Okay, so I was digging around the internet today, trying to settle a bet with a buddy about old-school NBA teams. The question was, “How many NBA teams were there in the 1960s?” Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong! It turned into a bit of a rabbit hole, but a fun one.
First Steps: The Obvious Search
I started, like anyone would, with a simple search. I typed in something like “number of NBA teams in the 60s”. Lots of stuff came up, but it wasn’t giving me the clean, straightforward answer I wanted. A bunch of articles talked about the history of the league, expansion teams, and all that jazz. I just wanted a number!
Digging Deeper: Finding the Lists
Then, I realized I needed to be more specific. I started searching for things like “NBA teams list by year” and “NBA team history timelines.” This is where things got a little more interesting. I found some sites that listed teams, but they were all over the place. Some focused on specific years, others just gave broad overviews.
Getting My Hands Dirty: Manual Counting
So, I decided to go old-school. I opened up a few of these pages, and instead of looking for a pre-made answer, I started counting. I’d look at the teams listed for, say, 1961, then 1962, and so on, keeping a running tally. It was kinda tedious, to be honest. I made sure that the counting is by year, meaning the begining of the season.
- 1960-1961: 8 Teams
- 1961-1962:9 Teams
- 1962-1963:9 Teams
- 1963-1964:9 Teams
- 1964-1965:9 Teams
- 1965-1966:9 Teams
- 1966-1967:10 Teams
- 1967-1968:12 Teams
- 1968-1969:14 Teams
- 1969-1970:14 Teams
The “Aha!” Moment (and Double-Checking)
After doing the manual count and making my own little list, I started to see a pattern. The number of teams obviously. I felt pretty good about my answer at that range, but you know, gotta be sure.
In the ’60s the number of the teams grew and it ranges from 8 to 14.
So, that was my little adventure in NBA history. Not the most glamorous research project, but hey, I got my answer, and I learned a little something along the way. Plus, I won the bet, so that’s always a good thing!
