The 2015–16 NBL season was the 38th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 7 October 2015 and 14 February 2016, followed by a post-season featuring the top four in late February and March 2016. During the off-season the Wollongong Hawks reverted to their original name Illawarra Hawks which was last used in 1998. Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

, in the first year of a five-year deal, with one game per week simulcast on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

. In New Zealand Sky Sport are the official league broadcaster.

Pre-season

2015 NBL Pre-Season Blitz

A pre-season tournament featuring all eight teams was held on 24–27 September 2015 at Townsville RSL Stadium,

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

. The winner will receive the third annual Loggins-

Bruton Bruton ( ) is a small market town, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, north-west of Gillingham ...

Cup. Melbourne United are pre-season champions.

Regular season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Ladder

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding. ''¹Melbourne United won Head-to-Head (3-1). ''

Finals

The 2015–16 National Basketball League Finals were played in late February and March 2016, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final and final series, where the higher seed hosts the first and third games.

Playoff Seedings

# Melbourne United # Perth Wildcats # Illawarra Hawks #

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

Playoff bracket

Semi-finals

Grand final

Awards

Player of the Month

Coach of the Month

Pre-season

* Most Valuable Player ( Ray Borner Medal): Stephen Holt, Melbourne United & Markel Starks,

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The S ...

Season

* Most Valuable Player ( Andrew Gaze Trophy): Kevin Lisch, Illawarra Hawks * Rookie of the Year: Nick Kay,

Townsville Crocodiles The Townsville Crocodiles were an Australian professional men's basketball team based in the North Queensland city of Townsville. They competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at the Townsville Entertain ...

* Best Defensive Player: Kevin Lisch, Illawarra Hawks * Best Sixth Man: Hakim Warrick, Melbourne United * Most Improved Player: Clint Steindl,

* Coach of the Year ( Lindsay Gaze Trophy): Shawn Dennis,

* Referee of the Year: Vaughan Mayberry * All-NBL First Team: ** Jerome Randle – Adelaide 36ers ** Kevin Lisch – Illawarra Hawks ** Chris Goulding – Melbourne United ** Daniel Kickert – Melbourne United ** Andrew Ogilvy – Illawarra Hawks * All-NBL Second Team: ** Stephen Holt – Melbourne United ** Corey Webster –

** Kirk Penney – Illawarra Hawks ** Matthew Knight – Perth Wildcats ** Daniel Johnson – Adelaide 36ers

Finals

* Grand Final Series MVP ( Larry Sengstock Medal): Damian Martin, Perth Wildcats

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:NBL,2015 Australia,NBL 2015–16 in Australian basketball 2015 in New Zealand basketball 2016 in New Zealand basketball