| EASL Champions Week | |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Country: | Japan |
| Dates: | 1–5 March 2023 |
| Num Teams: | 8 |
| Winners: | Anyang KGC |
| Second: | Seoul SK Knights |
| Third: | Bay Area Dragons |
| Fourth: | Ryukyu Golden Kings |
| Award Title: | Best player |
| Award: | (Anyang)[1] |
| Prev Season: | 2019 (pre-season tournaments era) |
| Next Season: | 2023–24 |
The 2023 EASL Champions Week was the first regular season of the East Asia Super League, an international basketball club competition involving teams from domestic leagues in Japan, South Korea, Philippines and Taiwan, as well as a franchise team representing Greater China.[2] [3] The Champions Week was held from 1 to 5 March 2023.[4]
The Champions Week was conceptualized after the regular season was postponed. The regular season was originally scheduled to be held from 12 October 2022 to February 2023, under a home and away format and a Final Four knockout stage.[5]
The winners received USD 250,000, while the runners-up and third-place teams received USD 100,000 and USD 50,000, respectively.[6] [7]
Originally held as a preseason tournament, it was retroactively designated as the first season by its organizers with the succeeding league tournament as the second season.[8]
The eight teams which qualified for the then-2022–23 EASL season qualified for the Champions Week.[9] Four leagues are represented for the 2023 EASL. The champions and runners-up of the Japan B.League and the Korean Basketball League[10] as well as the champions of Taiwan's P. League+[11] Hong Kong based Bay Area Chun Yu Phoenixes, a franchise team not part of any domestic league also participated. The league considers the P. League+ champions and the Phoenixes as representatives of "Greater China".[12] For the Philippines, the top two finishing teams of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup qualified.[13]
| League | Country or region | Berths | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASL (franchise team) | align=center | 1 | ||
| align=center | 1 | |||
| align=center | 2 | |||
| align=center | 2 | |||
| align=center | 2 |
| Team | Domestic league standing | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 P. League+ champions | ||
| 2021–22 B.League champions | ||
| 2021–22 B.League runners-up | ||
| 2021–22 Korean Basketball League champions | ||
| 2021–22 Korean Basketball League runners-up | ||
| 2022 PBA Philippine Cup champions | ||
| 2022 PBA Philippine Cup runners-up |
Each team can select two foreigners into active roster in each game,[14] plus an Asian heritage import or naturalized player.[15]
Games were held in Japan, on the home venues of the two qualified Japanese teams – Utsunomiya Brex and the Ryukyu Golden Kings. There were ten games in total. Utsunomiya hosted six of the eight group stage games, while Ryukyu hosted the remaining two games, as well as the third place game and final.[16] [17]
| Okinawa City | Utsunomiya | |
|---|---|---|
| Okinawa Arena | Nikkan Arena Tochigi | |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 5,000 | |
The official draw for the 2022–23 EASL season was held on 28 June 2022 at the Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila in Taguig.[18] [19] For the Champions Week the groupings were retained.[9]
The teams were drawn in two groups. A coin flipping mechanic was used; each champion in each domestic league was to choose a coin side. The winner of the coin flip was placed on Group A while the other placed in Group B.[13] [20] The identity of the Philippine representatives were yet to be determined at the time of the draw.
Another draw was held to determine the schedule of the games.[9]
On 10 January 2023, EASL released the full schedule for the tournament.[21] Each team in each of the two groups would face only two of three of the other teams in their group unlike in a traditional round robin format.[22]
Yang Jae-min