Central Division (NBA)

The Central Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The division consists of five teams, the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers, and the Milwaukee Bucks. All teams except the Cavaliers are former Midwest Division teams; thus, the Central Division now largely resembles the Midwest Division in the 1970s.

An earlier five-team Central Division previously existed for the 1949–50 season as one of three divisions in the NBA, along with the Western and Eastern divisions. The current Central Division was created at the start of the 1970–71 season, when the league expanded from 14 to 17 teams with the addition of the Buffalo Braves, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Portland Trail Blazers. The league realigned itself into two conferences, the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, with two divisions in each conference. The Central Division began with four inaugural members, the Atlanta Hawks, the Baltimore Bullets, the Cincinnati Royals, and the Cavaliers. The Hawks were moved from the Western Division, while the Bullets and the Royals were moved from the Eastern Division.

Thirteen NBA champions came from the Central Division. The Bulls won six championships, the Pistons won three, the Bucks won two, and the Bullets and Cavaliers won one each. All of the teams, except the 1977–78 Bullets and the 2003–04 Pistons, were division champions. In the 2005–06 season, all five teams from the division qualified for the playoffs. Overall, the Bucks have won thirteen Central Division titles, followed by the Bulls and Pistons with nine division titles each. The Central Division has the highest percentage of teams that have won a championship, with four out of the five teams having won an NBA title. The Pacers are the lone exception, although they did advance to the NBA Finals in 2000, and are the current Eastern Conference champions and playing in the 2025 NBA Finals.

Since the 2021–22 season, the Central Division champion has received the Wayne Embry Trophy, named after Hall of Famer Wayne Embry who played for the Bucks in the 1968–69 NBA season.