The 2016–17 NBA season is the 71st season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on October 25, 2016, with the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers hosting a game against the New York Knicks. Christmas Day games were played on Sunday December 25, 2016. The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 19, 2017, with the West defeating the East 192–182. Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans was named the All Star Game MVP after breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record by scoring 52 points in the All Star Game. The original host of the game, Charlotte's Spectrum Center, was removed as the host on July 21, 2016 due to the league's opposition against North Carolina's Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. The regular season will end on April 12, 2017, and the playoffs will begin on April 15, 2017 and will end with the last game of the NBA Finals.
On July 11, 2016, Tim Duncan officially announced his retirement after playing 19 seasons, winning five NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs.
On July 25, 2016, Sasha Kaun officially announced his retirement after playing only one season in the NBA, winning one NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On July 26, 2016, Amar'e Stoudemire officially announced his retirement from the NBA after signing a ceremonial contract with the New York Knicks so he could officially end his 14-season career as a NBA player, and went to play in Israel.
On September 23, 2016, Kevin Garnett officially announced his retirement after playing 21 seasons, winning one NBA championship with the Boston Celtics.
On September 26, 2016, Paul Pierce officially announced that the 2016–17 season will be his last after playing 19 seasons, winning one NBA championship with the Boston Celtics.
On September 26, 2016, Mo Williams officially announced his retirement after playing 13 seasons, winning one NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On October 20, 2016, Elton Brand officially announced his retirement after playing 17 seasons.
On November 1, 2016, Ray Allen officially announced his retirement after playing 18 seasons, winning two NBA championships with the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. Prior to announcing his retirement, Allen had not played since the end of the 2013–14 season.
On November 25, 2016, Kevin Martin announced his retirement from the NBA after playing 12 seasons.
On December 19, 2016, DeShawn Stevenson announced his retirement from the NBA after playing 13 seasons, winning one NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks.
On January 6, 2017, Matt Bonner officially announced his retirement after playing 12 seasons, winning two NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs.
Free agency negotiations began on Friday, July 1, 2016. Players can sign starting on July 6, after the July moratorium ended.
On April 14, 2016, Sam Mitchell was relieved of his interim head coaching duties as the coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves after the last game of the season, allowing them to look for a part-time coach.
On April 14, 2016, the Washington Wizards fired Randy Wittman after the team missed the playoffs.
On April 14, 2016 George Karl was fired by the Sacramento Kings after a disappointing 2015–16 season in which the Kings went 33–49.
On April 17, 2016, it was announced that Kenny Atkinson would be coaching with the Brooklyn Nets.
On April 19, 2016, Earl Watson would remove the interim coach tag he had last season and would be the coach of the Phoenix Suns for the next three years.
On April 20, 2016, the Timberwolves agreed to sign Tom Thibodeau to be their head coach and president of basketball operations. He was previously an assistant coach for the team from 1989 to 1991.
On April 25, 2016, the Lakers did not exercise their option on Scott's contract for the following season, deciding to pursue a new coach. His 38-126 (.232) record with the team was the worst of any of the 16 coaches who had led the franchise for at least two seasons.
On April 26, 2016, the Washington Wizards hired Scott Brooks to be their head coach.
On April 29, 2016, the Los Angeles Lakers hired Warriors Coach Luke Walton to become their new head coach. Walton led the Warriors to a 24–0 start in the 2015-16 season when Steve Kerr was sidelined.
On May 5, 2016, despite making the playoffs, Pacers' president Larry Bird announced that Frank Vogel's contract would not be renewed, citing a need for a new voice to lead the players.
On May 7, 2016, the Memphis Grizzlies fired Dave Joerger after the team was swept in the first round.
On May 9, 2016, the Sacramento Kings hired Dave Joerger to become their new head coach, just two days after he was fired by the Memphis Grizzlies.
On May 12, 2016, Scott Skiles resigned as head coach of the Orlando Magic after only one season with the team.
On May 16, 2016, the Indiana Pacers named their assistant head coach Nate McMillan to become their new head coach.
On May 20, 2016, the Orlando Magic announced that they signed Frank Vogel to become their head coach.
On May 29, 2016, David Fizdale, former Miami Heat assistant coach, was named as the Memphis Grizzlies head coach.
On June 1, 2016, the Houston Rockets named Mike D'Antoni as their new head coach.
On June 2, 2016, the New York Knicks announced Jeff Hornacek as their new head coach.
The preseason began on October 1, 2016 and ended on October 21, 2016.
The regular season began on Tuesday, October 25, 2016. Christmas Day games were played on Sunday, December 25, 2016. The regular season will end on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. The schedule was released at 6:00 p.m. ET on August 11, 2016.
Notes
z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
y – Clinched division title
x – Clinched playoff spot
* – Division leader
The 2017 NBA Playoffs will begin on April 15, 2017. In May 2017, ESPN will air the Western Conference Finals and TNT will air the Eastern Conference Finals. The season will end with the 2017 NBA Finals which will begin on June 1, 2017 on ABC. | RD1=First Round | RD2=Conference Semifinals | RD3=Conference Finals | RD4=NBA Finals
The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week.
The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month.
The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month.
The following coaches were named the Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month.
This is the first season for the Sacramento Kings at the new Golden 1 Center after playing at the Sleep Train Arena from 1988 to 2016. They played their first regular season game there on October 27, 2016 against the San Antonio Spurs.
On November 22, 2016, the Detroit Pistons announced that the 2016–17 season will be their last at The Palace of Auburn Hills and would be relocating to the new Little Caesars Arena in Downtown Detroit beginning in the 2017–18 season, the first time since 1961 that both the Pistons and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings will share a venue.
Starting on January 17, 2017, the Golden State Warriors have officially broken ground for the Chase Center out in San Francisco. The arena is estimated to be completed by the 2018–2019 season, which would also be the estimated timeframe for the Warriors to potentially return to one of their old names as the San Francisco Warriors.
This will be the first season of the new nine-year U.S. television contracts with ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV.
In Canada, rights are divided between the TSN and Sportsnet groups of channels and NBA TV Canada. These rights are of indefinite duration, as NBA TV Canada is owned by the Toronto Raptors' ownership group, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which in turn is controlled by the parent companies of TSN and Sportsnet (Bell Canada and Rogers Communications, respectively). TSN and Sportsnet each have rights to 41 Toronto Raptors regular season games and over 100 other regular season games, and are expected (as in 2015–16) to share coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend, and split coverage of the playoffs and the NBA Finals. NBA TV Canada will carry 105 additional regular season games, plus replays of other games carried on TSN and Sportsnet.
On May 12, 2016, the Utah Jazz unveiled new uniforms.
On June 15, 2016, the Sacramento Kings unveiled new uniforms.
On September 14, 2016, the Brooklyn Nets unveiled new alternate uniforms.
On September 23, 2016, the Golden State Warriors unveiled new alternate uniforms.
The 2016–17 NBA schedule features a historic low of "back-to-back" games, along with teams playing four games in a five-day stretch. It was the first schedule created with a new optimization computer program that the NBA described at the MIT Sport Analytic Conference.
The season also will see the league's timing systems, including the official game clock and shot clock united for the first time under a long-term sponsorship and equipment deal with Swiss watchmaker Tissot; the deal includes the prominence of the Tissot logo on each court game clock/shot clock unit, which was redesigned to be both more clearly visible by spectators and with materials in the number elements that are more "see-through" than the previous Daktronics models.
On October 25, LeBron James recorded his 43rd career triple-double in a win against the New York Knicks, becoming the first player since Jason Kidd in 2006 to post a triple-double on Opening Night.
On October 26, Anthony Davis scored 50 points in a 102–107 loss to the Denver Nuggets, becoming just the fourth player in NBA history to score 50+ points on Opening Night.
On October 29, Russell Westbrook registered the first 50-point triple double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 in an overtime win against the Phoenix Suns, recording 51 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists—the 3rd highest point total ever in a triple-double.
On November 1, James Harden recorded 41 points and 15 assists in a loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The next night, Harden scored 30 points with 15 assists in a win against the New York Knicks, becoming the first player to register at least 30 points and 15 assists in back-to-back games since Magic Johnson in 1986–87.
On November 4, DeMar DeRozan scored 34 points in a win against the Miami Heat, becoming the first player since Michael Jordan in 1986 to score 30+ points in the first five games to start the season.
On November 4, Chris Paul recorded his 3,499th career assist with the Los Angeles Clippers in a win against the Memphis Grizzlies, becoming the franchise's all-time leader in assists, passing Randy Smith.
On November 5, LeBron James scored his 26,947th career point in a win against the Philadelphia 76ers, passing Hakeem Olajuwon for 10th on the all-time scoring list.
On November 7, John Wall passed Wes Unseld to become the Washington Wizards' franchise leader in career assists.
On November 7, Stephen Curry made 13 three-pointers against the New Orleans Pelicans, setting a new NBA record for most three-pointers made by a player in a single game, breaking the previous record of 12 shared by Curry himself, along with Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall.
On November 11, LeBron James scored his 27,000th career point in a win against the Wizards, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach that milestone (31 years, 317 days).
On November 18, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, giving Spurs coach Gregg Popovich his 1,099th career victory as head coach, passing Larry Brown for seventh place all-time in coaching career wins. He'd record his 1,100th career victory as head coach three days later against the Dallas Mavericks.
On November 23, Kevin Love scored 34 points in the first quarter of a win against the Portland Trail Blazers, setting an NBA record for most points scored in the 1st quarter, and second most in any quarter. Love finished the quarter 11-of-14 from the field and 8-of-10 from three, shattering the franchise's old record for both points and 3-pointers in a quarter.
On November 23, LeBron James recorded his 44th career triple-double in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers, passing Fat Lever for sixth all-time.
On November 23, the Golden State Warriors set a franchise record with 47 team assists in a 149–106 win against the Los Angeles Lakers.
On November 25, the Houston Rockets set an NBA record by attempting 50 three-pointers in a 117–104 win against the Sacramento Kings, breaking the previous record of 49 set by the Dallas Mavericks in 1996.
On November 26, Russell Westbrook record his 44th career triple-double in a win over the Detroit Pistons, passing Fat Lever and tying LeBron James for sixth all-time.
On November 29, the Houston Rockets scored at least 10 3-pointers in their 17th consecutive game, setting an NBA record.
On November 29, in all six games, the team with the worst record ended up winning, making it only the second time in NBA history that's happened this late into the season (January 7, 1969).
On November 30, Russell Westbrook scored his fourth straight triple-double and in doing so became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961–62 to average a triple-double into the month of December.
On December 1, in a 132–127 double-overtime win by the Houston Rockets over the Golden State Warriors, the two teams combined for 88 3-point attempts, setting an NBA record, with each team attempting 44 three's, also marking the first game in NBA history that both teams in a single game each attempted 40+ three-pointers.
On December 4, Russell Westbrook recorded a triple-double in his 5th straight game, the first player to achieve that feat since Michael Jordan in 1989.
On December 5, Klay Thompson scored 60 points (shooting 21-of-33 and 8-of-14 on three-pointers) in 29 minutes over just three quarters in a 142–106 win over the Indiana Pacers. Thompson became the first person in the shot-clock era to score 60 points in less than 30 minutes, and the first to score at least 60 points in three quarters since Kobe Bryant scored 62 against the Mavericks in December 2005.
On December 9, LeBron James passed Elvin Hayes for ninth on the all-time scoring list with 27,315 career points.
On December 9, Russell Westbrook recorded his 7th straight triple-double in a loss against the Houston Rockets, tying Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson for the second longest streak of such in NBA history.
On December 10, Chris Paul recorded 20 points, 20 assists, and 0 turnovers in a win against the New Orleans Pelicans, the first person in NBA history to achieve those stats since turnovers first started being recorded in 1977.
On December 10, LeBron James recorded his 7,000th career assist, becoming the first frontcourt player, and 16th overall, in NBA history to reach that mark.
On December 14, the NBA tentatively completed an agreement with the NBA Players Association for their new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Major noteworthy notes about the agreement include the return of a six-year extension for a player on a team, an update on some of the fixed salaries, the introduction of two-way contracts for teams to have two extra players on their team for the purpose of developing in the NBA Development League while also improving the payment for players there, a shortened preseason with an earlier regular season starting point, and the extension of five-year contracts given to players nearing the age of 38 instead of the age of 36. The official signing was complete on January 19, 2017.
On December 16, the Houston Rockets made 24 three-pointers on 61 attempts in a win against the New Orleans Pelicans, setting the NBA records for both most made and attempted three-point field goals in a regular season game.
On December 17, Russell Westbrook became just the sixth player in NBA history to amass 50 career triple-doubles, and became the first player since Magic Johnson in 1988 to record a 25-point, 20 assist triple-double.
On December 20, LeBron James passed Moses Malone for eighth on the all-time scoring list with 27,410 career points.
On December 31, James Harden recorded 53 points, 16 rebounds, and 17 assists in a win against the New York Knicks. It was the first 50–15–15 game in NBA history, and Harden tied Wilt Chamberlain for the most points ever scored in a triple-double.
On January 2, Jimmy Butler scored 52 points in a win against the Charlotte Hornets, becoming the eighth different player this season to score 50 points in a game, tying an NBA record for most in a single season (1990 and 2016). The other players to score 50 this season were James Harden, Isaiah Thomas, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook.
On January 6, Chris Paul passed Rod Strickland for 10th on the all-time assists list with 7,988 career assists, and two days later, became the 10th player all-time to record 8,000 career assists.
On January 8, LeBron James became just the 14th player in NBA history to record 10,000 career field goals in a win against the Phoenix Suns.
On January 11, LeBron James passed Tim Hardaway for 15th on the all-time assists list with 7,096. James became the only player to be in the top 10 on the all-time scoring list and top 15 in assists.
On January 12, the Denver Nuggets played against the Indiana Pacers at The O2 Arena in London. The Nuggets would blow out the Pacers by the final score of 140–112.
The Phoenix Suns played against the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs at the Mexico City Arena on January 12 and 14, 2017. The Suns would lose their game against the Mavericks by the score of 113–108, but would win against the Spurs with the final score of 108–105.
On January 25, Russell Westbrook recorded his 60th career triple-double, passing Larry Bird for fifth all-time in NBA history.
On January 26, Vince Carter turned 40 years old, becoming just the 16th player ever to play in his 40's in the NBA.
On January 27, James Harden recorded a 51-point, 13 rebound, 13 assist triple-double in a win against the Philadelphia 76ers, becoming the first player in NBA history to record multiple 50-point triple-doubles in the same season, and tying Oscar Robertson for the most 40-point triple-doubles in a single season with five.
On January 28, the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 144–98 for their 40th win of the season, becoming the first team in NBA history to win at least 40 of their first 50 games three seasons in a row.
On February 3, the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113–107, giving the Celtics franchise its 3,253rd all-time win, passing the aforementioned Lakers for most wins by a single franchise in NBA history.
On February 4, LeBron James scored his 28,000th career point, becoming the youngest player, and just the eighth overall, to reach that mark (7009101295360000000♠32 years, 36 days).
On February 4, Gregg Popovich earned his 1,128th career coaching victory with the San Antonio Spurs, passing Jerry Sloan for most coaching wins with a single franchise in NBA history.
On February 6, LeBron James passed Lenny Wilkens for 13th on the NBA's all-time assist list with 7,227 career assists.
On February 7, Dirk Nowitzki passed John Havlicek for 10th all-time in NBA history in field goals made with 10,514 career field goals.
On February 8, the Miami Heat won their 12th straight game in a row, making it the longest winning streak for a team below .500 in NBA history, passing the 1996-97 Phoenix Suns. The streak would reach 13 straight before losing to the Philadelphia 76ers on February 11.
On February 10, Draymond Green became the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double while failing to score in double figures. In the Warriors' 122–107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Green only scored 4 points, but collected 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 steals. Green also became the first player to record 10 steals and 5 blocks in a game since those became official NBA statistics in the 1973–74 season.
On February 12, Carmelo Anthony passed Charles Barkley for 25th on the all-time scoring list.
On February 13, the San Antonio Spurs earned their 42nd victory of the season, clinching the franchise's 20th straight winning season, setting an NBA record for most consecutive winning seasons by a single team.
On February 13, the Denver Nuggets made 24 three-pointers in a 132–110 win against the Golden State Warriors. The Nuggets' 24 three-pointers tied the NBA record for most three-pointers made in a single regular season game, along with the Houston Rockets who set the record earlier in the season on December 16.
On February 15, Vince Carter passed Allen Iverson for 23rd on the all-time scoring list with 24,369 career points.
On February 15, Russell Westbrook recorded his 27th triple-double of the season, moving into sole possession of third place all-time for most triple-doubles in a single season behind Oscar Robertson's 41 in 1962 and Wilt Chamberlain's 31 in 1968.
On February 15, Kyle Korver made his 2,000th career 3-pointer, becoming just the seventh player in NBA history to reach that milestone.
On February 16, Isaiah Thomas set a Boston Celtics franchise record by scoring 20+ points in his 41st straight game, breaking the previous record of 40 straight by John Havlicek.
