What Is the NBL? A Beginner's Guide to Australia's Basketball League

The NBL, or National Basketball League, is the top professional men's basketball league in Australia. It has run every year since 1979, and today ten clubs across Australia and New Zealand play a season that runs from September to March. If you have watched the NBA and want a local team to follow, or you have just been to your first game, this guide covers the basics.

The ten NBL clubs

Nine clubs are in Australia and one is in New Zealand. Melbourne has two teams, and every other club represents a city or state:

• Adelaide 36ers: Adelaide, South Australia
• Brisbane Bullets: Brisbane, Queensland
• Cairns Taipans: Cairns, Queensland
• Illawarra Hawks: Wollongong, New South Wales
• Melbourne United: Melbourne, Victoria
• NZ Breakers: Auckland, New Zealand
• Perth Wildcats: Perth, Western Australia
• South East Melbourne Phoenix: South-east Melbourne, Victoria
• Sydney Kings: Sydney, New South Wales
• Tasmania JackJumpers: Hobart, Tasmania

See every NBL team and arena for home courts, first seasons and championships.

How the season works

Preseason games are played in September, then the regular season runs from late September to around February. Every club plays the same number of games, half at home and half away, and the ladder ranks teams by win percentage. The top six go to the finals, which end in a best-of-five Grand Final series in March. The finals format guide explains the play-in and the series in detail.

How NBL basketball differs from the NBA

The NBL plays under FIBA rules, the same rules used at the Olympics. Games are 40 minutes rather than 48, the three-point line is closer, players foul out on five fouls rather than six, and there is no defensive three-second rule. Scores are lower than in the NBA because games are shorter, not because the play is slower. Read the full comparison in NBL vs NBA rules.

Who plays in the NBL?

Rosters are built around Australian and New Zealand players, many of whom also play for the Boomers or the Tall Blacks, plus a small number of imports from overseas. The league also runs the Next Stars program for young NBA draft prospects, which brought LaMelo Ball to Illawarra and Alex Sarr to Perth. The players page lists everyone who has played this season, with their averages.

A short history

The league started in 1979 as a winter competition and moved to a summer season in 1998. The Perth Wildcats are the most successful club with ten titles, and several early champions, like the Canberra Cannons and the St Kilda Saints, no longer exist. The full list of NBL champions goes back to the first season.

How to watch and follow

In Australia, every game is shown on ESPN, and a selection each week is free to air on Channel 9 and 9Now. The how to watch guide has this season's free-to-air games. To keep up:

• The schedule and results page shows every game in your own time zone, and you can add the fixture to your calendar.
• Every game has a live game centre with a box score, a shot chart, rotations and play-by-play, plus a written recap after the final siren.
• Pick a team from the teams page and follow it to have its games highlighted across the site.