The first NBA draft under the new CBA rules was conducted, where draftees must be at least a year removed from high school graduation and are at least 19 years old to be eligible. Andrea Bargnani of Italy was selected by the Toronto Raptors as the No. 1 pick, becoming the second foreign player without U.S. collegiate basketball background to be selected No. 1. Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy was named Rookie of the Year.
A new design for the official NBA game ball was revealed on June 28, 2006, at the NBA draft. Amid complaints by players and coaches, the league switched back to the previous ball on January 1, 2007.
The Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks entered into a brawl near the end of a December 16 match up. All ten players on the court at the time, including Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony (the league's leading scorer at the time), were ejected. Seven players were suspended as a result of the incident, the most notable of which was Carmelo Anthony's 15-game suspension.
After the 2006 Playoff controversy, the format of team seeds changed. Each division winner may be seeded no lower than 4th, but the top non-division-winning playoff team may seed higher than a divisional champ if they have a better win–loss record. Home court advantage is given to the team with the better record, regardless of seeding.
The Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks notched multiple 12+ game win-streaks during the course of the regular season. The Suns rattled off streaks of 15 and 17 games straight (tied for fifth longest in NBA history), while the Mavericks' streaks stretched to 12, 13, and 17 games straight.[4] The San Antonio Spurs joined these two teams by notching a 13-game winning streak.
The Toronto Raptors won their first division title in the franchise's twelve-year history. It also marked the first time a Canadian-based NBA team had won a division title.[6]
The Golden State Warriors, who had not qualified for the playoffs since 1994, became the first 8 seed to defeat a 1 seed in a best-of-seven playoff series, defeating the 67-win Dallas Mavericks in 6 games.[7]
Long-time Boston Celtics coach and executive Red Auerbach died on October 28 of heart attack at age 89. Reeling with the loss of their patriarch, and being down two key contributors in Paul Pierce and Tony Allen, the Celtics finished the season with the second-worst record in the NBA, at 24–58, which included a franchise record 18–game losing streak. Another Celtics legend, Dennis Johnson, died on February 22, 2007, of the same ailment at age 52. This led to them acquiring both Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the following season, to turn their legendary franchise around to a 42–game improvement that followed suit for the next five seasons for the three players.
Boston Celtics – slightly changed their uniforms added their alternate logo of a cloverleaf above the jersey.
Milwaukee Bucks – added new logo and new uniforms, replacing dark green, purple, grey and silver with remained dark green, grey and silver, added red to their color scheme added side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
New Jersey Nets – added new red road alternate uniforms with dark navy blue side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
New York Knicks – added new green road alternate uniforms with black side panels to their jerseys and shorts for St. Patrick's day only.
Utah Jazz – added new light blue road alternate uniforms with dark navy blue side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
Toronto Raptors – red road alternate uniforms they wore for the past three seasons became their primary road jersey.
Washington Wizards – added new gold and black road alternate uniforms with stars to their jerseys and shorts.
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics
