 The present organization known as the National Basketball Association, then called the BAA (Basketball Association of America), had its inaugural season in 1946–47.Teams had always have different strength of schedule from each other; currently, a team plays a team outside its conference twice, a team within its conference but outside its division three or four times, and a team from its own division four times.In the current system, eight clubs from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs, with separate playoff brackets for each conference.