National Basketball League (Japan)

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For other organizations with a similar name, see National Basketball League (disambiguation) and NBL (disambiguation).

The National Basketball League (NBL) is a professional basketball league in Japan. It exists alongside the bj league, which is Japan's other basketball competition. There is no system of promotion and relegation between bj-league and the NBL.

In 2012 the Japan Basketball Association (JBA) announced its intention to establish the National Basketball League as the top-flight professional league in Japan to replace its predecessor, the Japan Basketball League. Below the NBL is the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), which is the successor to the former JBL 2 division. The first NBL season started in Autumn 2013, with Toshiba defeating Wakayama to take the inaugural title in May 2014. [1]

The JBA was suspended by FIBA in November 2014 for failing to address the fragmentation of the sport into competing leagues. As a condition of FIBA lifting the suspension in August 2015, the NBL and NBDL will merge with the bj-league to form the B.League. The new league will commence in October 2016.[2]

Teams

The league's initial season in 2013-14 consisted of twelve teams. The eight teams that participated in the final season of the JBL1 joined the league, as well as the Hyogo Storks, who were champions of the JBL2. The Chiba Jets transferred to the league after having played two seasons in the bj-league, including a 9th place finish in 2012-13. Daytrick Tsukuba, who finished third in the JBL2 in 2012-13, applied to join the NBL, but subsequent financial difficulties saw them withdraw their application. They were replaced by the newly-formed Tsukuba Robots, who submitted a separate application for entry to the league. The twelfth team to join the league was the Kumamoto Volters, who had been seeking entrance into JBL2 since 2009. The teams were divided into Eastern and Western conferences as follows:

2013-14 National Basketball League - Eastern Conference
Team name City, Prefecture 2012-13 League
Chiba Jets Funabashi, Chiba bj-league (East conf. 6th)
Hitachi SunRockers Tokyo JBL1 (4th)
Levanga Hokkaido Sapporo, Hokkaido JBL1 (8th)
Link Tochigi Brex Utsunomiya, Tochigi JBL1 (6th)
Toshiba Brave Thunders Kanagawa Kawasaki, Kanagawa JBL1 (Runners-up)
Toyota Alvark Tokyo Fuchū, Tokyo JBL1 (3rd)
2013-14 National Basketball League - Western Conference
Team name City, Prefecture 2012-13 League
Aisin SeaHorses Mikawa Kariya, Aichi JBL1 (Champions)
Hyogo Storks Hyogo Prefecture JBL2 (Champions)
Kumamoto Volters Kumamoto, Kumamoto New team
Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins Nagoya Nagoya, Aichi JBL1 (7th)
Tsukuba Robots Tsukuba, Ibaraki New team
Wakayama Trians Wakayama, Wakayama JBL1 (5th)[note 1]
  1. ↑ Wakayama competed in the JBL as the Panasonic Trians

The 2014-15 season saw the Hiroshima Dragonflies enter the league as an expansion team[3] and the Tsukuba Robots transfer from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference. The league abandoned the two-conference system for the 2015-16 season; teams instead played five matches against each other for a total 55-game regular season.[4] The Wakayama Trians, who withdrew from the 2014-15 season in January 2015 due to financial difficulty,[5] were refused entry into the 2015-2016 season.[6]

Current teams

Former teams

Playoff champions

Season Champions Runners-up
2013–14 Toshiba Brave Thunders Kanagawa Wakayama Trians
2014–15 Aisin Seahorses Mikawa Toyota Alvark Tokyo

All-star game

Season Date Arena Host City Result MVP (Team)
2013–14 December 29, 2013 Ōta Gymnasium Ōta, Tokyo WEST 114-106 EAST Michael Parker (Wakayama Trians)
2014–15 January 17, 2015 WEST 127-114 EAST Amath M'Baye (Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins Nagoya)
2015–16 January 17, 2016 Todoroki Arena Kawasaki, Kanagawa WEST 152-145 EAST (2 OT) Davante Gardner (Nishinomiya Storks)[7]

References

  1. ↑ Brave Thunders cap dominant season with first NBL championship
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Hiroshima Dragonflies triumph in NBL regular season debut
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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