| 2018–19 BBL season | |
| League: | British Basketball League |
| Season: | 2018–19 |
| Finals: | Playoffs |
| Continentalcup1: | BBL Cup |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Games: | 198 |
| Seasonslist: | List of BBL seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | BBL |
| Prevseason Year: | 2017–18 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2019–20 |
The 2018–19 BBL season was the 32nd campaign of the British Basketball League since the league's establishment in 1987. The season featured 12 teams from across England and Scotland.
The Leicester Riders were the three-time defending regular season champions, but were unable to defend that title as the London Lions achieved their first regular season title; a 99–80 victory at the Newcastle Eagles, on 26 April 2019,[1] was enough for the Lions to have an unassailable lead ahead of the Riders. It was the Lions' second trophy of the season, after they defeated the Glasgow Rocks in the BBL Cup final.[2]
The Lions were beaten in the playoff quarter-finals by the eighth-seeded Plymouth Raiders,[3] who overturned a six-point deficit from the first leg into an eight-point aggregate victory. The Raiders were then beaten by the Riders in the semi-finals,[4] before the Riders won their third consecutive playoff final with a 93–61 victory over the London City Royals,[5] who in their first season in the league, had won the BBL Trophy in overtime against the Lions.[6]
The newly formed London City Royals replaced Leeds Force.[7]
| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Flyers | Bristol | SGS WISE Arena | ||
| Cheshire Phoenix | Ellesmere Port | Cheshire Oaks Arena | ||
| Glasgow Rocks | Glasgow | Emirates Arena | ||
| Leicester Riders | Leicester | Morningside Arena | ||
| London City Royals | London | Crystal Palace NSC | ||
| London Lions | London | Copper Box | ||
| Manchester Giants | Manchester | Trafford Powerleague Arena George H. Carnall Centre | ||
| Newcastle Eagles | Newcastle upon Tyne | Sport Central Eagles Community Arena | ||
| Plymouth Raiders | Plymouth | Plymouth Pavilions | ||
| Sheffield Sharks | Sheffield | English Institute of Sport | ||
| Surrey Scorchers | Guildford | Surrey Sports Park | ||
| Worcester Wolves | Worcester | University of Worcester Arena |
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Main jersey sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Flyers | Andreas Kapoulas |  Michael Vigor | RSG Group | |
| Cheshire Phoenix | Ben Thomas | Momcilo Latinovic | Hillyer McKeown | |
| Glasgow Rocks |  Vincent Lavandier | Kieron Achara | Radisson Red | |
| Leicester Riders |  Rob Paternostro | Andrew Thomson | Jelson Homes | |
| London City Royals | Jay Williams | Orlan Jackman | ||
| London Lions | Vince Macaulay | Joe Ikhinmwin | ||
| Manchester Giants | Danny Byrne | Callum Jones | Space | |
| Newcastle Eagles | Fabulous Flournoy | Darius Defoe | ESH Group | |
| Plymouth Raiders | Paul James | Zak Wells | Plessey | |
| Sheffield Sharks | Atiba Lyons |  Mike Tuck | BBraun | |
| Surrey Scorchers | Creon Raftopoulos | Tayo Ogedengbe | University of Surrey | |
| Worcester Wolves | Tony Garbelotto | Adam Thoseby | University of Worcester |
| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming coach | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester Wolves | Paul James | Released | Off-season | Ty Shaw | ||
| Plymouth Raiders | Gavin Love | Released | Off-season | Paul James | ||
| Glasgow Rocks | Darryl Wood | Mutual consent | 19 February 2019[8] | Vincent Lavandier (interim) | 28 February 2019[9] | |
| Worcester Wolves | Ty Shaw | Personal reasons | 8 March 2019[10] | Tony Garbelotto (interim) | 8 March 2019 |
The winners of the Regular season are considered as national champions. The London Lions achieved their first regular season title with a 99–80 victory over the Newcastle Eagles at the Eagles Community Arena on 26 April 2019.[1]
The quarterfinal matchups and tip-off times were confirmed by the league, on 28 April 2019.[11]
British clubs returned to European competitions eleven years after their last participation.
| Team | Competition | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| Champions League | First qualifying round | |
| FIBA Europe Cup | Regular season | |