On 16 February 2019 the
National Basketball Association and
FIBA announced plans to establish a
continental professional basketball league. During a press conference at the
2019 NBA All-Star weekend, NBA commissioner
Adam Silver elaborated on plans to establish the league. He stated that the league will feature 12 teams after qualification tournaments in late 2019. The countries that could possibly host a team include:
Angola,
Egypt,
Kenya,
Morocco,
Nigeria,
Rwanda,
Senegal,
South Africa and
Tunisia. Silver also hinted at the involvement of former
U.S. president Barack Obama in an unspecified role. In September 2019, BAL announced the venues and cities for the inaugural season, which included a Final Four played in
Kigali Arena in
Kigali, Rwanda. On 15 October 2019, the
qualifying tournaments for the
inaugural season began, with teams from 32 African countries participating. The start of the BAL was eventually postponed twice due to the disruptive
COVID-19 pandemic. The first BAL game was played on 16 May 2021, in the
Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, which hosted the entire tournament. The season was held in a
bio-secure bubble with only limited attendance allowed. On 30 May,
Zamalek from Egypt won the first-ever BAL championship after beating
US Monastir in the
inaugural final. The following season, the league expanded it format with five-team conferences (the Sahara and Nile Conference), which were held in
Dakar and
Cairo. The playoffs were held in Kigali. The fourth league season, in
2024, saw an expansion to three conference with the
Kalahari Conference, as well as
Petro de Luanda becoming the first team from
Sub-Saharan Africa to win the championship. After the season,
Ulrich Chomche from Cameroon became the first former BAL player to be drafted in the
National Basketball Association (NBA), as he was picked in the second round of the
2024 NBA draft. The
2025 season was won by
Al Ahli Tripoli, who were the first team to advance all the way through the qualifying rounds to win the championship. The league also hosted its first finals outside of Rwanda, with the South African city of
Pretoria being the host. On June 25, 2025,
Khaman Maluach was drafted 10th overall in the
2025 NBA draft, becoming the highest former BAL player to be drafted into the
NBA. In September 2025, NBA Commissioner
Adam Silver announced the intention of the league to move to a closed league with permanent franchises. ==Format==