NBL History

The National Basketball League is regarded as one of the premier basketball leagues in the world, and after a humble beginning, is today home to some of the world's best players.

In 1978, New South Wales Basketball president John Raschke sat with 10 interested parties in an unused aircraft hangar at Sydney Airport to discuss the formation of a national competition that would help the development of the sport throughout Australia.

A national competition was also seen as a way of improving the standard of players who would compete for Australia at events such as the Olympic Games and World Championships.

Since that day, the NBL has grown from a fledgling competition with games played in front of just a few hundred people to a league that attracts more than 750,000 spectators each season, as well as prime-time television audiences for games broadcast live nationally.

While games were initially played in small suburban stadiums, clubs now perform at major Australian arenas, including the 8,000-seat Distinctive Homes Dome in Adelaide.

Basketball also has one of the highest participation rates of any team sport in Australia, with numbers continuing to grow each year.

Between 1979 and 1997, the NBL season was played between April and September, but in 1998 the league moved its season to the summer place, with games played between October and April.

Eight teams currently compete in the NBL- the Adelaide 36ers, Cairns Taipans, Gold Coast Blaze, Melbourne Tigers, New Zealand Breakers, Perth Wildcats, Townsville Crocodiles and Wollongong Hawks.

Of these clubs, Wollongong competed in the first NBL season in 1979, alongside the St Kilda Saints, Nunawading Spectres, West Adelaide Bearcats, City of Sydney Astronauts, Newcastle Falcons, Canberra Cannons, Bankstown Bruins, and Glenelg Tigers.

St Kilda won the inaugural NBL Championship and repeated its success in 1980, but withdrew from the 1981 finals to compete in the World Club Championships. Launceston went on to win the 1981 title.

The Perth Wildcats and the Adelaide 36ers have each won four championships to lead the league in titles won. The Sixers won their most recent title in 2002, defeating the West Sydney Razorbacks in the Grand Final series to clinch the championship.

The Sydney Kings won the trophy an amazing three years in a row from 2003 to 2005 and returned to the Grand Final in 2006 before being defeated by the Melbourne Tigers, who took home their third title.

Former 36ers head coach Phil Smyth has been associated with more NBL championships than any man in league history, having won a total of six, three as a player and three as a head coach.

Some of the NBL’s greatest players include five-time Olympian Andrew Gaze, brilliant 21-season scoring-machine Leroy Loggins, five-time championship-winner Larry Sengstock, and 500-game veterans Ray Borner and James Crawford.

A seven-time winner of the NBL’s Most Valuable Player award, Andrew Gaze was Australia’s most recognised player, having competed at five Olympics and four World Championship tournaments.

Gaze is the NBL’s all-time leading scorer with more than 17,000 points, and he led the league in scoring a record 14 times.

All-time great players, coaches and administrators are honoured in the NBL’s Hall of Fame, with at least two legends of the game inducted each season. In order to be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a player or head coach must have been retired for at least four years.

Annual awards presented by the NBL include the prestigious Most Valuable Player award, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, Best Sixth Man, Best Defensive Player, and Coach of the Year.

In addition, an All-NBL First Team is named, and is made up of the leading five players in the league from that season.

YEAR-BY-YEAR HISTORY (coming soon)

NBL CHAMPIONS - YEAR-BY-YEAR

SEASON	CHAMPION	RUNNER-UP	GM 1	GM 2	GM 3	GM 4	GM 5	SENGSTOCK MEDAL (MVP)
1979	St Kilda	Canberra	94-93					Larry Sengstock (St Kilda)
1980	St Kilda	W Adelaide	113-88					Rocky Smith (St Kilda)
1981	Launceston	Nunawading	75-54					Not awarded
1982	W Adelaide	Geelong	80-74					Not awarded
1983	Canberra	W Adelaide	75-73					Not awarded
1984	Canberra	Brisbane	84-82					Not awarded
1985	Brisbane	Adelaide	121-95					Not awarded
1986	Adelaide	Brisbane	122-119 OT	83-104	113-91			Mark Davis (Adelaide)
1987	Brisbane	Perth	80-79	106-87				Leroy Loggins (Brisbane)
1988	Canberra	Nth Melbourne	120-95	101-117	108-101			Phil Smyth (Canberra)
1989	Nth Melbourne	Canberra	111-105	111-197				Scott Fisher (Nth Melb)
1990	Perth	Brisbane	112-106	90-106	109-86			Ricky Grace (Perth)
1991	Perth	Eastside	109-83	81-86	90-80			Pete Hansen (Perth)
1992	S/E Melbourne	Melbourne	98-116	115-93	95-88			Bruce Bolden (S/E Melb)
1993	Melbourne	Perth	117-113	105-112	104-102			Ricky Grace (Perth)
1994	Nth Melbourne	Adelaide	95-93 OT	117-97				Paul Rees (North Melb)
1995	Perth	Nth Melbourne	97-104	97-88	108-88			Andrew Vlahov (Perth)
1996	S/EMelbourne	Melbourne	89-100	88-84	107-70			Mike Kelly (S/E Melb)
1997	Melbourne	S/E Melbourne	111-74	78-84	93-83			Lanard Copeland (Melb)
1998	Adelaide	S/E Melbourne	100-93	90-62				Kevin Brooks (Adelaide)
1998-99	Adelaide	Victoria	104-94	82-88	80-69			Brett Maher (Adelaide)
1999-00	Perth	Victoria	84-78	83-76				Marcus Timmons (Perth)
2000-01	Wollongong	Townsville	104-101	97-114	97-94			Glen Saville (Wollongong)
2001-02	Adelaide	W Sydney	106-97	100-103	125-107			Brett Maher (Adelaide)
2002-03	Sydney	Perth	98-94	117-101				Chris Williams (Sydney)
2003-04	Sydney	W Sydney	96-76	72-87	80-82 OT	82-77	90-79	Matthew Nielsen (Sydney)
2004-05	Sydney	Wollongong	96-73	105-80	112-85			Jason Smith (Sydney)
2005-06	Melbourne	Sydney	100-93	103-99	88-83			Chris Anstey (Melbourne)
2006-07	Brisbane	Melbourne	98-95	91-105	113-93	113-93	103-94	Sam Mackinnon (Brisbane)
2007-08	Melbourne	Sydney	74-95	104-93	89-87	87-90	85-73	Chris Anstey (Melbourne)
2008-09	South	Melbourne	93-81	83-88	84-67	95-108	102-81	Donta Smith (South)

SCOREBOARD

Cairns

def.

Perth

79-76

New Zealand

def.

Wollongong

88-60

Gold Coast

def.

Perth

86-73

Melbourne

def. by

Perth

78-84

Townsville

def.

Cairns

89-76

Wollongong

def.

Gold Coast

100-88

2009/10 NBL CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER

TEAM	P	W	L	PCWon
Perth	27	16	11	59.26
Townsville	26	15	11	57.69
Gold Coast	26	15	11	57.69
Wollongong	26	14	12	53.85
New Zealand	26	13	13	50.00
Melbourne	26	11	15	42.31
Cairns	27	11	16	40.74
Adelaide	26	10	16	38.46