List of basketball leagues explained
This is a list of current and defunct basketball leagues around the world.
Men
Intercontinental
Africa
National leagues
Americas
International leagues
National leagues
- LBSCR – Liga de Baloncesto Superior de Costa Rica
- ACB League
- LNB – Liga Nicaragüense de Baloncesto (2018–present)
College and university basketball
Youth leagues
Asia
International leagues
National leagues
(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.
- Professional leagues
- College basketball (many college leagues also offer high school basketball tournaments):
- High school basketball:
College and university basketball
(many college leagues also offer high school basketball tournaments):
- UBA – University Basketball Alliance
Youth leagues
- CHBL – China High School Basketball League
- DBL – Developmental Basketball League
- 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
- AAC – Alpe Adria Cup – featuring teams from Austria, Croatia, Czechia (Czech Republic), Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia
- ABA League (also known as the Adriatic League) – first tier league featuring teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia
- BIBL – Balkan International Basketball League – featuring teams from Albania, Bulgaria, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia
National leagues
&
- BNXT League – first tier in both countries from 2021-22 season onward
- LNB Élite – Ligue Nationale de Basketball Pro A – first tier
- LNB Pro B – Ligue Nationale de Basket Pro B – second tier
- 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
- VTB–League – VTB United League – first tier since the 2012–13 season (also featuring teams from Belarus & Kazakhstan)
- BSL 1 – Basketball Super League 1 – second tier; was the first tier league from 1992 to 2010
- BSL 2 – Basketball Super League 2 – third tier
- First League – fourth tier
- VTB-League U21 – fifth tier
Oceania
Women
Africa
National leagues
Americas
College basketball
Youth leagues
University basketball
Asia
Filipino College Basketball
(Taiwan)
- WTBL - Women's Thailand Basketball League
Europe
Oceania
Defunct leagues
Men
World
Africa
Americas
Subregional Leagues
National Leagues
- Amateur Athletic Association Basketball (AAU), 1897–1982
- National Basketball League (NBL), 1898–99 to 1903-04
- Philadelphia Basketball League (PBL), 1902–1909
- New England Basketball League (NEBL), 1903–1904
- Western Massachusetts Basketball League (WMBL), 1903–1904
- Western Pennsylvania Basketball League (WPBL), 1903–1904; 1912–1913; 1914–1915
- New England Basketball Association (NEBA), 1904–1905
- Mohawk Valley League (MVL), 1906–1910
- Central Basketball League (CBL), 1906–1912
- Hudson River League (HRL), 1909–12
- Eastern Basketball League (EBL), 1909–1933
- New York State League (NYSL), 1911–23
- Pennsylvania State League (PSL), 1914–1921
- Interstate Basketball League (IBL), 1915–1920
- Interstate League (IL), 1919–1923
- Metropolitan Basketball League (MBL), 1921–1928
- American Basketball League (ABL), 1925–1955
- National Basketball League (NBL), 1926–27
- National Basketball League (NBL), 1929–30
- National Basketball League (NBL), 1932–33
- Midwest Basketball Conference (MBC), 1935–1937; became National Basketball League with 1937–38 season.
- National Basketball League (NBL), 1937–1949; merged with the Basketball Association of America to become the National Basketball Association.
- World Professional Basketball Tournament (WPBT), 1939–1948
- Eastern Pro League (EPL)
- Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League (PCPBL), 1946–1948
- Basketball Association of America (BAA), 1946–1949; merged with the National Basketball League to become the National Basketball Association.
- New York State Professional Basketball League (NYSPL), 1946–1949
- Continental Basketball Association (CBA), 1946–2009;[1] originally named Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, then Eastern Professional Basketball League.
- Professional Basketball League of America (PBLA), 1947–1948
- National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL), 1947–1961
- National Professional Basketball League (NPBL), 1950–1951
- American Basketball League (ABL), 1961–1963
- Midwest Professional Basketball League (MPBL) (1961-1964)
- North American Basketball League (1964-1968), (NABL) 1964–1968
- American Basketball Association (ABA), 1967–1976, Merged with NBA, four teams now in NBA.
- All-American Basketball Alliance (AABA), 1977–78
- Western Basketball Association (WBA), 1978–79
- World Basketball League (WBL), 1988–1992; was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior to the 1988 season.
- Global Basketball Association (GBA), 1991-92 - December 1992; league folded midway through 1992–93 season.
- International Basketball Association (IBA), 1995–2001
- International Basketball League (IBL), 1999–2001
- National Rookie League (NRL), 2000
- All-American Professional Basketball League (AAPBL), 2005
- United States Basketball League (USBL)
- National Professional Basketball League (NPBL)
- All-American Basketball Alliance (2010)
- Global Professional Basketball League (GPBL)
- Global Professional Basketball League 2 (GPBL 2)
- United Regions Basketball League (URBL)
- National Alliance Basketball League (NABL)
- National Athletic Basketball League (NABL)
- Universal Basketball League (UBL)
- Minor League Basketball Association (MLBA)
- Continental Basketball League (CBL)
- American Basketball League (ABL)
- Eastern Basketball Alliance (EBA)
- West Coast Pro Basketball League (WCBL)
- International Basketball League (IBL)
Asia
Subregional Leagues
National Leagues
(Taiwan)
Europe
Subregional leagues
National leagues
Former Yugoslavia
Oceania
Women
Americas
- 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
Oceania
- Women's Basketball Championship (WBC)
Notes and References
- Web site: Continental Basketball Association Confronts an Uncertain Future. 8 February 2009. New York Times.
