History
The State Basketball League originated in 1972 as the District Competition. [2] The District Competition was introduced by the Western Australian Basketball Federation (WABF) as an 'elite' competition held on Friday nights, featuring eight Perth-based associations from the prominent districts of Perth, Swan Districts, Tangney/Willetton, Subiaco, East Perth, Cockburn, Stirling, and Claremont. [3]
In 1987, plans were put in place to expand the competition and include several country teams. In 1988, it was decided to form a State Basketball League for both men and women, and in 1989 the SBL made its debut season with three new franchises established in country areas: Rainbow Coast Raiders from Albany, Batavia Buccaneers from Geraldton, and Souwest Slammers from Bunbury. [2] Kanyana Kings from Mandurah and Goldfields Giants from Kalgoorlie joined in 1990. [4]
In 2017, the SBL shifted to the 40-minute game format in-line with FIBA, with games consisting of ten minute quarters as opposed to the twelve minute quarters under the previous 48-minute format. [5]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 SBL season was cancelled and later replaced by the amateur-based West Coast Classic. [6] [7]
In October 2020, Basketball Western Australia and the National Basketball League (NBL) announced a new partnership to bring NBL1 to Western Australia in 2021, with NBL1 replacing the SBL. The SBL was officially renamed NBL1 West and became the west conference of NBL1. [8] [9]
In 2024, an NBL1 West record grand final crowd – also a national record – of 6,460 attended RAC Arena. The men's grand final set a national viewership record of 333,865 minutes watched. In 2025, the NBL1 West led all NBL1 conferences in streaming numbers. [10]
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