ASEAN Basketball League

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[[Category:Template:Pagetype with short description]]Template:SDcat

ASEAN Basketball League

File:ASEAN Basketball League.svg
Organising body	Tune Group
Founded	Template:Start date and age
First season	2009–10
Confederation	FIBA Asia
Divisions	1
Number of teams	8
Current champions	Hong Kong Eastern (2nd title) (2023 ABL season)
Most championships	Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Hi-Tech Bangkok City, Hong Kong Eastern (2 titles)
TV partners	Cable TV Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singtel Template:Country data VIETemplate:Namespace detect showall FPT ABL YouTube
Website	https://abl.basketball/
File:Basketball current event.svg 2023 ABL season

The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is an international professional men's basketball league in the Far East Asia, composed of eight teams including six clubs from Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), in addition to Hong Kong and Macau. Former teams have included Taiwan and Brunei. The league was proposed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and launched its inaugural season on 1 October 2009.

History

Formation

Basketball officials from 6 ASEAN nations gathered in Metro Manila on 1 September 2009 to officially launch the new league.^[In its inaugural season, there were six participating teams from different nations in Southeast Asia:

Team	City	Country
Brunei Barracudas	Bandar Seri Begawan	Brunei
Kuala Lumpur Dragons	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia
Philippine Patriots	San Juan	Philippines
Satria Muda BritAma	Jakarta	Indonesia
Singapore Slingers	Kallang	Singapore
Thailand Tigers	Bangkok	Thailand

League expansion

On 22 September 2011, the Brunei Barracudas announced that they were bowing out of the third season of ABL after participating for 2 seasons. On 20 October 2011, the Saigon Sports Academy officially announced the participation of Saigon Heat into the third season of ABL, making them the first ever international professional basketball team to represent Vietnam.

In the same season, San Miguel Beermen and Bangkok Cobras joined the league along with Saigon Heat. Unfortunately, the Beermen left the ABL after winning the title in 2013. The Cobras also left the league after one season. Further, in 2014, Laskar Dreya South Sumatra (INA) joined and played for a season.

In 2015, Pilipinas MX3 Kings and Mono Vampire joined the league and both teams left in 2016. On 17 July 2016, Kaohsiung Truth from Kaohsiung, Taiwan announced that they will participate in the 2016–17 season. In the same year, the Eastern Basketball Club confirmed its participation in the league. The two teams were the first teams from outside Southeast Asia to compete in the league.

The Philippines returned in the league with Alab Pilipinas on 6 August 2016. In September 2017, ABL confirmed four new teams for the 2017–18 season: CLS Knights Indonesia, Formosa Dreamers, the returning Mono Vampire Basketball Club, and the Nanhai Kung Fu after the Kaoshiung Truth disbanded after the seventh season of ABL.

After the 2018 season, the Kung Fu moved to Macau and became the Macau Black Bears, while the league announced the addition of the Zhuhai Wolf Warriors, based in Zhuhai in the Pearl River delta. On 9 September 2019, the league confirmed the entry of the third team from Taiwan, Taipei Fubon Braves situated in Taipei after Formosa Dreamers and disbanded Kaohsiung Truth. Fubon Braves secured the best record in the Super Basketball League and capped it off with the SBL championship after sweeping the Finals series in four games. They are also one of the eight teams to compete in the 2019 FIBA Asia Champions Cup.

COVID-19 pandemic

The 2019-20 ABL season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 placing the status of the ABL in uncertainty. The withdrawal of Mono Vampires, the reports of Taiwanese teams planning to join a domestic league, and the inactivity of the league's social media site were among the factors that fueled speculations that the ABL itself would fold. However, an ABL co-owner dispelled such rumors committing the resumption of the league stating that they plan to hold the eleventh season in 2021. Plans to resume the league were postponed again with the new starting date for the season initially being in February 2022. The start date was pushed back again a month later to September. The plan did not proceed as plan. In October, the ABL through social media announced that it is returning without providing anymore details.

ABL Resumed

After many speculations and rumours, the 2023 ABL season finally begin the new season in Singapore 2 January 2023 with series format due to Covid concerned for players and staff safety. 8 Teams will take the participation under the title ABL Invitational 2023. 4 Teams from 2020 season return to ABL (Hong Kong Eastern, Macau Black Bears, Saigon Heat, and Singapore Slingers) and 4 new teams joined the ABL (Bangkok Tigers, Louvre Indonesia, NS Matrix, and Zamboanga Valientes).

Teams

Current teams

Team	City / Region	Arena	Capacity	Founded	Joined ABL	Head coach
Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Bangkok Tigers	Bangkok	Nimibutr Stadium	5,600	2018	2023	Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Jakkraphan Chupthaisong
Hong Kong Eastern	Wan Chai	Southorn Stadium	2,000	1932	2016	Željko Pavličević
Template:Country data IDNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Louvre Surabaya	Surabaya	Hi-Test Arena	1,200	2019	2023	Jomar Tierra
Template:Country data MACTemplate:Namespace detect showall Macau Black Bears	Macau	The Venetian Macao, Hall D	TBC	2017		Charles Dubé-Brais
Template:Country data MASTemplate:Namespace detect showall NS Matrix Deers	Negeri Sembilan	MABA Stadium	2,500	2015	2023	Jeff Viernes
Template:Country data VIETemplate:Namespace detect showall Saigon Heat	Ho Chi Minh City	CIS Arena	2,500	2011	2012	Matthew Van Pelt
Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singapore Slingers	Kallang	OCBC Arena	3,000	2006	2009	Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Neo Beng Siang
Zamboanga Valientes	Zamboanga City	Zamboanga City Coliseum	15,000	2006	2023	Expedito De Los Santos

Template:Location map+

Former teams

Nation	Team(s)	Year(s)
		From	To
Template:Country data Brunei	Brunei Barracudas	2009	2011
Indonesia	CLS Knights Indonesia	2017	2019
	Indonesia Warriors	2012	2014
	Laskar Dreya South Sumatra	2014
	Satria Muda	2009	2011
Template:Country data Macau	Macau Wolf Warriors	2018	2020
Template:Country data Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur Dragons	2009	2020
Philippines	AirAsia Philippine Patriots	2009	2012
	Pilipinas MX3 Kings	2015	2016
	San Miguel Alab Pilipinas	2016	2020
	San Miguel Beermen	2012	2013
Template:Country data Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)1	Formosa Dreamers	2017	2020
	Kaohsiung Truth	2016	2017
	Taipei Fubon Braves	2019	2020
Template:Country data Thailand	Bangkok Cobras	2012
	Hi-Tech Bangkok City	2009	2016
	Mono Vampire	2015	2020

Template:Location map+ ¹ The Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, due to complicated relations with the People's Republic of China, is recognized by the name Chinese Taipei by most of the international organizations in sports competitions. For more information, please see Cross-Strait relations.

Champions

The finals is a best-of-5 (2–2–1) series (2010, 2013, 2016–2019) and is a best-of-3 (1–1–1) series (2011, 2012, 2014, 2023)

Season	Finalists			Semi-finalists
	Champions	Result	Runners-up
2009–10	Philippine Patriots^	3–0	Satria Muda	Template:Country data MASTemplate:Namespace detect showall Kuala Lumpur Dragons	Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singapore Slingers
2010–11	Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Chang Thailand Slammers^	2–0	Philippine Patriots	Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singapore Slingers	Template:Country data MASTemplate:Namespace detect showall Westports KL Dragons
2012	Indonesia Warriors	2–1	San Miguel Beermen^	Philippine Patriots	Template:Country data MASTemplate:Namespace detect showall Westports Malaysia Dragons
2013	San Miguel Beermen^	3–0	Indonesia Warriors	Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Thailand Slammers	Template:Country data MASTemplate:Namespace detect showall Westports Malaysia Dragons
2014	Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Hi-Tech Bangkok City	2–0	Template:Country data MASTemplate:Namespace detect showall Westports Malaysia Dragons^	Template:Country data VIETemplate:Namespace detect showall Saigon Heat	Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singapore Slingers
2015–16	Template:Country data MASTemplate:Namespace detect showall Westports Malaysia Dragons^	3–2	Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singapore Slingers	Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Hi-Tech Bangkok City	Template:Country data VIETemplate:Namespace detect showall Saigon Heat
2016–17	Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions^	3–1	Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singapore Slingers	Alab Pilipinas	Template:Country data VIETemplate:Namespace detect showall Saigon Heat
2017–18	San Miguel Alab Pilipinas	3–2	Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Mono Vampire	Chong Son Kung Fu^	Hong Kong Eastern
2018–19	CLS Knights Indonesia	3–2	Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singapore Slingers	Hong Kong Eastern	Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Mono Vampire
2019–20	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia.
2020–21	Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia.
2021–22
2023	TBD

• ^ finished regular season with the best win–loss record.

Championship table by club

This medal ranking is based on the club/team representation.

Team	Template:Gold medal	Template:Silver medal	Template:Bronze medal	Total
Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Hi-Tech Bangkok City	2	0	2	4
Template:Country data MASTemplate:Namespace detect showall Kuala Lumpur Dragons	1	1	4	6
AirAsia Philippine Patriots	1	1	1	3
Indonesia Warriors	1	1	0	2
San Miguel Beermen	1	1	0	2
Hong Kong Eastern	1	0	2	3
Alab Pilipinas	1	0	1	2
CLS Knights Indonesia	1	0	0	1
Template:Country data SGPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Singapore Slingers	0	3	3	6
Template:Country data THATemplate:Namespace detect showall Mono Vampire	0	1	1	2
Satria Muda BritAma	0	1	0	1
Template:Country data VIETemplate:Namespace detect showall Saigon Heat	0	0	3	3
Template:Country data MACTemplate:Namespace detect showall Macau Black Bears	0	0	1	1
Total	9	9	18	36

• Bold: teams that are still active
• Italic: teams from outside Southeast Asia

See also

• ABL 3x3 International Champions Cup

External links

• Template:Official website

Template:Asean Basketball League Template:Men's professional basketball leagues