Basketball National League
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Founded | 1993 (as Premier Basketball League) |
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First season | 1993–94 |
Country | South Africa |
Number of teams | 12 (Men) 11 (Women) |
Current champions | Men: Cape Town Tigers (1st title) (2023) Women: Tshwane Suns (1st title) (2021) |
Most championships | Men: Egoli Magic (5 titles) Women: Three teams (1 title) |
CEO | Albert Mokoena |
TV partners | SuperSport |
Website | bnlsa.com |
The Basketball National League (BNL) is the pre-eminent male and female semi-professional basketball league in South Africa. Since its inception in 1993 the league has been exclusively played by male club teams, in 2021 the women's division officially launched. The 11 teams of the WBNL are the female teams of the current participating clubs.[1]
The current champions are the Cape Town Tigers, who won the 2023 season.
Contents
History
Founded in 1993 as the Premier Basketball League, it was disbanded in 1996. The league was renamed the Basketball National League in 2013. 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.[2]
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.[3]
Because of the scarcity of available basketball arenas, all games between 2013 and 2015 were played at Wembley Stadium in Stafford, Gauteng, City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, a former ice-rink which holds up to 3,000 visitors.[4]
The league expanded in 2023, when the Cape Town Tigers, joined the league. The Tigers had already played in two seasons of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), the continent's most important tournament. The Tigers won the league in their debut season, after going unbeaten.[5]
Current clubs
The league currently has 11 clubs:
Championships
Men
Season | Champions | Runners-up |
---|---|---|
1997 | Kwazulu Marlins | |
2013 | Tshwane Suns | |
2014 | Tshwane Suns | |
2015 | Egoli Magic | |
2016 | Egoli Magic | |
2017 | Tshwane Suns | |
2018 | Soweto Panthers | Egoli Magic |
2019 | Egoli Magic | Soweto Panthers |
2020–21 | Egoli Magic | Soweto Panthers |
2021 | Egoli Magic | Tshwane Suns |
2022 | Tshwane Suns | Western Cape Mountaineers |
2023 | Cape Town Tigers | Tshwane Suns |
Women
Season | Champions | Runners-up |
---|---|---|
2016 | Sturdy Stars | Fierce A. |
2020-21 | Egoli Magic | Tshwane Suns |
2021 | Tshwane Suns | Western Cape Mountaineers |
All-Star Team
The 2018 All-Star Team consisted of:
- Tatenda Maturure (Soweto Panthers)
- Vusimuzi Sithole (Soweto Panthers)
- Reece Prinsloo (Soweto Panthers)
- Marcus Mokoena (Soweto Panthers)
- Kwazi Gumede (eGoli Magic)
- Miguel Ferrao (eGoli Magic)
- Sbusiso Cele (eGoli Magic)
- Kagiso Ngotjana (Tshwane Suns)
- Richard Lubasi (Mpumalanga Rhinos)
- Nkosinathi Sibanyoni (Mpumalanga Rhinos)
- Stenard Mapurisa (Western Cape Mountaineers)
- Nhlanhla Dlamini (KwaZulu Marlins)
Individual wards
Season | MVP | Final MVP | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Tichifara Mabiza (Suns) | ||
2015 | Jose Salvador (Egoli) | ||
2017 | Stephen Gabriel (Suns) | [7] | |
2018 | Tatenda Maturure (Soweto) | ||
2019 | Bandile Nsele (Egoli) | [8] | |
2020–21 | Miguel Ferrão (Egoli) | Lehlogonolo Tholo (Soweto) | [9] |
2021 | Emmanuel Shine | Nkosinathi Sibanyoni | [10] |
See also
References
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- ↑ Basketball (And The NBA) Try To Find Fans In South Africa Don Boroughs (NPR), 3 August 2015. Accessed 3 December 2020.
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External links
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