The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) was an American semi-professional basketball league that operated from 1969 to 1974. Founded in 1969, the league originally began from an idea to keep the football players from the Central States Football League in shape during the offseason. The Continental name was chosen over Central States Basketball League so that it would be more inviting to potential teams outside of Illinois and Wisconsin, where the football league was based. The CBA played using National Basketball Association rules, which included a 24-second shot clock. Each team played a 20-game schedule, divided into 10 home games and 10 away.