Basketball National League

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]

This article is about the South African professional basketball league. For the American basketball minor league, see Premier Basketball League. For the Indonesian basketball minor league, see Premier Basketball League (Indonesia).

Basketball National League
Founded1993 (1993)
(as Premier Basketball League)
First season1993–94
CountrySouth Africa
Number of teams12 (Men)
11 (Women)
Current championsMen: Cape Town Tigers (1st title)
(2023)
Women: Tshwane Suns (1st title)
(2021)
Most championshipsMen: Egoli Magic (5 titles)
Women: Three teams (1 title)
CEOAlbert Mokoena
TV partnersSuperSport
Websitebnlsa.com

The current champions are the Cape Town Tigers, who won the 2023 season.

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:

Men and Women 'sTeam Location
Cape Town Tigers Cape Town
Eastern Cape Windbreakers

Eastern Cape

Egoli Magic

Gauteng

Free State Warriors Free State
KwaZulu MarlinsKwaZulu-Natal
Limpopo Pride

Limpopo

Mpumalanga Rhinos

Mpumalanga

Northern Cape Zebras

Northern Cape

North West Eagles

North West

Soweto Panthers

Gauteng

Tshwane Suns

Gauteng

Western Cape Mountaineers

Western Cape

Championships

Men
Season Champions Runners-up
1997Kwazulu Marlins
2013Tshwane Suns
2014Tshwane Suns
2015Egoli Magic
2016Egoli Magic
2017Tshwane Suns
2018Soweto PanthersEgoli Magic
2019Egoli MagicSoweto Panthers
2020–21Egoli MagicSoweto Panthers
2021Egoli Magic Tshwane Suns
2022 Tshwane Suns Western Cape Mountaineers
2023 Cape Town Tigers Tshwane Suns

Women
WBNL
Season Champions Runners-up
2016 Sturdy Stars Fierce A.
2020-21 Egoli Magic Tshwane Suns
2021 Tshwane Suns Western Cape Mountaineers

[6]

All-Star Team

The 2018 All-Star Team consisted of:

Individual wards
Season MVP Final MVP Ref.
2014South Africa Tichifara Mabiza (Suns)
2015Angola Jose Salvador (Egoli)
2017South Africa Stephen Gabriel (Suns) [7]
2018Zimbabwe Tatenda Maturure (Soweto)
2019South Africa Bandile Nsele (Egoli) [8]
2020–21Portugal Miguel Ferrão (Egoli) South Africa Lehlogonolo Tholo (Soweto) [9]
2021 Emmanuel Shine South Africa Nkosinathi Sibanyoni [10]

See also

References
  1. "The Basketball National League Launch A Semi-Professional League For Women – Basketball National League". Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  2. "Basketball National League 2016, News, Teams, Scores, Stats, Standings, Awards - afrobasket". www.afrobasket.com. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  3. "African Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings". www.afrobasket.com. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  4. Basketball (And The NBA) Try To Find Fans In South Africa Don Boroughs (NPR), 3 August 2015. Accessed 3 December 2020.
  5. "Cape Town Tigers are 2023 BNL winners". Afrobasket.com. 30 July 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  6. "African Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings". www.afrobasket.com. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  7. "BNL Basketball 2017". Afrobsaket.com. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  8. "Egoli Produces Magic – Basketball National League". Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  9. "Reliving the BNL 2020-2021 Unforgettable Season – Basketball National League". Bnlsa.com. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  10. "African Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings". www.afrobasket.com. Retrieved 19 August 2022.


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