The National Basketball League (NBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Oceania; currently composed of 9 teams, 8 in Australia and 1 in New Zealand. It is the premier professional men's basketball league in Australia and New Zealand.
The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle". Their sister team, the Perth Lynx, play in the Women's National Basketball League.
The National Basketball League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the league's inaugural season to the best performing player of the regular season. Throughout the year, coaching staff from each team vote on the best performing players in every game, using a 5-4-3-2-1 system at the completion of each match. The votes are collated and the individual with the most votes at the end of the regular season is awarded the Most Valuable Player. The winner receives the Andrew Gaze Trophy, which is named in honour of Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze, a seven-time winner of the NBL MVP award.
The Illawarra Hawks are an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at WIN Entertainment Centre, known colloquially as "The Sandpit". The Hawks are the only remaining NBL team to have competed in every season since the league's inception in 1979. The team won their first and so far only NBL Championship in 2001 and finished as runners-up in 2005, 2010 and 2017.
Glen Saville is an Australian former professional basketball player who played the majority of his career for the Wollongong Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL).
Adam Matthew Gibson is an Australian professional basketball player for the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the National Basketball League (NBL). He made his NBL debut in 2005, and has played for five NBL franchises. He is a two-time NBL champion, having won his first in 2007, with the Brisbane Bullets and his second in 2009, with the South Dragons. He is also a five-time All-NBL Team member and was crowned the NBL Best Defensive Player in 2009.
Trevor Gleeson is an Australian professional basketball coach who is the head coach of the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). After starting his coaching career in his hometown of Warrnambool, Gleeson had his first stint in the NBL between 1997 and 2000 as an assistant coach with the Brisbane Bullets. Between 2000 and 2004, Gleeson coached in the Continental Basketball Association in the United States. After two years in South Korea, he returned to Australia in 2006 to coach the Townsville Crocodiles. Five seasons in North Queensland brought significant success, guiding the team to five consecutive post-season appearances and winning the NBL Coach of the Year Award in 2011. He then spent a season with the Melbourne Tigers and then worked with AFL clubs North Melbourne and Hawthorn before the opportunity to join the Perth Wildcats arose in 2013. Additionally, between 2014 and 2016, he served as an assistant coach for the Australian Boomers.
Jarrod Daniel Kenny is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Otago Nuggets of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL). The 188 cm point guard attended Westlake Boys High School and has represented the New Zealand Tall Blacks multiple times.
Damian Patrick Martin is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). After four years of college basketball for Loyola Marymount, Martin began his NBL career in 2007 with the West Sydney Razorbacks. In 2009, he made the move to Perth to join the Wildcats, where he went on to become a six-time NBL champion and six-time NBL Best Defensive Player. He is considered one of the NBL's all-time best defenders.
Kevin John Lisch is an American-born Australian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Saint Louis University (SLU), where he finished as the sixth-highest scorer in school history. After college, he made a name for himself in the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia. He won an NBL championship and grand final MVP with the Perth Wildcats in his first professional season before winning the league MVP in 2012 and leading the Wildcats to another two grand finals in 2012 and 2013. He returned to the NBL in 2015 after two seasons playing in Europe, joining the Illawarra Hawks and winning his second league MVP. In 2016, he became an Australian citizen and joined the Sydney Kings. That same year, he made his debut for the Australian national team at the Rio Olympics. He also holds an Italian passport thanks to his mother, which allowed him to play as a local in France and Spain between 2013 and 2015. He announced his retirement from basketball in June 2020.
Jordair Jett is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Nelson Giants of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Saint Louis Billikens where he was named Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year in 2014, becoming the school's first conference player of the year since 1980.
Cameron Richard Gliddon is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played four years of college basketball for Concordia University before returning to Australia and joining the Cairns Taipans. He went on to win the NBL Rookie of the Year Award in 2012–13, and led the Taipans to the minor premiership in 2014–15. In April 2018, he joined the Bullets.
The 2015–16 NBL season was the 38th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 7 October 2015 and 14 February 2016, followed by a post-season featuring the top four in late February and March 2016.
Mitchell Robert Norton is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He has previously played for the Townsville Crocodiles, Illawarra Hawks and Southland Sharks, and for the Townsville Heat in the Queensland Basketball League.
Corban Joel Wroe is an Australian professional basketball player for the Warwick Senators of the State Basketball League (SBL). He played for multiple Queensland state teams growing up in Brisbane before moving to Canberra in 2009 on an Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarship. In 2011, he moved to the United States to play college basketball for Hartford, spending for years as a Hawk before returning to Australia in 2015 to launch an NBL career. He has drawn comparisons to former Perth Wildcats stalwart guard, Brad Robbins.
Clinton Steindl is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). After attending the Australian Institute of Sport, he moved to the United States in 2008 to play college basketball for Saint Mary's. In 2012, he returned to Australia and joined the Cairns Taipans, where he spent two seasons. In 2014, he joined the Townsville Crocodiles, where he spent another two seasons and won the NBL Most Improved Player in 2016. After stints in Belgium and Greece, he joined the Wildcats in 2017, going on to win his first NBL championship in 2019. He has also represented the Australian national team.
The 2016–17 NBL season was the 39th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2016 and February 2017, followed by a post-season featuring the top four in late February and March 2017.
The 2017–18 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2017 and February 2018, followed by a post-season featuring the top four in March 2018.
Shea Ili is a New Zealand professional basketball player for Melbourne United of the National Basketball League (NBL). Ili was raised in Mangere Bridge, playing his basketball at Onehunga High School and appearing for Counties Manukau in rep teams before appearing in the New Zealand NBL with the Auckland Pirates in 2012. In 2014, he joined the New Zealand Breakers as a development player. That season, he was a member of the Breakers' championship-winning team. In 2016, he was elevated to the Breakers' full-time roster, and in February 2018, he was named the NBL Most Improved Player for the 2017–18 season.
Mike Kelly is an American-Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Cairns Taipans of the National Basketball League (NBL). He spent the majority of his playing career in the NBL, where he won a championship with the South East Melbourne Magic in 1996 and was a two-time Best Defensive Player selection.
