Central Division (NBA)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Central Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA). The division consists of five teams, the Chicago Bulls, the
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
, the Detroit Pistons, the
Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...
and the
Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
. All teams, except the Cavaliers, are former Midwest Division teams, hence the Central Division now largely resembling the Midwest Division in the 1970s. The division was created at the start of the 1970–71 season, when the league expanded from 14 to 17 teams with the addition of the Buffalo Braves, the
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
and the Portland Trail Blazers. The league realigned itself into two conferences, the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, with two divisions each in each conference. The Central Division began with four inaugural members, the Atlanta Hawks, the Baltimore Bullets, the
Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...
and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Hawks joined from the Western Division, while the Bullets and the Royals joined from the Eastern Division. The Bucks have won the most Central Division titles with eleven. The Pistons have won the second most titles with nine. Thirteen
NBA champions The National Basketball Association (NBA) NBA Finals, Finals is the championship series for the NBA held at the conclusion of NBA playoffs, its postseason. All Finals have been played in a Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff, best-of-seven for ...
came from the Central Division: the Bulls won six championships, the Pistons won three championships, the Bucks won two championships, and the Bullets and Cavaliers won one championship each. All of them, except the 1977–78 Bullets and the 2003–04 Pistons, were division champions. In the 2005–06 season, all five teams from the division qualified for the playoffs. The most recent division champions are the Milwaukee Bucks. The Central Division has the highest percentage of teams that have won a championship, with four out of five teams winning the championship, and the Pacers the only franchise never to have won. The Central Division existed for one season in the 1949–50 season as one of the three divisions in the NBA, along with the Western and the Eastern Division. The current Central Division that was formed in the 1970, is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference. Starting with the 2021–22 season, the Central Division champions would receive the Wayne Embry Trophy, named after Hall of Famer
Wayne Embry Wayne Richard Embry (born March 26, 1937) is a retired American basketball player and basketball executive. Embry's 11-year playing career as a center spanned from 1958 to 1969 playing for the Cincinnati Royals, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Buck ...
.


Current standings


Teams

;Notes * denotes an
expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
.


Former teams

;Notes * denotes an
expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
. * denotes a team that
merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
from the
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
(ABA). * The Charlotte NBA franchise was inactive from 2002 to 2004 upon the relocation of the Hornets to New Orleans. A new franchise, initially known as the Bobcats, began play in the 2004–05 season. In 2013, the New Orleans Hornets were renamed the Pelicans, and the following season, the Bobcats were renamed the Hornets, acquiring the history and records of the 1988–2002 Hornets while retroactively designating the Pelicans as an expansion team.


Team timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:1970 till:2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:20 bottom:20 top:0 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:tan2 from:1970 till:2004 text: Atlanta Hawks (1970–2004) bar:2 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1978 text: Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets (1970–1978) bar:3 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1972 text:
Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...
(1970–1972) bar:4 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
(1970–present) bar:5 color:tan2 from:1972 till:1980 text:
Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
(1972–1980) bar:6 color:tan2 from:1974 till:1979 text: New Orleans Jazz (1974–1979) bar:7 color:tan2 from:1976 till:1980 text:
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...
(1976–1980) bar:8 color:tan1 from:1978 till:end text: Detroit Pistons (1978–present) bar:9 color:tan1 from:1979 till:end text:
Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...
(1979–present) bar:10 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text: Chicago Bulls (1980–present) bar:11 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text:
Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
(1980–present) bar:12 color:tan2 from:1989 till:1990 text:
Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...
(1989–1990) bar:13 color:tan2 from:1990 till:2002 text:
Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...
(1990–2002) bar:14 color:tan2 from:1995 till:2004 text: Toronto Raptors (1995–2004) bar:15 color:tan2 from:2002 till:2004 text: New Orleans Hornets (2002–2004) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1970


Division champions


Titles by team


Season results


Rivalries


Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons


Chicago Bulls vs. Cleveland Cavaliers


1949–50 season

Before the 1949–50 season, the BAA merged with the NBL and was renamed
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
. The number of teams competed increased from 12 teams to 17 teams and the league realigned itself to three divisions, creating the Central Division. The division consisted of five teams, the
Chicago Stags The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago from 1946 to 1950. History 1946–47 season In the BAA's inaugural year, the Chicago Stags were placed in the Western Division, and after 60 games were tied with the ...
, the
Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, the Minneapolis Lakers, the Rochester Royals and the
St. Louis Bombers The St. Louis Bombers were a National Basketball Association team based in St. Louis from 1946 to 1950. Franchise history The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. The BAA merged wit ...
. All five teams joined from the Western Division. The Minneapolis Lakers won the Central Division title. The division was disbanded before the 1950–51 season, after six teams folded and the league realigned itself back into two divisions. The Stags and the Bombers folded, while the other three teams returned to the Western Division.


Notes

* Because of a
lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...
, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, and all 29 teams played a shortened 50-game regular season schedule. * Because of a
lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...
, the season did not start until December 25, 2011, and all 30 teams played a shortened 66-game regular season schedule. *In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, the NBA canceled the April 16 game scheduled in Boston between the Celtics and the Pacers; the game was not rescheduled because it would have had no impact on either team's playoff seedings.


References

;General * ;Specific


External links


NBA.com Team Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Division (Nba) Eastern Conference (NBA) National Basketball Association divisions
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
Atlanta Hawks Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) Capital Bullets Charlotte Hornets Chicago Bulls Cincinnati Royals Cleveland Cavaliers Detroit Pistons Houston Rockets Indiana Pacers Milwaukee Bucks New Orleans Hornets New Orleans Jazz (NBA team) Orlando Magic San Antonio Spurs Toronto Raptors Washington Bullets 1970 establishments in the United States