1996-97 NBA season
| 1996–97 NBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | November 1, 1996 – April 20, 1997 April 24 – May 29, 1997 (Playoffs) June 1 – 13, 1997 (Finals) |
| Number of teams | 29 |
| TV partner(s) | NBC, TBS, TNT |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Allen Iverson |
| Picked by | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | Chicago Bulls |
| Season MVP | Karl Malone (Utah) |
| Top scorer | Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | Chicago Bulls |
| Eastern runners-up | Miami Heat |
| Western champions | Utah Jazz |
| Western runners-up | Houston Rockets |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Chicago Bulls |
| Runners-up | Utah Jazz |
| Finals MVP | Michael Jordan (Chicago) |
The 1996–97 NBA season was the 51st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league used this season to mark its 50th anniversary, which included the unveiling of the league's list of its 50 greatest players. This particular season featured what has since been acknowledged as one of the most talented rookie-classes, featuring the debuts of Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Ben Wallace and Stephon Marbury. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls defeating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals to win the franchise's 5th championship.
The 1996 NBA lockout was the second lockout of four in the history of the NBA. It lasted for a couple of hours on July 10, 1996. The lockout was imposed after the league and the player's union could not reach an agreement involving $50 million in profit sharing from the television revenue. The league requested 50 percent of those profits to be applied toward player salaries while the union wanted more money to be included. After a few hours of talks, the league agreed to allocate an additional $14 million per season in television revenue toward the salary cap during the last four years of the six-year agreement. The lockout was ended only a few hours after it was announced and the agreement was reached.
Notes
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.
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