The National Basketball League was a professional basketball league based in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

that lasted only one and a half seasons in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. It rose from the ashes of the

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada that ran from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior to the 1 ...

which folded after the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

season, which had teams in various Canadian and American cities. The NBL's first game was played on May 1, 1993 when the

Cape Breton Breakers The Cape Breton Breakers were a franchise in the National Basketball League that began play in 1993, the league's first season. The team played their home games at Centre 200, in Sydney, which was also home of the Cape Breton Oilers. The team w ...

visited the

Halifax Windjammers The Halifax Windjammers were a franchise in the World Basketball League that began play in 1991. The team continued operation after the WBL folded in 1992, when they joined the newly formed National Basketball League. The NBL folded midway thro ...

. The Breakers won the regular season championship with a 30-16 record, but they lost the championship finals to Saskatoon three games to one. During the

season there were rumours that the

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

team was going to move to Saint John in mid-season, which never happened before the league folded on July 9, 1994. Halifax, which finished last in 1993, was in first place at the time the league had folded. The league's president was

Sam Katz Samuel Michael Katz (born August 20, 1951) is a Canadian businessman and former politician who was the 42nd mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba from 2004 to 2014. He is the owner of the Winnipeg Goldeyes and a member of the Order of Manitoba. He wa ...

and the commissioner was

Tom Nissalke Thomas Edward Nissalke (July 7, 1932 – August 22, 2019) was an American professional basketball coach in the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association. He coached several teams in both leagues, and had an overall coa ...

NBL Teams

1993

*''Montréal Dragons folded in mid-season on June 10, 1993'' *''Hamilton Skyhawks transferred to Edmonton prior to the start of the playoffs'' PLAYOFFS - SEMI-FINALS *Cape Breton defeated Edmonton 2 games to 1; Saskatoon defeated Winnipeg 2 games to 1 FINALS *Saskatoon defeated Cape Breton 3 games to 1

Touring Teams

In 1993, league teams also played games against some touring teams which counted in the league standings. These teams were: *

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

All-Stars (replaced

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

All-Stars) *

Athletes in Action Athletes in Action (AIA) is an American sports organization founded in 1966. It is the sports ministry of Cru Ministries, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. History Athletes in Action was started in 1966 by Dave Hannah."Fact Sheet: ...

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

All-Stars * Canadian National Team

1994

*''National Basketball League disbanded on July 9, 1994''

League Champions

{{Authority control Defunct basketball leagues Sports leagues established in 1993 Organizations disestablished in 1994 Basketball leagues in Canada 1993 establishments in Canada 1994 disestablishments in Canada