It was formed inside 1978, swimming the wintertime year (April-September). Within 1998 the competition was shifted to a summertime competition between October & April, principally to stay away from competing directly against Australia's various football codes.

There are presently eleven teams in the league, by having teams altogether capital cities (except Canberra, Hobart and Darwin), regional centres Cairns, Newcastle, Townsville and Wollongong, as well as New Zealand.

A league's better years were in the late 1980s & early Nineties, however it has struggled recently & numbers of of the teams keep around shifted to little venues to cut costs. a total of teams keep close at hand folded or even ceased to compete at the NBL level. Despite these issues, ab initio of the 2004/05 year the league struck a freshly television treat by using Fox Sports in Australithe and a multi-month naming-rights sponsorship treat sustaining electronics manufacturer Philips. There are new plans to expand into South East Asia with a conceivable Singaporean team being considered.

Virtually all teams use historically featured at least one and for instance ii American imports; teams are limited to getting deuce non-Australians on the roll at any once. Occasionally 1 players own moved to Australithe for good & turn into Australian citizens; two or three develop potentially played for the Australian national team (under the rule that allowed one naturalized streaming video player to compete for a national team).

Current Teams

A todays teams in the NBL come:

Adelaide 36ers Brisbane Bullets Cairns Taipans Hunter Pirates (Newcastle) Melbourne Tigers New Zealand Breakers (Auckland) Perth Wildcats Sydney Kings Townsville Crocodiles West Sydney Razorbacks Wollongong Hawks

Defunct Teams

There come a total of teams that are either defunct, unified, or even resettled across the league's history. These include: Hobart Tassie Devils (last year - 1996) Gold Coast Rollers (last year - 1996) Geelong Supercats (last year - 1996) Newcastle Falcons (last season - 1999) South East Melbourne Magic - merged with a Giants to be a Victoria Titans, late Giants North Melbourne Giants - Originally known as a Coburg Giants. Incorporate by owning a Magic within 1998 to turn into a Victoria Titans, late Giants Victoria Giants (formerly Titans) - (last year - 2004) Canberra Cannons (became Hunter Pirates in 2003) St Kilda Saints - Later referred to as Westside Melbourne so, within 1991, Southern Melbourne. Within 1992, unified by having Eastside Melbourne Spectres to form South East Melbourne Magic Nunawading Spectres - Later called Eastside Melbourne. Incorporated using Southern Melbourne Saints to form South East Melbourne Magic prior to a 1992 year. Bankstown Bruins - Became known as West Sydney Westars prior to merging using Sydney Supersonics to turn into a Sydney Kings Sydney Supersonics - Were originally called City of Sydney Astronauts, so became known as Sydney Supersonics prior to merging by having West Sydney Westars to turn into a Sydney Kings. West Adelaide Bearcats - Merged with Adelaide City Eagles to form Adelaide 36ers. Adelaide City Eagles - Merged with West Adelaide Bearcats to form Adelaide 36ers. Launceston Casino City - Joined the NBL around 1980. Won the championship around 1982. Finished Five-21 within 1983 year & left a NBL.

Notable Figures in the NBL

James Crawford Ray Borner Andrew Gaze Lindsay Gaze Brian Goorjian Ricky Grace Shane Heal Leroy Loggins Larry Sengstock Phil Smyth

NBL Title Winners

1979: St Kilda Saints (def Canberra Cannons 94-93 around final)
1980: St Kilda Saints (def West Adelaide Binturong 113-88 within final)
1981: Launceston Casino City (def Nunawading Spectres 75-54 inside final)
1982: West Adelaide Bearcats (def Geelong Cats 80-74 around final)
1983: Canberra Cannons (def West Adelaide Binturong 75-73 within final)
1984: Canberra Cannons (def Brisbane Bullets 84-82 within final)
1985: Brisbane Bullets (def Adelaide 36ers 121-95 around final)
1986: Adelaide 36ers (def Brisbane Bullets Two-One around right-of-3 final series)
1987: Brisbane Bullets (def Perth Wildcats Two-0 around right-of-3 final series)
1988: Canberra Cannons (def Northerly Melbourne Giants Two-One inside right-of-3 final series)
1989: N Melbourne Giants (def Canberra Cannons Two-One within right-of-3 final series)
1990: Perth Wildcats (def Brisbane Bullets Two-One around right-of-3 final series)
199One: Perth Wildcats (def Eastside Melbourne Spectres Two-1 around right-of-3 final series)
199Two: South-East Melbourne Magic (def Melbourne Tigers 2-One inside right-of-3 final series)
1993: Melbourne Tigers (def Perth Wildcats Two-One around right-of-3 final series)
1994: N Melbourne Giants (def Adelaide 36ers Two-0 within right-of-3 final series)
1995: Perth Wildcats (def Northerly Melbourne Giants Two-One around right-of-3 final series)
1996: South-East Melbourne Magic (def Melbourne Tigers Two-One within right-of-3 final series)
1997: Melbourne Tigers (defeated South-East Melbourne Witching Two-One around right-of-3 final series)
1998: Adelaide 36ers (defeated South-East Melbourne Magical Two-0 within right-of-3 final series)
1999: Adelaide 36ers (defeated Victoria Titans Two-One within right-of-3 final series)
2000: Perth Wildcats (defeated Victoria Titans Two-0 within right-of-3 final series)
200One: Wollongong Hawks (defeated Townsville Crocodiles Two-1 inside right-of-3 final series)
200Two: Adelaide 36ers (defeated West Sydney Razorbacks 2-One inside right-of-3 final series)
2003: Sydney Kings (defeated Perth Wildcats Two-0 within right-of-3 final series)
2004: Sydney Kings (defeated West Sydney Razorbacks Three-Two inside right-of-5 final series)
2005: Sydney Kings (defeated Wollongong Hawks Three-0 inside right-of-5 final series)