NBL – National Basketball League 2021

The National Basketball League (NBL) is the premier professional men’s basketball tournament held in Australasia. Inaugurated in 1979 the competition currently pits nine NBL teams – up from eight for the 2019/20 NBL season on – against each other across the season for the Championship title.

For the 2021-22 NBL Season, a tenth club will enter the competition with the addition of the Tasmanian JackJumpers.

The regular NBL season runs from October to February of the following calendar year across a 28 week regular season that sees each team have 14 home games and 14 away clashes.

The 2020-21 NBL season start was delayed and got underway in mid-January due to COVID-19 interruptions to the schedule. 

The NBL Finals traditionally take place from late February – March to decide the NBL Champions and are played between the top four teams on the NBL Ladder at the end of the regular season. Originally the NBL season ran during the winter, but since in the 1998-99 season it has run over the summer to avoid a clash with the famous Aussie football codes over the winter including the NRL and AFL whose Grand Finals are held in October.

This is a far cry from the NBL’s American counterpart – the NBA – which features a huge 82 game season and features the world’s premier pro-basketballers.

NBL PREVIEWS

NBL BETTING ODDS

The current NBL Teams are the:

• Adelaide 36ers
• Brisbane Bullets
• Cairns Taipans
• The Hawks
• Melbourne United
• Perth Wildcats
• Sydney Kings
• South East Melbourne Phoenix
• New Zealand Breakers

The only one of these NBL clubs to have played every single season since 1979 is the Illawarra Hawks – formerly the Wollongong Hawks – and from 2020-21 onwards known simply as The Hawks. The New Zealand Breakers are the sole NBL team based outside of Australia.

The South East Melbourne Phoenix are the newest NBL club to join the competition playing their first season in 2019/20.

2021 NBL SEASON

• 2020/21 NBL Season Dates: January 2021 – TBA
• 2020/21 NBL Finals Dates: TBD
• Defending NBL Champions: Perth Wildcats
• 2020 Champions: Perth Wildcats (10th title)
• 2021 Champions: TBD

The 2020/21 NBL Season got off to a delayed start in January of 2021 after nearly a year-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previously, the 2019/20 NBL Season came to an early finish due to the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in the final two games of the 2020 NBL Finals series being cancelled.

The Perth Wildcats were awarded their 10th title leading the series against the Sydney Kings 2 – 1 when the season was cancelled on March 15.

NBL Betting

Betting on the NBL is open right across the season with a range of top NBL odds on offer from head-to-head pricing on each game to futures markets on the NBL Championship Winners.

NBL Finals

The NBL Finals are held from late February to early March each season. They are contested between the four highest-ranked teams on the season’s table and are made-up of two semi-finals series and the coveted NBL Grand Final series that decides the current Championship winners.

NBL Finals betting is open across the season on the teams most likely to be crowned the NBL Champions.

NBL Awards

The NBL also awards a Most Valuable Player (MVP) each season who takes out the Andrew Gaze Trophy, named in honour of a former champion player in both Australia and America for such clubs as the San Antonio Spurs, Washington Bullets and Melbourne Tigers. Gaze is the current head coach of the Sydney Kings and won the MVP award seven times. This award is the NBL equivalent of the NRL’s Dally M and the AFL’s Brownlow Medal.

Odds are open each season on the NBL Most Valuable Player and are a great exotic basketball betting market to get involved in.

Other notable NBL awards given out each season include the:

• Larry Sengstock Medal for the Most Valuable Player in the Grand Final Series
• Lindsay Gaze Trophy for the NBL Coach of the Year
• NBL Rookie Of The Year
• Most Improved Player
• Best Defensive Player
• Best Sixth Man

NBL MVP AWARD WINNERS

Below are the NBL Most Valuable Player winners dating back to 1979.

NBL Results & History

NBL results date back to the competition’s inaugural season in 1979 won by the St Kilda Saints. Of the current NBL Teams the most successful is the Perth Wildcats who have won nine NBL Grand Finals series to take out the Championship since they entered the league in 1982.

Two other current clubs boast an equal four Championship wins in NBL history with the Adelaide 36ers and New Zealand Breakers. Overall Melbourne United have enjoyed five NBL Championship titles, but their first as a rebranded outfit came in the 2018 NBL Grand Final Series.

Defunct NBL clubs to have won the Championship include the Canberra Cannons (1983, 1984, 1988) and the North Melbourne Giants (1989, 1994).

NBL CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE WINS

NBL Hall of Fame

The NBL Hall of Fame has been in place since 1998, which was the 20th NBL Season anniversary. It recognises outstanding service to the NBL from players, game officials and other pro-basketball contributors.

NBL Players need to have been retired from the game for at least four seasons and have played a minimum of 100 games to be eligible for induction into the National Basketball League Hall of Fame. Coaches have to have been retired for at least four seasons and been head coach of a NBL club for at least 10 seasons. There are also eligibility restrictions for NBL Referees and NBL Contributors.

NBL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

WNBL

The Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) is the women’s equivalent of the NBL and is the marquee pro-basketball competition for female players held in Australia. The tournament was formerly known as the Women’s Interstate Basketball Conference (WIBC) and was founded in 1981.

The league is currently comprised of eight WNBL Teams:

• Adelaide Lightning
• Bendigo Spirit
• Melbourne Boomers
• Perth Lynx
• Southside Flyers
• Sydney Uni Flames
• Townsville Fire
• University of Canberra Capitals

A number of these WNBL clubs have NBL counterparts playing in the men’s league. A number of international players from America’s WNBA competition player during their off-season for the WMBL down under. And vice versa, the WNBL can be a major stepping stone for Aussie players looking to make it in the WNBL in the USA.

The WNBL runs across a 24-game regular season beginning in early October and the WMBL Grand Final to decide the WNBL Champion club.