2022–23 NBA season

• 1. The Patch on Every Sleeve

  ›

  The 2022-23 NBA season began on the 18th of October 2022, with a commemorative patch stitched onto the right sleeve of every jersey in the sport. Bill Russell had died that summer. The NBA retired his number 6 across all thirty franchises, the first time any player's number had been retired league-wide. Courts around the country displayed a clover-shaped logo with the No. 6 on the sideline. Every team wore that patch for the duration of the season. Behind that unanimity, the year carried questions that would take months to resolve. Who would step forward to claim a new era? What lay ahead for a franchise caught in serious scandal? And which of the sport's oldest records would still be standing by June?

  28

• 2. Farewell Addresses

  ›

  On the 22nd of May 2023, Carmelo Anthony announced his retirement from the NBA. His career had spanned 19 seasons and six teams. Anthony earned ten NBA All-Star honors over that time, along with six All-NBA selections. He led the league in scoring during the 2012-13 season. He was also named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, a recognition reserved for the sport's most significant players.

  LaMarcus Aldridge retired on the 31st of March 2023, after 16 seasons that had earned him seven All-Star appearances. Five All-NBA selections came across stops at three different franchises. He departed alongside a generation of veterans who had defined the landscape of professional basketball for more than a decade.

  J. J. Barea, who had won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, retired on the 21st of July 2022. Gustavo Ayón, whose 16-year career included multiple titles in the EuroLeague and Spanish League, stepped away on the 20th of August 2022. Jodie Meeks announced his retirement on the 3rd of September 2022. A winner of the 2019 NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors, he had played for seven teams over a ten-year career.

  Keith Langford had played just two games for the San Antonio Spurs in 2007. He announced his retirement on the 4th of May 2023. The departures ranged from Carmelo Anthony's 19 seasons to Langford's two games. Into that gap, Paolo Banchero arrived. The Orlando Magic picked him first overall at the 2022 NBA Draft on the 23rd of June, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

  1210234

• 3. Thirty-Eight Thousand Points

  ›

  On the 15th of January 2023, LeBron James became just the second player in NBA history to reach 38,000 career points. Nine days later, he scored 46 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. That performance made him the first player ever to score 40 or more points against all 30 NBA teams.

  On the 31st of January 2023, James became the first player in league history to record a triple-double in his 20th NBA season. He finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 129-123 overtime win over the New York Knicks.

  On the 7th of February 2023, James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. The record came during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder: a fadeaway jumper over Kenrich Williams.

  Across the full regular season, James averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game. His 1,219 total field goals also set a record for any player in their 20th season or later. On that same night of the 31st of January, Russell Westbrook passed Gary Payton to take 10th place on the all-time assists list.

  28

• 4. Historic Nights

  ›

  On the 13th of November 2022, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers scored a career-high 59 points against the Utah Jazz. He added 11 rebounds, eight assists, and seven blocks. No player had ever combined 50-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, 5-plus assists, and 5-plus blocks in a single game. Philadelphia won 105-98. Twenty-six of Embiid's points and five of his blocks came in the fourth quarter alone.

  On the 27th of December 2022, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks produced a performance without precedent. He scored 60 points, pulled 21 rebounds, and distributed 10 assists in a 126-121 overtime comeback victory over the New York Knicks. No player had ever recorded a triple-double with 60 or more points. Four days later, on the 31st of December, Doncic set another record. He became the first player to accumulate 250 points, 50 rebounds, and 50 assists in a five-game span.

  On the 2nd of January 2023, Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers scored 71 points against the Chicago Bulls. He also recorded 11 assists and eight rebounds that night. Mitchell became the seventh player in NBA history to score at least 70 points in a single game. He was also the first to do so while recording at least 10 assists.

  Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers had two historic performances that winter. On the 25th of January 2023, he scored 60 points with a true shooting percentage of 89.8%. That was the highest mark in any 60-point-or-more performance in league history. He shot 21 of 29 from the field and 9 of 15 from three-point range. A month later, on the 26th of February, he scored 71 points against the Houston Rockets. He made 13 three-pointers, becoming the eighth player to reach the 70-point mark in a single game. At 32 years old, he was the oldest to do so. He is the only player in NBA history to score at least 70 while making at least 10 three-pointers. On the 2nd of March, Lillard broke a Michael Jordan record. He posted the most 40-point games in a season by a player aged 32 or older.

  Keegan Murray of the Sacramento Kings made his 200th three-pointer of the season on the 4th of April 2023. He had already set the single-season rookie record on the 29th of March, passing Donovan Mitchell's previous mark of 187.

  28

• 5. The Phoenix Crisis

  ›

  On the 13th of September 2022, the NBA and WNBA suspended Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver for one year. An independent investigation had found that Sarver used a racial slur multiple times. The probe also concluded that he had sexually harassed and assaulted employees and engaged in demeaning behavior toward staff.

  Sarver announced on the 21st of September 2022 that he was exploring the sale of both the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. By the 20th of December 2022, he had accepted a deal from an ownership group led by Mat Ishbia and his older brother Justin Ishbia. Ishbia was the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. The sale price was $4 billion, a record for a professional sports franchise at that time. It broke the mark set when Joe Tsai purchased the Brooklyn Nets from Mikhail Prokhorov in 2019.

  On the 6th of February 2023, the NBA's Board of Governors voted 29-0 to approve the sale. Only Dan Gilbert of the Cleveland Cavaliers abstained. The purchase became official on the 7th of February.

  The Denver Nuggets had committed to Nikola Jokic on the 9th of July 2022. They signed him to a five-year, $264 million supermax extension, the largest in league history at that time. By the end of the regular season, Denver had shot 50.4% from the field, the highest team field goal percentage in the league.

  90

• 6. Five Games in June

  ›

  The Miami Heat qualified for the 2023 playoffs through the play-in tournament, held April 11-14. In the first round, they defeated the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games. Miami became the first play-in team in NBA history to win a playoff series. The Los Angeles Lakers also emerged from the play-in round. They defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in six games, becoming the second play-in team and the first seventh seed to win a postseason series.

  For the first time ever, all four California teams qualified for the same playoffs. The Warriors, the Clippers, the Kings, and the Lakers all advanced. The Sacramento Kings were making their first playoff appearance in 16 seasons.

  Nikola Jokic led all players in efficiency per game during the regular season with a rating of 38.0. He also accumulated 29 triple-doubles, more than any other player in the league. The Denver Nuggets reached the Finals and defeated the Miami Heat in five games on the 12th of June 2023.

  On the 7th of June 2023, Udonis Haslem played in the Finals for Miami at the age of 42 years and 363 days. He became the oldest player in NBA Finals history, surpassing a record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar since 1989. Jokic won the Western Conference Finals MVP award, while Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat took the Eastern Conference equivalent.

  294647

• 7. New Names for Old Trophies

  ›

  Beginning with the 2022-23 season, the team with the best overall regular season record would receive the Maurice Podoloff Trophy. The award was named for Maurice Podoloff, who served as the NBA's commissioner from 1946 to 1963. The Podoloff Trophy had previously been given to the regular season's most valuable player. That honor was now renamed after Michael Jordan, a five-time winner often considered the greatest player in the league's history.

  The Clutch Player of the Year debuted as an entirely new award this season, honoring the player who best performs in high-pressure moments. It was named for Jerry West. Several existing awards also received new namesakes. The Defensive Player of the Year was renamed for Hakeem Olajuwon. The Most Improved Player trophy was renamed for George Mikan. The Rookie of the Year was renamed for Wilt Chamberlain. The Sixth Man of the Year was renamed for John Havlicek.

  Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers won the Most Valuable Player award, now bearing Michael Jordan's name. He had averaged 33.1 points per game during the regular season, leading the league in scoring. Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic took the Rookie of the Year. Malcolm Brogdon won the Sixth Man of the Year. Lauri Markkanen was named Most Improved Player. Jaren Jackson Jr. took the Defensive Player of the Year. De'Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings won the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year.

  On the 23rd of October 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced arrests tied to match fixing in four regular-season games from the 2022-23 campaign. The affected matchups included Milwaukee at Los Angeles Lakers on the 9th of February and Charlotte at New Orleans on the 23rd of March. Chicago at Portland on the 24th of March and Cleveland at Orlando on the 6th of April were also involved.

  3031333536