The 2021–22 NBL season was the 44th season of the
National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested the 2021–22 season, which commenced on 3 December 2021.
Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
in the first season of a new three-year deal. All games are available live on
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
and the streaming platform
Kayo Sports. After signing onto the new three-year deal,
Network 10
Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...
will broadcast two Sunday afternoon games on
10 Peach and
10 Play. In New Zealand,
Sky Sport continue as the official league broadcaster, with Dongqiudi,
TAP Sports, M Plus,
Astro,
Fanseat, Spring Media, Live Now and
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
broadcasting games internationally.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
Ten teams are competing in the 2021–22 season, with the
Tasmania JackJumpers entering the league for their first season.
Personnel and sponsorship
Player transactions
Free agency negotiations were delayed until 28 June 2021, due to the late finish of the 2020–21 season which had been delayed due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Coaching transactions
Pre-season
The
pre-season consisted of warm-up games leading up to the start of the regular season, with the
NBL Blitz tournament running during this period. The NBL Blitz ran from 13 to 28 November with all ten teams competing, and was hosted throughout
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
,
Victoria and
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
.
Ladder
NBL Blitz ladder
Regular season
The regular season began on 3 December 2021. It consisted of 140 games spread across 21 rounds, with the final game being played on 24 April 2022.
On 24 April 2022,
Melbourne United claimed their 6th regular season championship.
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 overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.
Finals
The 2022 NBL Finals were played in April and May 2022, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final series and a best-of-five
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
series. In the semi-finals, the higher seed hosted the first and third games. In the Grand Final, the higher seed hosts the first, third and fifth games.
Playoff bracket
Awards
Pre-season
* Loggins-Bruton Cup:
Adelaide 36ers
* Most Valuable Player (
Ray Borner Medal):
Mitch McCarron (
Adelaide 36ers)
Regular season
Awards Night
* Most Valuable Player (
Andrew Gaze Trophy):
Jaylen Adams (
Sydney Kings)
* Rookie of the Year:
Bul Kuol (
Cairns Taipans)
* Best Defensive Player (
Damian Martin Trophy):
Antonius Cleveland (
Illawarra Hawks)
* Best Sixth Man:
Shea Ili (
Melbourne United)
* Most Improved Player:
Keanu Pinder (
Cairns Taipans)
* Fans MVP:
Kai Sotto (
Adelaide 36ers)
* Coach of the Year (
Lindsay Gaze Trophy):
Scott Roth (
Tasmania JackJumpers)
* Executive of the Year: Simon Edwards (
New Zealand Breakers)
* Referee of the Year: Vaughan Mayberry
* GameTime by Kmart:
Jack McVeigh (
Tasmania JackJumpers)
* All-NBL First Team:
**
Bryce Cotton (
Perth Wildcats)
**
Jaylen Adams (
Sydney Kings)
**
Antonius Cleveland (
Illawarra Hawks)
**
Vic Law (
Perth Wildcats)
**
Jo Lual-Acuil (
Melbourne United)
* All-NBL Second Team:
**
Matthew Dellavedova
Matthew William Dellavedova (born 8 September 1990) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Saint Mar ...
(
Melbourne United)
**
Josh Adams (
Tasmania JackJumpers)
**
Chris Goulding (
Melbourne United)
**
Mitch Creek (
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix)
**
Xavier Cooks (
Sydney Kings)
Post Season
* Grand Final Series MVP (
Larry Sengstock Medal):
Xavier Cooks (
Sydney Kings)
* NBL Champions:
Sydney Kings
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 NBL season
Australia, NBL
2021–22 in Australian basketball
2021 in New Zealand basketball
2022 in New Zealand basketball