List of basketball leagues

This is a list of current and defunct basketball leagues around the world.

Men

Intercontinental

Africa

International leagues

  • BAL – Basketball Africa League

National leagues

 Algeria

  • ABC Super Division – Algerian Basketball Championship Super Division

 Angola

 Central African Republic

 Ghana

  • GSP Basketball League

 Egypt

 Liberia

  • LBA League

 Libya

 Morocco

 Mozambique

 Nigeria

  • NPL – Nigerian Premier League

 Rwanda

  • NBL – National Basketball League

 Senegal

 South Africa

 Tunisia

 Uganda

  • NBL – National Basketball League

Americas

International leagues

National leagues

 Argentina

 Bolivia

 Brazil

 Canada

 Chile

 Colombia

 Costa Rica

  • LBSCR – Liga de Baloncesto Superior de Costa Rica

 Cuba

  • LSB – Liga Superior de Baloncesto

 Dominican Republic

 Ecuador

 El Salvador

 Mexico

 Nicaragua

  • ACB League
  • LNB – Liga Nicaragüense de Baloncesto (2018–present)

 Panama

  • LPB – Liga Profesional de Baloncesto (2015–present)

 Paraguay

 Peru

 Puerto Rico

 Uruguay

 United States

College and university basketball

 Canada

 United States

Youth leagues

 Venezuela

Asia

International leagues

National leagues

 Bahrain

  • BPL – Bahraini Premier League

 China

 Hong Kong

 India

 Indonesia

  • IBL – Indonesian Basketball League

 Iran

 Iraq

 Kazakhstan

 Kuwait

 Japan

 Jordan

 Lebanon

 Mongolia

 Oman

 Philippines (Philippine basketball is not divided into a tier-like league system)

The Games and Amusements Board (GAB) issues professional licenses for players playing in professional leagues. GAB had instructed amateur leagues that are paying its players to be under its belt. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this hasn't been applied as the GAB has only allowed professional leagues (of any sport) to operate.

  • High school basketball:
    • FCAAF – Filipino-Chinese Amateur Athletic Federation
    • MMTLBA – Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association
    • PCYAA – Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association
    • PSSBC – Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship
    • PRISAA – Private Schools Athletic Association (Philippines)

 Qatar

 Saudi Arabia

  • SPL – Saudi Premier League

 Singapore

 South Korea

  • KBL – Korean Basketball League – first tier
    • KBL R–League – KBL Reserve League – second tier
      • KUBL – Korean University Basketball League – third tier

 Syria

 Taiwan

  • PLG – P. League+ – first tier (professional)
  • T1 – T1 League – first tier (professional)
    • SBL – Super Basketball League – second tier (semi-professional)
      • A League – third tier (amateur)
        • UBA – University Basketball Alliance – fourth tier
          • HBL – High School Basketball League – fifth tier

 Thailand

 United Arab Emirates

 Vietnam

College and university basketball

 China

 Indonesia

  • LIMA – Liga Mahasiswa

 Philippines (many college leagues also offer high school basketball tournaments):

 South Korea

  • U-League

 Taiwan

  • UBA – University Basketball Alliance
Youth leagues

 China

  • CHBL – China High School Basketball League

 Indonesia

 Philippines

  • FCAAF – Filipino-Chinese Amateur Athletic Federation
  • MMTLBA – Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association
  • PCYAA – Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association
  • PSSBC – Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship
  • PRISAA – Private Schools Athletic Association (Philippines)

 Taiwan

  • HBL – High School Basketball League

Europe

International leagues

Continental Leagues

Clubs participate pan-European leagues in two ways. Larger clubs play in Euroleague Basketball's system, with several of them having long-term licenses and others having annual licenses (irrespective of domestic league results), akin to the franchise model in North American sports. The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is the other way clubs participate, which is mostly based on sporting merit. A club usually opts to play in the EuroLeague instead of the BCL if it's eligible for both.

Subregional leagues

National leagues

 Albania

 Austria

 Armenia

 Azerbaijan

 Belarus

  • BPL – Belarusian Premier League (basketball)

 Belgium &  Netherlands

  • BNXT League – first tier in both countries from 2021-22 season onward

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Bulgaria

  • NBL – National Basketball League

 Croatia

 Cyprus

 Czech Republic

  • NBL – National Basketball League, also called the Kooperativa NBL for sponsorship reasons

 Denmark

 Estonia

 Finland

  • Korisliiga – first tier
    • I Division – second tier

 France

  • LNB Pro A – Ligue Nationale de Basketball Pro A – first tier
    • LNB Pro B – Ligue Nationale de Basket Pro B – second tier

 Georgia

 Germany

 Greece

 Hungary

  • Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A

 Iceland

  • Premier League
  • First Division

 Israel

 Italy

  • Serie A – first tier
    • Serie A2 – second tier
      • Serie B – third tier
        • Serie C Gold – fourth tier
          • Serie C Silver – fifth tier
            • Serie D Regionale – sixth tier
              • Promozione – seventh tier

 Kosovo

 Latvia

 Lithuania

  • LKL – Lietuvos Krepšinio Lyga – first tier
    • NKL – Nacionalinė Krepšinio Lyga – second tier
      • RKL – Regioninė Krepšinio Lyga – third tier

 Luxembourg

 North Macedonia

  • MFL – Macedonian First League

 Montenegro

 Netherlands

  • Promotiedivisie – second tier; top purely domestic level from 2021 to 2022

 Norway

 Poland

 Portugal

  • LCB – Portuguese Basketball League
  • Proliga

 Romania

  • Divizia A

 Russia

 Serbia

 Slovakia

  • SEL Slovak Extraliga

 Slovenia

 Spain

 Sweden

 Switzerland

 Turkey

 Ukraine

 Ireland

  • Super League

 Great Britain

Oceania

 Australia

 Guam

 New Zealand

  • NBL – National Basketball League

Women

Africa

National leagues

 Angola

 Morocco

 South Africa

 Tunisia

 Nigeria

Americas

 United States

College basketball

Youth leagues

 Canada

University basketball

 Puerto Rico

Asia

 China

 Hong Kong

 India

 Indonesia

  • Srikandi Cup

 Japan

 Philippines

  • Women's Next5Hoops
  • WNBL — Women's National Basketball League

Filipino College Basketball

 South Korea

 Republic of China (Taiwan)

 Thailand

  • WTBL - Women's Thailand Basketball League

Europe

 Albania

  • Albanian A-1 League

 Austria

 Belgium

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • Basketball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Women)

 Bulgaria

 Croatia

 Cyprus

 Czech Republic

 Denmark

 France

 Estonia

 Finland

 Germany

 Greece

 Hungary

  • Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A for Women's

 Iceland

 Israel

 Italy

  • LegA Basket Femminile Serie A1 - first tier
    • Serie A2 - second tier
      • Serie B d'Eccellenza - third tier

 Latvia

 Lithuania

 Luxembourg

 North Macedonia

 Montenegro

 Netherlands

 Poland

 Portugal

 Romania

  • Divizia A

 Russia

 Serbia

 Slovakia

 Slovenia

 Spain

 Sweden

 Switzerland

 Turkey

 Ukraine

 United Kingdom

Oceania

 Australia

 New Zealand

Defunct leagues

Men

World

Africa

Americas

Subregional Leagues

National Leagues

 Canada

 United States

Asia

Subregional Leagues

National Leagues

 China

 India

 Japan

 Malaysia

 Philippines

 Republic of China (Taiwan)

Europe

Subregional leagues

National leagues

 Austria

 Belgium

 Great Britain

  • National Basketball League (NBL), 1972–2003

 Netherlands

 Russia

Former Yugoslavia

Oceania

 Australia

 New Zealand

Women

Americas

 United States

  • Women's Professional Basketball Association (WPBA), 1975; the league folded before it ever started.
  • Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), 1978–1981
  • Ladies Professional Basketball Association (LPBA), 1980–81; formed as a rival league to the WBL when the WBL began to experience financial problems. The league was poorly organized and played only five (or seven) games before disbanding with three teams never playing a game.
  • Women's American Basketball Association (WABA), 1984
  • National Women's Basketball Association (NWBA), 1986; the league folded right before the season was supposed to start.
  • Liberty Basketball Association (LBA), 1991; played one pre-season exhibition game on February 10, 1991, before disbanding.
  • Women's Basketball Association (WBA), 1993-1995
  • American Basketball League (ABL), 1996–1998
  • National Women's Basketball League (NWBL), 1998–2007
  • Women's American Basketball Association (WABA), 2002
  • Women's Minor League Basketball Association (WMLBA), 2016–2020

Asia

 China

 Philippines

Oceania

 Australia

 New Zealand

  • Women's Basketball Championship (WBC)

References

  1. ^ "Continental Basketball Association Confronts an Uncertain Future". New York Times. 8 February 2009.