The Basketball National League (BNL) is the pre-eminent male professional basketball league in South Africa. The league was founded in 2013, however, before the Premier Basketball League had been running as the country's premier basketball league.
The league also has a female counterpart, the Women's Basketball National League, which was established in 2021.
Egoli Magic are the most successful club in league history, having won five championships.
History
PBL era Founded in 1994 as the Premier Basketball League (PBL), the league was founded by six franchises. In an agreement with the national federation Basketball South Africa, the league began with four new teams, namely Capetown Eagles, Soweto Panthers, Capetown Kings and Pretoria Suns.
The leaguge was sponsored by Allied Bank, and later by Telkom. The PBL was disbanded in 1996.
The PBL disappeared for the following years, but made a return after nine years in 2007. The final of that season was won by the Soweto Panthers.
BNL era After a 14-year period without a national men's league, the Basketball National League (BNL) was founded in 2013. The Tshwane Suns won the inaugural BNL championship.
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.
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.
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.Basketball (And The NBA) Try To Find Fans In South Africa Don Boroughs (NPR), 3 August 2015. Accessed 3 December 2020.
The league expanded to 12 clubs in the 2023 season, 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.
The defending champions Tigers withdrew for the sequential 2024 season because of budgetary constraints. Meanwhile, a promotion and relegation was introduced and last-ranked Eastern Cape Windbreakers were relegated, while MBB from the Inner City Super League (ICSL) joined the league.
Current clubs The league currently has 11 clubs:
Team LocationFoundedJoined Egoli MagicJohannesburg, Gauteng1994Free State WarriorsFree State2012 KwaZulu Marlins Durban, KwaZulu-Natal1994 Limpopo PrideLimpopo2012 MBBJohannesburg, Gauteng20122024 Mpumalanga RhinosMbombela, Mpumalanga2012 Northern Cape ZebrasNorthern Cape2012 North West EaglesPotchefstroom, North West2012 Soweto PanthersSoweto, Gauteng19861994 Tshwane SunsTswhane, Gauteng1996 Western Cape MountaineersCape Town, Western Cape2013
Former teams Team LocationFoundedJoinedLast seasonCape Town TigersCape Town20192023 Eastern Cape Windbreakers Eastern Cape20122023
List of champions Season Champions Runners-upFinalsscoreVenueRef. 1997 KwaZulu Marlins1998–2006 colspan="5" 2007Soweto PanthersKwaZulu Marlins79–78Mandeville Indoor Center, Johannesburg2008–2012 colspan="4" 2013 Tshwane Suns Mbombela Wildcats79–68Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg 2014 Tshwane Suns (2) Duzi Royals65–60 2015 Egoli MagicDuzi Royals2–1 (series) 2016 Egoli Magic (2) Tshwane Suns62–47 2017 Tshwane Suns (3) Egoli Magic58–51 2018 Soweto Panthers (2)Egoli Magic84–58 2019 Egoli Magic (3) Soweto Panthers59–55 2020–21 Egoli Magic (4) Soweto Panthers85–67 2021 Egoli Magic (5) Tshwane Suns53–392022Tshwane Suns (4)Western Cape Mountaineers66–622023Cape Town TigersTshwane Suns85–60Mandeville Indoor Center, Johannesburg2024KwaZulu MarlinsMpumalanga Rhinos2–0 (series)2025Egoli Magic (6)Tshwane Suns2–0 (series)2026Soweto Panthers (3)Western Cape Mountaineers2–0 (series)
Performance by team ClubWinnersRunners-upYears wonYears runner-upEgoli Magic622015, 2016, 2019, 2020–21, 2021, 20252017, 2018Tshwane Suns442013, 2014, 2017, 20222016, 2021, 2023, 2025Soweto Panthers322007, 2018, 20262019, 2020–21KwaZulu Marlins211997, 20242007Cape Town Tigers12023Duzi Royals22014, 2015Mpumalanga Rhinos22013, 2025Western Cape Mountaineers22022, 2026
Individual awards
MVP and Final MVP Season MVP Final MVP 2007Neo Mothiba (Panthers)2013Neo Mothiba (Suns) 2014 Tichifara Mabiza (Suns) 2015 Jose Salvador (Egoli) 2017 Stephen Gabriel (Suns) 2018 Tatenda Maturure (Soweto) 2019 Bandile Nsele (Egoli) 2020–21 Miguel Ferrão (Egoli) Lehlogonolo Tholo (Soweto) 2021 Emmanuel Shine (Suns) Nkosinathi Sibanyoni (Suns) 2022 Emmanuel Shine (Suns) Kagiso Ngoetjana (Suns) 2023 Emmanuel Shine (Suns) Nkosinathi Sibanyoni (Tigers) 2024 Sifiso Gininda (Marlins) Sifiso Gininda (Marlins)2025 Yanick Kasilembo (Magic) 2026 Emmanuel Shine (Suns)
See also
Basketball South Africa South African National Basketball Championship
Notes
References
External links