2016–17 NBA season
The 2016–17 NBA season was 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. 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 ended on April 12, 2017, and the playoffs began on April 15, 2017, and ended on June 12, 2017, with the Golden State Warriors going 16–1 in the playoffs and beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games during their third consecutive matchup in the NBA Finals. This was the last season for the NBA to use Adidas jerseys. Starting with the 2017-18 NBA season, the jerseys  were from Nike. Also, Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors, and Dwyane Wade with the Chicago Bulls, after playing their entire careers until then with one team (Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat, respectively). Transactions. Free agency. Free agency negotiations began on July 1, 2016, at 12:01 a.m. e.t. Players were allowed to sign starting on July 6, after the July moratorium ended. Coaching changes. In-season. There were no head coaching changes during the regular season. This was the first time since the 1963–64 NBA season that there was no in-season coaching changes, the  fourth time this happened in league history. Preseason. The preseason began on October 1, 2016, and ended on October 21, 2016. Regular season. The regular season began on October 25, 2016. Christmas Day games were played on December 25, 2016. The regular season ended on April 12, 2017. The schedule was released at 6:00 p.m. ET on August 11, 2016. By conference. Notes Playoffs. 2017 The 2017 NBA Playoffs began on April 15, 2017. In May 2017, ESPN aired the Western Conference Finals and TNT aired the Eastern Conference Finals. The season ended with the 2017 NBA Finals which began  on June 1, 2017, and ended on June 12, 2017, on ABC. Awards. Yearly awards. Awards were presented at the NBA Awards ceremony, which were held on June 26. Finalists for voted awards were announced during the playoffs and winners were presented at the award ceremony. The All-NBA Teams were announced in advance in order for teams to have all the necessary information to make off-season preparations. 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 was the first season of the new nine-year U.S. television contracts with ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV. In Canada, rights were 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 were 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 carried 105 additional regular season games, plus replays of other games carried on TSN and Sportsnet. Attendances. 2016–17 NBA teams attendances: