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Organising body | Dutch Basketball League Pro Basketball League |
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Founded | December 10, 2020 |
First season | 2021–22 |
Country | ![]() ![]() |
Confederation | ![]() |
Number of teams | 20 |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Domestic cup(s) | Basketball Cup (Netherlands) Basketball Cup (Belgium) |
Supercup | BNXT Supercup Dutch Supercup |
International cup(s) | Basketball Champions League FIBA Europe Cup |
Current champions | ZZ Leiden (1st title) (2021–22) |
Most championships | ZZ Leiden |
CEO | Wim Van de Keere |
President | Ramses Braakman |
TV partners | bnxt |
Website | bnxtleague |
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The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the DBL and PBL. The inaugural season was the 2021–22 season, which started in September 2021.
The BNXT League plays national playoffs as well as a cross-border playoffs to determine a Dutch champion, Belgian champion and BNXT champion.
On 10 December 2020, it was announced that the Belgian Pro Basketball League and Dutch Basketball League would merge to form a new multinational league. [1] All clubs from the Dutch DBL voted for, while 9 of 10 teams in Belgium voted in favor of the decision. Serious talks about the initiative had been ongoing since fall 2019. [2] On 20 May 2021, the new name "BNXT League" and logo of the league were announced. [3]
The league started its inaugural season amidst an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a great number of games had to be played behind locked doors as a result of national lockdowns. [4] On 11 June 2022, ZZ Leiden were crowned the inaugural BNXT champions. [5]
On 10 September 2021, the league announced its first name sponsorship when Belgian betting company betFirst signed to become naming sponsor for three seasons. [6]
The league consists of different stages. In the first stage, teams play each other home and away in the national regular season. After this, the teams are divided in the Elite Gold and Elite Silver group for the cross-border season. Next, the teams from the Elite Gold and the best team from the Elite Silver play in the national playoffs to compete for the national championships. At the same time the BNXT Play-offs start to determine the league winner. [1]
Teams entering in this round | ||
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National regular season (22 teams) |
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Elite Gold (10 teams) |
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Elite Silver (10 teams) |
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National play-offs (6 teams) |
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BNXT League play-offs (16–24 teams) | ||
The following 20 teams will play in the 2022–23 season:
Club | Location | Venue | Capacity | Founded | Seasons | Last season |
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The Hague Royals | The Hague | Sportcampus Zuiderpark | 3,500 | 2020 | 1 | 2021–22 |
Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
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2021–22 | ZZ Leiden | 146–142 (75–72, 71–70) | Donar | Worthy de Jong |
Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
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2021–22 | Heroes Den Bosch | 3–2 | ZZ Leiden | Thomas van der Mars |
Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
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2021–22 | Oostende | 3–1 | Kangoeroes Mechelen | Keye van der Vuurst de Vries |
Geert Hendrik Hammink is a Dutch former basketball player and current coach. He is the current head coach of the Skyliners Frankfurt of the German Basketball Bundesliga. He was selected by the Orlando Magic in the first round of the 1993 NBA Draft. Hammink played for the Magic and had a small stint with the Golden State Warriors in 3 NBA seasons. In his NBA career, Hammink appeared in 8 games and scored a total of 14 points. He played college basketball at Louisiana State University (LSU).
Donar, also known as Donar Groningen, is a professional basketball club based in Groningen, Netherlands. The club competes in the BNXT League and its home arena is MartiniPlaza, which has a seating capacity of 4,350 people.
The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League.
Landstede Hammers is a Dutch basketball club based in Zwolle. The club plays in the BNXT League, the Dutch top tier division. The club was founded as Cees Lubbers The Hammers in 1995. In 1999, the club’s name was changed into Landstede Hammers. In 2001, the club received its current name Landstede Basketbal as the team became part of the same-named educational institution in Zwolle. The home games of the club are played in the Landstede Sportcentrum.
Apollo Amsterdam is a professional basketball team based in Amsterdam. The club plays its games in the BNXT League, the Dutch top league. The club was founded in 2011 and has been playing in the highest national level for 11 years. The amateur section of the club is known as BC Apollo. Apollo Amsterdam is known for their focus on developing the Dutch basketball players and giving them growth perspective in a foreign player dominated league. Apollo debuted 25 Dutch players in the last 5,5 seasons.
Aris Leeuwarden is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Leeuwarden. The club competes in the BNXT League, and has competed at the highest national level since 2004. Aris plays its home games at the Kalverdijkje. Its most notable successes are reaching the DBL finals in 2013 and the NBB Cup final in 2020.
Worthy Donovan Rafael de Jong is a Dutch 3x3 basketball player and former professional 5x5 player. Standing at 6 ft 4.3 in, De Jong plays the shooting guard or the small forward position.
Mohamed Kherrazi is a Dutch professional basketball player of Moroccan descent who plays for Leuven Bears of the BNXT League. He is also a member of the Dutch national basketball team. He is a record three-time DBL Defensive Player of the Year winner.
Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional basketball club based in 's-Hertogenbosch. The club plays in the BNXT League since 2021 and in the top basketball division in the Netherlands since 1972. Founded as EBBC in 1951, the club had several sponsored names the following decades.
ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Vijf Meihal, which has 2,000 seats.
Thomas van der Mars is a Dutch professional basketball player for Heroes Den Bosch of the BNXT League. Standing at 6 ft 10 in, he usually plays as center.
Basketball Academie Limburg, commonly known as BAL, is a Dutch basketball club based in Weert in the province of Limburg. The club was founded in 2013 as an academy to develop youth players from the province of Limburg. The club entered the Dutch Basketball League for the 2017–18 season after the dissolution of the professional team BSW. Currently, the team plays in the BNXT League.
The 2020–21 Dutch Basketball League (DBL) was the 61st season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The season started on 3 October 2020 and ended on 27 May 2021.
Emmanuel Chukwubuikem Nzekwesi is a Dutch professional basketball player for ESSM Le Portel of the LNB Pro A and the Netherlands. He played college basketball for Oral Roberts.
The 2021–22 BNXT League is the inaugural season of the BNXT League, the highest professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. It replaces the Dutch Basketball League and the Pro Basketball League.
The 2021–22 ZZ Leiden season was the 35th season in the existence of the club, and the 15th season under the entity of ZZ Leiden. The club played its first season in the BNXT League, the newly established league which combines the Belgian and Dutch national leagues.
The 2022 BNXT League Dutch Playoffs is the national playoffs of the Netherlands as part of the 2021–22 BNXT League season. The playoffs will determine which team is crowned the Dutch national basketball champion. Eliminated teams advance to the BNXT Playoffs, were they play for the BNXT title. The playoffs started on 3 May 2022.
The 2022–23 BNXT League is the second season of the BNXT League, the highest professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. ZZ Leiden is the defending champion.
The 2022 BNXT Finals were the concluding series of the 2021–22 BNXT League, the inaugural season of the Dutch-Belgian basketball competition. The series was played in a two-legged format with the team with the highest aggregate points winning the title.