The Basketball National League (BNL) is the pre-eminent male professional

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. The league was founded in 2013, however, before the Premier Basketball League had been running as the country's premier basketball league. The league also has a female counterpart, the Women's Basketball National League, which was established in 2021. Egoli Magic are the most successful club in league history, having won five championships.

History

PBL era

Founded in 1994 as the Premier Basketball League (PBL), the league was founded by six franchises. In an agreement with the national federation

Basketball South Africa Basketball South Africa (BSA) is the governing body for men's and women's basketball in South Africa, and is responsible for the administration of the South African national basketball teams (both men's and women's), BSA has been an affiliate of ...

, the league began with four new teams, namely Capetown Eagles, Soweto Panthers, Capetown Kings and Pretoria Suns. The leaguge was sponsored by Allied Bank, and later by Telkom. The PBL was disbanded in 1996. The PBL disappeared for the following years, but made a return after nine years in 2007. The final of that season was won by the Soweto Panthers.

BNL era

After a 14-year period without a national men's league, the Basketball National League (BNL) was founded in 2013. The

Tshwane Suns Tshwane Suns is a basketball team located in Tshwane, South Africa. The team competes in South Africa's highest division, the Basketball National League (BNL).

won the inaugural BNL championship. The BNL Season of 2018 started in August, the 3rd and ended on October, the 27th. For the first time ever, the championship was won by the Soweto Panthers. In 2016 the league piloted a women's division in Gauteng, The Sturdy Stars won the title that year. South Africa saw the official nationwide launch of the Women's Basketball National League (WBNL) in 2021, with the participating club expansion the W-Tshwane Suns won their first national championship on the 27 November 2021. Because of the scarcity of available basketball arenas, all games between 2013 and 2015 were played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in Stafford, Gauteng,

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

, a former ice-rink which holds up to 3,000 visitors.Basketball (And The NBA) Try To Find Fans In South Africa
Don Boroughs (

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), 3 August 2015. Accessed 3 December 2020. The league expanded to 12 clubs in the 2023 season, when the

Cape Town Tigers The Cape Town Tigers are a South African professional basketball team founded in Cape Town. The Tigers have played in the Basketball National League (BNL) and played in three seasons of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) between 2022 and 2024. ...

, joined the league. The Tigers had already played in two seasons of the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized by NBA Africa and the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Each season typically r ...

(BAL), the continent's most important tournament. The Tigers won the league in their debut season, after going unbeaten. The defending champions Tigers withdrew for the sequential 2024 season because of budgetary constraints. Meanwhile, a

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

was introduced and last-ranked Eastern Cape Windbreakers were relegated, while MBB from the Inner City Super League (ICSL) joined the league.

Current clubs

The league currently has 11 clubs:

Former teams

List of champions

Performance by team

Individual awards

MVP and Final MVP

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Men's professional basketball leagues Basketball competitions in South Africa Basketball leagues in Africa Professional sports leagues in South Africa