In 1996, the NBA created a women's league, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

In year 2000, LA Lakers and San Antonio Spurs battle to the Finals after the break-up of Chicago Bulls in Summer of 1998. Spurs won in 1999 then Lakers won three consecutive championships afterwards. The Spurs reclaimed the title in 2003. Lakers won against Detroit Pistons in 2004 while the Spurs won their third championship in 2005. Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks made their first Finals appearances in 2006.