Notable occurrences

• A new league dress code was put into effect at the beginning of the year by commissioner David Stern.
• The Miami Heat win their first NBA championship in franchise history. They become the third franchise (joining the 1969 Boston Celtics and 1977 Portland Trail Blazers) to win the NBA Finals after losing the first two games. They are also the first of the four 1988/89 expansion franchises to win a championship.
• The All-Star Game was played on February 19, 2006 at the Toyota Center in Houston with the East beating the West 122–120. LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers won the game's MVP honors.
• This season marked the first season of the Charlotte Bobcats in their new arena in downtown Charlotte.
• Due to the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Hornets played 32 regular season games in the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, 6 games at LSU's Pete Maravich Assembly Center, and just 3 games at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans in March. (External Link) Due to the split, the team was officially referred to as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.
• This season marked the first under the NBA's new Collective Bargaining Agreement, agreed upon by the owners and the player union on June 21.
• The season was marked by the 30th anniversary of the absorption of four American Basketball Association members into the league: The Indiana Pacers, the New Jersey Nets, the Denver Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs all joined in 1976.
• On January 22, 2006, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors. This was the second-highest single game scoring total in league history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.
• Scottie Pippen (Bulls), Karl Malone (Jazz), and Reggie Miller (Pacers) had their numbers retired by their respective franchises.
• The NBA held the Hardwood Classics program for the fifth straight season. The Bulls, Rockets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Nets, Knicks, Magic, Suns, Sonics, and Wizards all took part by wearing throwback jerseys for select games.
• On the last day of the regular season, Ray Allen broke the single season record for most three-pointers, at 269. (External Link)
• In Game 5 of the first round playoff series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers, Suns guard Raja Bell did a clotheslining of Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. On the eve of Game 6, Kobe stated that Bell was "a kid who didn't get hugged as a child", despite Bell being a year older than Bryant, to which Bell replied that Kobe was arrogant and got all the cheap calls from referees.
• The NBA Finals was jokingly referred to as the "American Airlines" series since both competing teams played in an arena sponsored by the airline. The Miami Heat play their games at American Airlines Arena while the Dallas Mavericks reside in the American Airlines Center.
• All five teams in the Central Division made the playoffs, marking the first time all teams in a division made the playoffs.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference