The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences that make up the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), the other being the Western Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three

divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...

. The Eastern Conference comprises the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, Central, and

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

Divisions. The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the now

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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly created Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The NBA first started awarding an Eastern Conference championship trophy during the 2000–01 season, renaming it after Hall of Famer Bob Cousy in the 2021–22 season. Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Larry Bird Trophy to the Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player, named after Hall of Famer

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend" Bird is widely regarded a ...

2024–25 standings

Notes * c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs * y – Clinched division title * pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot (locked into a play-in spot but not able to clinch a playoff spot directly) * x – Clinched playoff spot * * – Division leader

Teams

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 a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

from the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA).

Team timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:1970 till:2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:60 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:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

(1970–present) bar:2 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

(1970–present) bar:3 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1978 text:

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference ...

(1970–1978) bar:4 color:tan2 from:1970 till:1972 text: Cincinnati Royals (1970–1972) bar:5 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

(1970–present) bar:6 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text:

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

(1970–present) bar:7 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text: Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers (1970–present) bar:8 color:tan1 from:1970 till:end text: Baltimore Bullets / Capital Bullets / Washington Bullets / Washington Wizards (1970–present) bar:9 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 of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

(1972–1980) bar:10 color:tan2 from:1974 till:1979 text: New Orleans Jazz (1974–1979) bar:11 color:tan1 from:1976 till:end text: New York Nets / New Jersey Nets / Brooklyn Nets (1976–present) bar:12 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 Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

(1976–1980) bar:13 color:tan1 from:1978 till:end text:

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

(1978–present) bar:14 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

(1979–present) bar:15 color:tan1 from:1980 till:end text:

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

(1980–present) bar:16 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

(1980–present) bar:17 color:tan1 from:1988 till:1989 text: Charlotte Hornets / Bobcats / Hornets (1988–2002, 2004–2014, 2014–present) bar:17 color:tan1 from:1990 till:2002 bar:17 color:tan1 from:2004 till:end bar:18 color:tan1 from:1989 till:end text:

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

(1989–present) bar:19 color:tan1 from:1989 till:1990 text: Orlando Magic (1989–1990, 1991–present) bar:19 color:tan1 from:1991 till:end bar:20 color:tan1 from:1995 till:end text:

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

(1995–present) bar:21 color:tan2 from:2002 till:2004 text: New Orleans Hornets (2002–2004) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:3 start:1970

2024–25 standings

Teams

Former teams

Team timeline

Conference champions

Conference championships by team

Season results

References