Basketball National League
Introduction 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. The current champions are the Cape Town Tigers, who won the 2023 season.
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.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.
Current clubs The league currently has 11 clubs: Team  LocationCape Town TigersCape Town Eastern Cape Windbreakers Eastern Cape Egoli Magic GautengFree State WarriorsFree State KwaZulu Marlins  Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Pride  Limpopo Mpumalanga Rhinos Mpumalanga Northern Cape Zebras Northern Cape  North West Eagles  North West Soweto Panthers Soweto, Gauteng Tshwane Suns Tswhane, Gauteng Western Cape Mountaineers Cape Town, Western Cape
List of champions  Season Champions Runners-upFinalsscoreVenueRef. 1997  '''KwaZulu Marlins'''1998–20122007'''Soweto Panthers'''KwaZulu Marlins79–78Mandeville Indoor Center, Johannesburg2008–2012 2013  '''Tshwane Suns''' Mbombela Wildcats79–68Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg 2014  '''Tshwane Suns (2)''' Duzi Royals65–60 2015  '''Egoli Magic'''Duzi Royals2–1 (series) 2016  '''Egoli Magic (2)''' Tshwane Suns62–47 2017  '''Tshwane Suns (3)''' Egoli Magic58–51 2018  '''Soweto Panthers'''Egoli Magic84–58 2019 '''Egoli Magic (3)'''  Soweto Panthers59–55 2020–21  '''Egoli Magic (4)'''  Soweto Panthers85–67 2021  '''Egoli Magic (5)'''  Tshwane Suns53–392022'''Tshwane Suns (4)'''Western Cape Mountaineers66–622023'''Cape Town Tigers'''Tshwane Suns85–60Mandeville Indoor Center, Johannesburg
Performance by team ClubWinnersRunners-upYears wonYears runner-upEgoli Magic522015, 2016, 2019, 2020–21, 20212017, 2018Tshwane Suns422013, 2014, 2017, 20222016, 2021, 2023Soweto Panthers202007, 20182019, 2020–21KwaZulu Marlins1119972007Cape Town Tigers12023Duzi Royals22014, 2015Mbombela Wildcats12013Western Cape Mountaineers12022
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)
See also * Basketball South Africa* South African National Basketball Championship
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