 | |
| Organising body | NBA Africa FIBA |
|---|---|
| Founded | February 2019; 6 years ago (2019-02) |
| First season | 2021 |
| Country | FIBA Africa member countries |
| Confederation | FIBA Africa |
| Divisions | 3 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Current champions |  Al Ahli Tripoli (1st title)(2025) |
| Most championships | Al Ahli Tripoli ZamalekAl Ahly US Monastir Petro de Luanda (1 title each) |
| All-time top scorer | Chris Crawford (341 points) |
| Commissioner | Amadou Gallo Fall |
| TV partners |
|
| Website | theBAL.com |
 2026 BAL season | |
TheBasketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men'sbasketball league inAfrica.[1] Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized byNBA Africa and theInternational Basketball Federation (FIBA).[2]
Each season typically runs from March to June, and in the current format of the league consists of twelve teams. Each of the teams qualify through their performance in their domestic competition.[3] Seven teams qualify directly, while five others have to play in theRoad to BAL. The group stage is divided into three conferences, which are followed by playoffs to determine the champions. The BAL champions of each season automatically qualify for theFIBA Intercontinental Cup.
The first season was held in2021 and thus far, five different champions have won the competition.
On 16 February 2019 theNational Basketball Association andFIBA announced plans to establish acontinental professional basketball league.[4] During a press conference at the2019 NBA All-Star weekend, NBA commissionerAdam Silver elaborated on plans to establish the league. He stated that the league will feature 12 teams after qualification tournaments in late 2019. The countries that could possibly host a team include:Angola,Egypt,Kenya,Morocco,Nigeria,Rwanda,Senegal,South Africa andTunisia.[5][6] Silver also hinted at the involvement of formerU.S. presidentBarack Obama in an unspecified role.[2] In May 2019,Amadou Gallo Fall was assigned by the NBA as the first president of the BAL.[7] In September 2019, BAL announced the venues and cities for the inaugural season, which included a Final Four played inKigali Arena inKigali, Rwanda.[8]
On 15 October 2019, thequalifying tournaments for theinaugural season began, with teams from 32 African countries participating.[9] The start of the BAL was eventually postponed twice due to the disruptiveCOVID-19 pandemic.[10] The first BAL game was played on 16 May 2021, in theKigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, which hosted the entire tournament. The season was held in abio-secure bubble with only limited attendance allowed. On 30 May,Zamalek from Egypt won the first-ever BAL championship after beatingUS Monastir in theinaugural final.[11]
The following season, the league expanded it format with five-team conferences (the Sahara and Nile Conference), which were held inDakar andCairo. The playoffs were held in Kigali.
The fourth league season, in2024, saw an expansion to three conference with theKalahari Conference,[12] as well asPetro de Luanda becoming the first team fromSub-Saharan Africa to win the championship.[13] After the season,Ulrich Chomche from Cameroon became the first former BAL player to be drafted in theNational Basketball Association (NBA), as he was picked in the second round of the2024 NBA draft.[14]
The2025 season was won byAl Ahli Tripoli, who were the first team to advance all the way through the qualifying rounds to win the championship. The league also hosted its first finals outside of Rwanda, with the South African city ofPretoria being the host.[15] On June 25, 2025,Khaman Maluach was drafted 10th overall in the2025 NBA draft, becoming the highest former BAL player to be drafted into theNBA.[16]
In September 2025, NBA CommissionerAdam Silver announced the intention of the league to move to a closed league with permanent franchises.[17]
Each BAL season consists of twelve teams. In the regular season, the twelve teams are divided into three conferences (theSahara Conference,Nile Conference, andKalahari Conference),[12] in which they each team plays the other in a round-robin format.
The two highest-placed teams of each conference, as well as the two best third-ranked teams, advance to the playoffs, which is a single-elimination tournament which decides the BAL champion.
Similar to theBasketball Champions League andfootball competitionCAF Champions League, the BAL has qualifying rounds to determine the teams that qualify for each season.National federations from African countries are given the opportunity to send one representing club, usually the champions of the respective national league. In theRoad to BAL, teams play each other in groups for six remaining spots in the BAL regular season. In the first round, all participating teams are divided over groups, with the top teams advancing to the Elite 16. There, another group stage follows before single-game eliminations are played in the semi-finals and finals.
Six teams from six predetermined countries qualify directly for the regular season, without playing qualifiers, to make for a total of twelve teams. These countries have been determined based on basketball history and commercial market size, and have thus far been Angola, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco (only in 2021), Nigeria, Rwanda (since 2022) and Senegal.
From 2021 to 2024, each club participating in the BAL regular season was restricted to having four foreign players on its team, which means it has to have at least eight local players on its roster. Furthermore, two out of four foreign players had to be from another African country. A maximum of 2 out of the 4 foreign players can be from outside of Africa.[18] Since the 2024 season, clubs have been able to field more foreign players.
Ahead of the2022 season, the BAL launched the BAL Elevate program in cooperation with theNBA Academy Africa. The program places a player from the academy in one of the team's rosters. Players from the same country as a BAL team are automatically assigned to a team, while remaining players are selected from a pool. Elevate players do not share in the prize money that is awarded from the competition, to preserve their amateur status.[19]
Green: Nile Conference;
Yellow: Sahara Conference;
Red: Kalahari Conference.A total of 30 teams from 21 countries have played in the BAL.
The following are the twelve teams of the2025 BAL season.
| Conference | Team | City, Country | National league | National titles | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalahari Conference |  FUS Rabat | Rabat,Morocco | Division Excellence | 19 | 1946 |
 Rivers Hoopers | Port Harcourt,Nigeria | Nigerian Premier League | 6 | 2005 | |
 Stade Malien | Bamako,Mali | Ligue 1 | 19 | 1960 | |
| Al Ittihad | Alexandria,Egypt | Egyptian Basketball Super League | 14 | 1914 | |
| Sahara Conference | Petro de Luanda | Luanda,Angola | Angolan Basketball League | 17 | 1980 |
| US Monastir | Monastir,Tunisia | Championnat National A | 9 | 1923 | |
 ASC Ville de Dakar | Dakar,Senegal | Nationale 1 | 1 | 1980 | |
 Kriol Star | Praia,Cape Verde | Capeverdean Basketball League | 0 | 2024 | |
| Nile Conference |  APR | Kigali,Rwanda | Rwanda Basketball League | 14 | 1993 |
| Al Ahli Tripoli | Tripoli, Libya | Libyan Division I Basketball League | 8 | 1950 | |
 Nairobi City Thunder | Nairobi,Kenya | KBF Premier League | 2 | 1998 | |
 MBB | Johannesburg,South Africa | Basketball National League | 0 | 2010 |
| Edition | Year | Hosts and venue | Champions | Score and Venue | Runners-up | Third place | Score and Venue | Fourth place | No. of teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2021 | Kigali, Rwanda | Zamalek | 76–63 Kigali Arena,Kigali | US Monastir | Petro de Luanda | 97–68 Kigali Arena,Kigali | Patriots | 12 | |||
| 2 | 2022 | US Monastir | 83–72 BK Arena,Kigali | Petro de Luanda | Zamalek | 97–74 BK Arena,Kigali |  FAP | |||||
| 3 | 2023 | Al Ahly | 80–65 BK Arena,Kigali | AS Douanes | Stade Malien | 73–65 BK Arena,Kigali | Petro de Luanda | |||||
| 4 | 2024 | Petro de Luanda | 107–94 BK Arena,Kigali | Al Ahly Ly | Rivers Hoopers | 80–57 BK Arena,Kigali | Cape Town Tigers | |||||
| 5 | 2025 | Pretoria, South Africa | Al Ahli Tripoli | 88–67 SunBet Arena | Petro de Luanda | APR | 123–90 SunBet Arena | Al Ittihad Alexandria |
| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Years won | Years runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petro de Luanda | 1 | 2 | 2024 | 2022,2025 |
| US Monastir | 1 | 1 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Al Ahli Tripoli | 1 | 0 | 2025 | — |
| Al Ahly | 1 | 0 | 2023 | — |
| Zamalek | 1 | 0 | 2021 | — |
| AS Douanes | 0 | 1 | — | 2023 |
| Al Ahly Ly | 0 | 1 | — | 2024 |
| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Years won | Years runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | 2 | 0 | 2021,2023 | — |
| Angola | 1 | 2 | 2024 | 2022,2025 |
| Tunisia | 1 | 1 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Libya | 1 | 1 | 2025 | 2024 |
| Senegal | 0 | 1 | — | 2023 |
Solo Diabate andMichael Fakuade have won two BAL championships, and are the only players to have won multiple titles.[20]Chris Crawford is the all-time scoring leader of the league, having scored 341 points in three seasons.[outdated statistic]
The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Basketball Africa League at any time since its formation in 2020 to the current season. A total of 34 teams have played in or qualified for the BAL.
| 1st | Champions | |||||
| 2nd | Runners-up | |||||
| 3rd | Third place | |||||
| 4th | Fourth place | |||||
| QF | Quarterfinalists | |||||
| GS | Group phase | |||||
| Q | Qualified for an upcoming season | |||||
| Team | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Total seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 MC Alger[a] | GS | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Petro de Luanda | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 5 |
 Dynamo | — | — | — | GS[b] | — | 1 |
 Bangui SC | — | — | — | GS | — | 1 |
 ABC Fighters | — | — | QF | — | — | 1 |
| FAP | QF | 4th | — | — | — | 2 |
| Kriol Star | — | — | — | — | QF | 1 |
 Espoir Fukash | — | GS | — | — | — | 1 |
| Al Ahly | — | — | 1st | QF | — | 2 |
| Al Ittihad Alexandria | — | — | — | — | 4th | 1 |
| Zamalek | 1st | 3rd | — | — | — | 2 |
 SLAC | — | QF | GS | — | — | 2 |
| Nairobi City Thunder | — | — | — | — | GS | 1 |
| Al Ahly Ly | — | — | — | 2nd | — | 1 |
| Al Ahli Tripoli | — | — | — | — | 1st | 1 |
 GNBC | GS | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| AS Police | GS | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Stade Malien | — | — | 3rd | — | GS | 2 |
| AS Salé | QF | QF | — | — | — | 2 |
| FUS Rabat | — | — | — | QF | QF | 2 |
 Ferroviário da Beira | — | GS | QF | — | — | 2 |
| Ferroviário de Maputo | QF | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Kwara Falcons | — | — | GS | — | — | 1 |
| Rivers Hoopers | GS | — | — | 3rd | QF | 3 |
| Cape Town Tigers | — | QF | QF | 4th | — | 3 |
| APR | — | — | — | GS | 3rd | 2 |
| Patriots | 4th | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| REG | — | QF | QF | — | — | 2 |
| ASCVD | — | — | — | — | GS | 1 |
| AS Douanes | QF | — | 2nd | QF | — | 3 |
| DUC | — | GS | — | — | — | 1 |
 City Oilers | — | — | GS | GS | — | 2 |
 Cobra Sport | — | GS | — | — | — | 1 |
| US Monastir | 2nd | 1st | GS | QF | QF | 5 |
| MBB | — | — | — | — | GS | 1 |
Since its inception, the BAL has been sponsored by multiple multinational organisations, including:
The champions of the BAL finals receive the competitions' trophy, which is inspired by theadansonia (more commonly known as baobab), a common type of tree in Africa.[25] Since the 2025 season, the players and coaches on the championship team also receivechampionship rings, following a North American sports tradition.[26]
In the inaugural season in 2021, the champions reportedly received $100,000 inprize money; runners-up received $75,000; third place $55,000 and fourth place $25,000.[27]
The BAL is owned and operated by NBA Africa, a sub-entity of theNBA which was established in May 2021.[28] Since then, the league has been driven by private investments. At the moment of establishment, strategic investors including a consortium of Babatunde “Tunde” Folawiyo, Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation (HFP). Other investors included former players such asDikembe Mutombo,Junior Bridgeman,Luol Deng,Grant Hill,Joakim Noah andIan Mahinmi.[29] Two months later, it was announced that former President of the United StatesBarack Obama joined NBA Africa as a strategic partner while also purchasing a minority stake in the organisation.[30] NBA commissionerAdam Silver stated that NBA Africa was valued at $1 billion.[31]
The organisation of the league currently exists out of:
TheHuman Rights Foundation has criticized the BAL for maintaining close relations withPaul Kagame and his Rwandan authoritarian government, and has sent an official letter to theNBA regarding the matter.[34] Other newspapers such asThe Guardian andBloomberg News have also described the league as being a tool forsportswashing for the Rwandan government'srepression and the regime's involvement in theRwandan Civil War.[34][35][36]
The BAL games are broadcasting as many as 215 countries in 14 languages.[37] All BAL games are broadcast by:[38]
| Location | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Africa | ESPN Africa |
| Visionview.tv (online) | |
| Canal+ Afrique | |
| Voice of Africa Radio | |
 Canada | NBATV Canada |
| TSN | |
 China | Tencent Sports |
 Middle East | OnTime Sports |
| Egypt | Zamalek TV (Zamalek games only)[39] |
| Morocco | Arryadia (AS Salé games only) |
| Tunisia | El Watania 2 (US Monastir games only) |
 United States | ESPN+ |
| NBA TV | |
| Voice of America | |
| International | beIN Sports |
| theBAL.com (online) |
| Seasons | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | |||||
| Playoffs | |||||
| Teams |
| ||||
| Arenas | |||||
| Competition stages | |||||
| Awards | |||||
| Records and statistics | |||||
| Associated | |||||
International men'sbasketball | ||
|---|---|---|
| Africa |  | |
| Americas | ||
| Asia |
| |
| Europe | ||
| Oceania | ||
| Other tournaments | ||
