The 2021 NBL1 season was the second season of the

NBL1 The NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia run by the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of five conferences: NBL1 South, NBL1 North, NBL1 Central, NBL1 West and NBL1 East, with each consisting of bot ...

after the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. With

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and Central conferences introduced in 2020 alongside the South Conference, the NBL1 expanded further in 2021 with the inclusion of a West Conference. The 2021 season was the first to consist of multiple conferences and National participation, however the continued impact of the pandemic led to a disrupted and incomplete end to the season.

Background

The NBL1 had expanded in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

with

and Central conferences introduced alongside the South Conference. Following a cancelled season due to the

, the NBL1 returned in 2021 and expanded to four conferences after partnering with

Basketball Western Australia Basketball Western Australia is the governing body for the sport of basketball in the state of Western Australia. It is responsible for overseeing the development, promotion, and administration of basketball throughout Western Australia. The organ ...

to make the

State Basketball League NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

(SBL) the new West Conference.

Season

The season began on 10 April for the Central Conference, 16 April for the West Conference, 17 April for the South Conference and 14 May for the North Conference. The NBL1 National Finals were originally scheduled for Friday 10 September to Sunday 12 September in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. All four conferences had disrupted seasons due to the

and government restrictions. On 29 July, the NBL1 National Finals were pushed back one week to 17–19 September to allow extra time for the conferences to complete their seasons. However, on 13 August, the finals weekend was cancelled due to the uncertainty surrounding border control restrictions across Australia.

South

On 1 September, the NBL1 South season was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic and restrictions in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. With a combined 154 men's and women's games that could not be completed, it was decided to abandon the season with no champions and no individual awards. At the time of abandonment, the

Knox Raiders Knox Raiders is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Knox Basketball Incorporated (KBI), the major administrative basketball organisation in the ...

were on top of the women's ladder and the

North-West Tasmania Thunder The North-West Tasmania Thunder are an Australian basketball team based in Ulverstone, Tasmania. The Thunder compete in the Men's NBL1 South and play their home games at the Ulverstone Sports and Leisure Centre. Team history The franchise began i ...

were on top of the men's ladder.

North

On 17 August, with many regular season games still unplayed, the NBL1 North announced they would immediately conclude the regular season and advance to the finals. The women's

minor premiers A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymology ...

were the Southern Districts Spartans with a 12–0 record while the men's minor premiers were the Logan Thunder with a 12–1 record.

Cayla George Cayla George (née Francis; born 1 May 1989) is an Australian professional basketball player. She has played in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2023, she was named WNBL Most V ...

of the Mackay Meteorettes was named women's MVP while Jeremy Kendle of the Logan Thunder was named men's MVP. The women's grand final series saw the Logan Thunder defeat the Southern Districts Spartans 2–0, with 75–71 in game one and 63–61 in game two, while the men's grand final series saw the Mackay Meteors defeat the Cairns Marlins 2–0, with 81–78 in game one and 86–83 in game two. Mikhaela Cann of the Logan Thunder was named women's grand final MVP while Jerron Jamerson of the Mackay Meteors was named men's grand final MVP.

Central

The NBL1 Central completed their full 18-round schedule, with all 10 teams in both the men's and women's competitions playing 18 games. The women's minor premiers were the

Southern Tigers Southern Tigers is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching Southern Tigers Basketball Association (STBA), one of the major administrative b ...

with a 16–2 record while the men's minor premiers were the Stuart Sabres with a 14–4 record. Teige Morrell of the Southern Tigers was named women's MVP while C. J. Turnage of the

Norwood Flames Norwood may refer to: Places Australia * Norwood, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide ** Norwood Football Club, an Australian rules football club *Electoral district of Norwood, a state electoral district in South Australia * Norwood, Tasma ...

was named men's MVP. The women's grand final saw the Southern Tigers defeat the

North Adelaide Rockets North Adelaide Rockets is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching North Adelaide Basketball Club (NABC), the major administrative basketball ...

87–77 while the men's grand final saw the North Adelaide Rockets defeat the Norwood Flames 87–72. Teige Morrell of the Southern Tigers was named women's grand final MVP while Sunday Dech of the North Adelaide Rockets was named men's grand final MVP.

West

The NBL1 West saw the women's competition complete their season with each team playing 18 games, but due to multiple games being cancelled and not rescheduled, the men's competition had some teams fail to play all 22 games. The women's minor premiers were the Willetton Tigers with a 15–3 record while the men's minor premiers were the

Perry Lakes Hawks Perry Lakes Hawks is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Perry Lakes Basketball Association (PLBA), the major administrative basketball org ...

with an 18–4 record.

Alexandra Sharp Alexandra Jane Sharp (born 4 February 1997) is an Australian professional basketball player. Early life and career Sharp was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and attended Our Lady of Mercy College, Heidelberg, Our Lady of Mercy College. Sharp atte ...

of the Willetton Tigers was named women's MVP while Nic Pozoglou of the

Cockburn Cougars Cockburn Cougars is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Cockburn Basketball Association (CBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

was named men's MVP. The women's grand final saw the Willetton Tigers defeat the

Joondalup Wolves Joondalup Wolves is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Wanneroo Basketball Association (WBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

65–54 while the men's grand final saw the Perry Lakes Hawks defeat the

Rockingham Flames Rockingham Flames is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of the Rockingham Basketball and Recreation Association (RBRA), the major administrat ...

92–82. Alexandra Sharp of the Willetton Tigers was named women's grand final MVP while

Andrew Ferguson Andrew Ferguson (born June 28, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Career Ferguson is currently a staff writer at ''The Atlantic''. Previously, he was senior editor of ''The Weekly Standard'' (defunct since December 2018), and a columni ...

of the Perry Lakes Hawks was named men's grand final MVP.

Champions summary

Women

Men

References

External links

"2021 NBL1 stats: Top performers"
at central.rookieme.com {{DEFAULTSORT:NBL1,2021

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2020–21 in Australian basketball 2021–22 in Australian basketball Basketball events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic