National Basketball League (China)

For the pre-eminent professional men's basketball league in Australia, see National Basketball League (Australia). For the professional men's basketball league in New Zealand, see National Basketball League (New Zealand). For other national basketball leagues, see National Basketball League.
National Basketball League (NBL)
Sport Basketball
Founded 2004
Inaugural season 2004
No. of teams Division A: 10
Division B: 6
Country China
Continent FIBA Asia (Asia)
Most recent champion(s) Guangxi Weizhuang Rhinos (1st title)
Most titles Jiangsu Tongxi Monkey King (2 titles)
Level on pyramid 2
Official website NBL

The National Basketball League (simplified Chinese: 全国男子篮球联赛; traditional Chinese: 全國男子籃球聯賽; pinyin: Quánguó Nánzǐ Lánqiú Liánsài) is a professional basketball minor league in China, called Chinese Basketball League (CBL) before 2006. It is commonly known as the NBL, and this name (spelled out in letters) is often used even in Chinese.

NBL is the second-tier league to the professional Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Inaugural season

The first regular season of the CBL began in April 2004. Eight teams advanced to the playoffs:

On 4 August 2004, Yunnan Honghe Running Bulls defeated Guandong Dongguan New Century to win the first ever CBL championship and were promoted to the CBA for the 20042005 season.

2009 NBL ladder (championship round)

Rank Team Played Win Loss Last 5 Streak PF per game PA per game PD per game Winning %
1 Dongguan Park Lane (东莞柏宁) 14 11 3 4-1 W1 92.57 81.5 11.07 78.6%
2 Guangzhou Freemen (广州自由人) 14 11 3 4-1 W2 94.71 88.43 6.28 78.6%
3 Jiangsu Tongxi (江苏同曦) 14 10 4 3-2 W3 98.71 91.86 6.85 71.4%
4 Heilongjiang Zhaozhou Fengshen (黑龙江肇州丰绅) 14 6 8 3-2 L1 94 92.14 1.86 42.9%
5 Shenyang Dongjin (沈阳东进) 14 6 8 3-2 L2 88.5 89.29 -0.79 42.9%
6 Henan Jiyuan Iron and Steel (河南济源钢铁) 14 6 8 1-4 W1 91.29 98.43 -7.14 42.9%
7 Guangzhou Whampoa Liusui (广州黃埔六穗) 14 5 9 1-4 L1 93.07 97.14 -4.07 35.7%
8 Hanzhou Yongtong (杭州永通) 14 1 13 1-4 L2 85.64 99.71 -14.07 7.1%

Current clubs

There are currently 16 clubs in the league. From the 2013 season onwards, the league will be competing under two divisions. After an assessment by the CBA, mainly based on results from the 2012 NBL season, ten clubs have been assigned to Division A and six clubs to Division B. After the regular season, teams finishing in the top four in Division A will advance to the Championship playoffs while the bottom two teams and the top two teams in Division B will form another playoff group, teams finishing in the top two in this group will qualify for Division A next season.[1]

Division A

Division B

See also

References