Central Division

In 1949, the National Basketball Association (NBA) added a third division, the Central Division, to the Eastern and Western Divisions as a way to fairly divide seventeen professional basketball teams in the league. In 2003, after the addition of the Charlotte Bobcats team, the NBA agreed to create six divisions. Three divisions belong to the Eastern Conference and three to the Western Conference. Former Central Division teams include New Orleans Jazz (now known as Utah Jazz), Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks and the Houston Rockets.

The Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks basketball teams all currently play in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference.

Teams in the Central Division compete against each other to win the year's division title. Of the present teams, the Detroit Pistons lead the way with the most title wins, eight. Their latest Central division title came in the 2006-07 basketball season. The Pistons totaled ten division titles in the NBA and four while in the NBL. The Milwaukee Bucks closely follow with seven Central division titles and six division titles when they were part of the Midwest Division. The Chicago Bulls claim six Central division titles. The Indiana Pacers won their last division championship in 2004. The Cleveland Cavaliers won one division title in 1976.

The Central Division's teams goes on to play against the other teams from the other two divisions in their conference. These playoffs continue until the champions of each conference face each other in the NBA finals. The final winning team wins the NBA championship. The Detroit Pistons brought home the NBA championship three times and the Milwaukee Bucks won it once. Though the Indiana Pacers won three championships in the American Basketball Association (ABA), they have yet to win the NBA Championship. The Chicago Bulls prove their talent with six NBA Championship wins.

A regular season gives each team eight two games. Forty-one are played at their home arena; the other forty-one games are away. The newest rules rely on regular season records.

In the 2006 season drafts, the Chicago Bulls added Thabo Sefolosha of Angelico Biella, Viktor Khryapa and Tyrus Thomas from LSU to their team. The Cleveland Cavs added Shannon Brown of Michigan State, Ejike Ugboaja of Nigeria and Daniel Gibson of Texas. Making the Detroit Pistons draft were players Cheick Samb and Will Blalock of Iowa State. The Indiana Pacers chose gifted athletes, Shawne Williams of Memphis and James White of Cincinnati. And the Milwaukee Bucks brought in players Damir Markota of Cibona and David Noel of UNC.