2022–23 NBA Season

The 2022–23 NBA season is the 77th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the regular season began on October 18, 2022, and is scheduled to end on April 9, 2023. The 2023 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to be played on February 19, 2023, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. The playoffs are then scheduled to begin on April 15, 2023, and ending with the NBA Finals in June 2023. The Golden State Warriors are the defending NBA champions.

Transactions

Retirement

* On July 21, 2022, J. J. Barea announced his retirement from professional basketball. He won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 and multiple gold medals with the Puerto Rican national team.
* On August 20, 2022, Gustavo Ayón retired from professional basketball. He played three seasons in the NBA and won multiple titles in the EuroLeague and Spanish League in his 16-year career.
* On September 3, 2022, Jodie Meeks retired from professional basketball. He played for seven teams in his 13-year career and won an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
* On September 6, 2022, Toure' Murry retired from professional basketball. He played for three teams in two NBA seasons, as well as numerous teams overseas.
* On September 23, 2022, Andre Iguodala announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, after playing for 19 seasons, played for four teams winning four NBA titles with the Warriors.

Draft

The 2022 NBA draft took place on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Paolo Banchero was selected with the first overall pick by the Orlando Magic.

Free agency

With the previous season's NBA Finals ending in June for the first time since 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the period for free agency returned to its normal July 1 starting date, along with the July moratorium period before players can begin signing new contracts.

In July 2022, the Philadelphia 76ers were charged with violating the league's moratorium in free agency discussions with P. J. Tucker and Danuel House and subsequently had two second round picks rescinded by the league.

Coaching changes

Off-season

* On April 11, 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers fired Frank Vogel after missing the playoffs. In his three seasons with the team, Vogel led the team to two playoff appearances and the NBA championship in 2020.
* On April 11, 2022, the Sacramento Kings relieved interim head coach Alvin Gentry of his duties. Gentry was named interim head coach after the team fired Luke Walton in November 2021.
* On April 22, 2022, the Charlotte Hornets fired James Borrego after four years with the team with no playoff appearances.
* On May 9, 2022, the Sacramento Kings hired Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown to become the Kings' new head coach.
* On June 3, 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers hired Darvin Ham as their new head coach.
* On June 5, 2022, Quin Snyder resigned from his position as head coach of the Utah Jazz after eight seasons with the team.
* On June 24, 2022, the Charlotte Hornets hired Steve Clifford as their head coach for the second stint.
* On June 29, 2022, the Utah Jazz hired Will Hardy as their head coach.
* On September 22, 2022, the Boston Celtics suspended head coach Ime Udoka and named his assistant Joe Mazzulla as interim head coach.

In-season

* On November 1, 2022, the Brooklyn Nets and head coach Steve Nash agreed to part ways, and Jacque Vaughn served as interim head coach until November 9, when he was named permanent head coach.

Preseason

The NBA often hosts preseason games in non-NBA markets, with the following being played domestically:

International games

Preseason contests in the NBA Global Games returned for the first time since the 2019 preseason, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on August 17, 2022.

; Eastern Conference

; Western Conference

By conference

Notes
* * – Division leader

International games

After nearly three years without an international regular season game due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA brought back the NBA Global Games with two regular season matchups:

Statistics

Individual statistic leaders

Individual game highs

Team statistic leaders

Awards

Beginning with this season, the team who finished with the best overall regular season record would receive the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, named in honor of Maurice Podoloff, who served as the commissioner of the NBA from 1946 to 1963. The Podoloff Trophy was originally given to the NBA's Most Valuable Player of the regular season until . The MVP trophy was then renamed in honor of Michael Jordan, a five-time winner and often considered the greatest player in league history. A new award, the Clutch Player of the Year Award, was also introduced to honor players who best come through for their teammates in the clutch. This trophy was named after Jerry West.

The league also announced updated trophy designs for the Coach of the Year Award, Defensive Player of the Year Award, Executive of the Year Award, Most Improved Player Award, Rookie of the Year Award, Sixth Man of the Year Award, Sportsmanship Award, and the Teammate of the Year Award. The Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year trophies were then renamed in honor of Hakeem Olajuwon, George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, and John Havlicek respectively.

Players of the Week

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week.

Players of the Month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month.

Rookies of the Month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month.

Coaches of the Month

The following coaches were named the Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month.

Media

This is the seventh year of a nine-year deal with ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV. ESPN continues to air Wednesday and Friday night games for most of the season and games during selected Sunday nights during the second half of the season. ABC air ''NBA Saturday Primetime'' on eight selected Saturdays, and ''NBA Sunday Showcase'' on three selected Sundays in the form of doubleheaders. TNT continues to air Tuesday games all season and Thursday games during the second half of the season. NBA TV will air selected games not broadcast on ABC, ESPN, or TNT, primarily on Mondays all season and Thursdays in the first half of the season.

Five Christmas Day games are scheduled this season. For the first time ESPN and ABC will simulcast all of them. They will have to compete with NFL Christmas Day games for viewers, with the NFL planning its tripleheader for the first time on that day.

Four games will be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with TNT and NBA TV each airing two of them.

January 24–28 has been designated as "NBA Rivals Week" with 11 total nationally televised games featuring " classic and budding rivalries between teams and players". In addition to the regular Tuesday and Thursday doubleheaders on TNT, and ESPN's Wednesday doubleheader, NBA TV will have a doubleheader on that Friday, January 27, and ABC will have a tripleheader on that Saturday, January 28.

ESPN will also air a doubleheader on the final day of the regular season, April 9, featuring games with playoff implications.

In September 2022, Ted Leonsis's Monumental Sports & Entertainment bought out NBCUniversal's ownership stake in NBC Sports Washington, which carries broadcasts of the Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals, both Monumental-owned teams. Monumental initially took minority ownership of the network in 2016. NBC will provide transitional corporate, technical, and distribution support up to 18 months after the sale, and Monumental plans to rebrand the network after the 2022–23 season.

In October 2022, the Clippers launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service called ClipperVision. The service includes all non-national games.

Notable occurrences

* The NBA and NBPA announced a pension plan for former ABA players who played at least three seasons in the league.
* The Board of Governors approved the permanent adoption of the NBA Play-In Tournament that had been in place for the previous two seasons. Previously, the Board approved the tournament on a season-by-season basis.
* The league instituted a new penalty for the "take foul". The offensive team will be allotted one free throw and retain possession with this penalty in place. The defensive player who commits the foul will be assessed one common personal foul. Previously, the penalty was a common personal foul on the offending player in addition to a side out for the offensive team if they were not in the bonus.
* Following the death of 11-time champion Bill Russell, the NBA permanently retired the number 6 across the league, the first time a player's number has been retired across the league. However, players who had the number 6 beforehand can keep their number unless they voluntarily change it or retire.
* The NBA honored Russell with a jersey patch. Every team wore a commemorative patch on the right sleeve of their jerseys. Every NBA court honored Russell with a clover-shaped logo featuring the No. 6 on the sideline.
* On July 9, 2022, Nikola Jokić signed a five-year, $264 million supermax extension with the Denver Nuggets, the largest in league history.
* On September 13, 2022, the NBA and WNBA suspended Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver for one year after an independent investigation determined that he used the n-word multiple times, sexually harassed and assaulted multiple male and female employees, and engaged in demeaning behavior towards employees.
* On September 21, Sarver announced he was exploring selling both the Suns and WNBA's Phoenix Mercury franchises.
* A record 23 Canadians appeared on opening-night rosters, marking the ninth consecutive season of Canada being the second-most represented country in the NBA.
* On October 19, 2022, Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz became the first player to record a double-double, with 12 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 100% (5/5) on his rookie debut.
* On October 22, 2022, Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic became the first teenager to score 20 points or more in his first three games. This streak ended on his 7th game, where he scored 18 points on October 30, 2022.
* On October 28, 2022, DeMar DeRozan became the 50th player to score 20,000 points.
* On October 31, 2022, Kevin Durant passed Vince Carter for 19th place on the all-time scoring list.
* On November 4, 2022, Luka Dončić became the second NBA player to score 30 or more points in the first eight games of a season, joining Wilt Chamberlain.
* On November 4, 2022, the Golden State Warriors became the first defending champion to start the season 0–6 on the road.
* In commemoration of Election Day in the United States, the league did not schedule regular season games on November 8. The league, in turn, scheduled a full slate of games on November 7 with all 30 teams in action, with a unique schedule that saw staggered tip-offs every 15 minutes. The NBA mobile app aired commercial-free whiparound coverage on ''NBA CrunchTime''.
* On November 13, 2022, Joel Embiid became the first player in NBA History to record 50+ points, 10+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and 5+ blocks in a game. He scored a career high 59 points along with 11 rebounds, eight assists, and seven blocks in a 105–98 victory over the Utah Jazz, with 26 points and five blocks coming in the fourth quarter.
* On December 11, 2022, former player and coach Paul Silas, the father of current Houston Rockets head coach Stephen died at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 NBA season

NBA
2022–23 in Canadian basketball
Current basketball seasons