League vs League
NBA vs NHL
National Basketball Association versus National Hockey League — a side-by-side breakdown of two very different worlds of pro sports, plus the tools to compare their teams and players by the numbers.
Head to head
Basketball
Sport
Ice Hockey
1946
Founded
1917
30
Teams
32
October – June
Season
October – June
Points (2s, 3s, FTs)
Scoring
Goals
4 × 12 min
Game length
3 × 20 min
LeBron James, Nikola Jokić, Stephen Curry
Stars today
Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews
Basketball
NBA
National Basketball Association
Global superstar league with the highest-paid athletes in team sports.
Since 194630 teamsOctober – June
Ice Hockey
NHL
National Hockey League
Fastest team sport, playing for the Stanley Cup.
Since 191732 teamsOctober – June
Take it further
Compare teams & players from either league
CompariSport pulls real, historical stats going back decades. Pick 2–4 teams or players and see who leads every stat.