The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

league in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

), one team from

, and one team from

. The league was proposed in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

and launched its inaugural season on 1 October 2009.

History

Formation

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

officials from 6 ASEAN nations gathered in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

on 1 September 2009 to officially launch the new league.^{/sup>In its inaugural season, there were six participating teams from different nations in Southeast Asia:

League expansion

On 22 September 2011, the Brunei Barracudas announced that they were bowing out of the third season of ABL after participating for 2 seasons. On 20 October 2011, th
Saigon Sports Academy
officially announced the participation of Saigon Heat into the third season of ABL, making them the first ever international professional basketball team to represent Vietnam

Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
.

In the same season, San Miguel Beermen and Bangkok Cobras joined the league along with Saigon Heat. Unfortunately, the Beermen left the ABL after winning the title in 2013. The Cobras also left the league after one season. Further, in 2014, Laskar Dreya South Sumatra (INA) joined and played for a season.

In 2015, Pilipinas MX3 Kings and Mono Vampire joined the league and both teams left in 2016. On 17 July 2016, Kaohsiung Truth from Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
announced that they will participate in the 2016–17 season. In the same year, the Eastern Basketball Club confirmed its participation in the league. The two teams were the first teams from outside Southeast Asia to compete in the league.

The Philippines returned in the league with Alab Pilipinas

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas (under the corporate name Pilipinas Basketball Club, Inc. or PBCI) is a Filipino professional basketball team which played in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) under the sponsorship of San Miguel Corporation. The tea ...
on 6 August 2016. In September 2017, ABL confirmed four new teams for the 2017–18 season: CLS Knights Indonesia

BTN CLS Knights Indonesia is a basketball club based in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia that plays in the ASEAN Basketball League. Their home games are played at GOR Kertajaya Surabaya.
History
Indonesian Basketball League (IBL)
First yea ...
, Formosa Dreamers, the returning Mono Vampire Basketball Club

The Mono Vampire Basketball Club () is a Thai basketball team that previously played in the ASEAN Basketball League. They have also participated at the Thailand Basketball League. It is owned by Mono Group, a Thai media and technology conglome ...
, and the Nanhai Kung Fu after the Kaoshiung Truth disbanded after the seventh season of ABL.

After the 2018 season, the Kung Fu moved to Macau and became the Macau Black Bears, while the league announced the addition of the Zhuhai Wolf Warriors, based in Zhuhai in the Pearl River delta. On 9 September 2019, the league confirmed the entry of the third team from Taiwan

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
, Taipei Fubon Braves situated in Taipei

Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
after Formosa Dreamers and disbanded Kaohsiung Truth. Fubon Braves secured the best record in the Super Basketball League and capped it off with the SBL championship after sweeping the Finals series in four games. They are also one of the eight teams to compete in the 2019 FIBA Asia Champions Cup

The 2019 FIBA Asia Champions Cup was the 28th staging of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, the international basketball club tournament of FIBA Asia. The tournament took place in Thailand from 24 to 29 September 2019. Games were played at Stadium29 in ...
.

COVID-19 pandemic

The 2019-20 ABL season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
in March 2020 placing the status of the ABL in uncertainty. The withdrawal of Mono Vampires, the reports of Taiwanese teams planning to join a domestic league, and the inactivity of the league's social media site were among the factors that fueled speculations that the ABL itself would fold. However, an ABL co-owner dispelled such rumors committing the resumption of the league stating that they plan to hold the eleventh season in 2021. Plans to resume the league were postponed again with the new starting date for the season initially being in February 2022. The start date was pushed back again a month later to September. The plan did not proceed as plan. In October, the ABL through social media announced that it is returning without providing anymore details.

Teams

Current teams

Former teams

Champions

The finals is a best-of-5 (2–2–1) series (2010, 2013, 2016–present); it was a best-of-3 (1–1–1) series from 2011 to 2012 and 2014.

* ^ finished regular season with the best win–loss record.

Championship table by club

This medal ranking is based on the club/team representation.

* Bold: teams that are still active
*''Italic'': teams from outside Southeast Asia

Individual awards

ABL presents five individual awards to players: the Local MVP, World Import MVP, ASEAN Heritage MVP, and the Defensive Player of the Year. The Coach of the Year award is given to the league's best head coach of the season.

Prior to the 2015–16 ABL season, there was only one MVP award for imports and was called the Best Import award. It was divided into two for World Imports (for players hailing from outside Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
and to the ASEAN Heritage Imports (for players from other Southeast Asian countries or players with at least one Southeast Asian parent). Also, the Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards were only awarded since the 2012 season.

Most Valuable Players

Locals

World Imports

Heritage Imports

Finals

Special Awards

Defensive Player of the Year

Coach of the Year

See also

*ABL 3x3 International Champions Cup

The ABL 3x3 International Champions Cup, also known as the ABL 3x3 Cup, is a 3x3 basketball tournament held by the organizers of the ASEAN Basketball League.
Background
The ASEAN Basketball League was launched in 2009 as a traditional 5-a-side b ...

References

External links

*

{{Men's professional basketball leagues

International club basketball competitions
Sports leagues established in 2009
Multi-national professional sports leagues
Basketball leagues in Asia
2009 establishments in Asia
Tune Group}