The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs from Wales or Northern Ireland. The BBL runs two additional knockout competitions alongside the BBL Championship which are the BBL Trophy and the end-of-season BBL Playoffs. In March, there will be a BBL All-Star game which will replace the BBL Cup knockout competition.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities.
The United Kingdom national football team are a football team that represents the United Kingdom. Despite football being the most popular sport in the country, the team has not played since 1965 as separate teams represent each home nation in all major international football tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, as well as various friendlies. It is the home nations which are FIFA affiliated and not the United Kingdom as a whole.
The Norway men's national basketball team represents Norway in international basketball tournaments. The national team is administered by the Norwegian Basketball Federation.
The Scottish national basketball team is the basketball side that represents Scotland in international competition. They are organised by basketballscotland, the sport's governing body in Scotland, which in 2005, along with England and Wales merged to form the Great Britain national basketball team. The Scotland national team used to compete in the FIBA Europe's Division C. Scotland's direct affiliation to FIBA ended on 30 September 2016. To date, Scotland's main accomplishments were two qualifications to the EuroBasket, Europe's main basketball event. Further, the team won five bronze medals at the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries.
FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all 50 national European basketball federations.
The Ireland men's national basketball team represents the island of Ireland in international basketball. It is governed by Basketball Ireland with players from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland plays their home matches at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dublin.
The Great Britain men's national basketball team represents Great Britain in international basketball competitions. The national team is administered by British Basketball.
Sport in England plays a prominent role in English society. Popular teams sports in England include field hockey, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Major individual sports include badminton, athletics, tennis, boxing, golf, cycling, motorsport, and horseracing. Cricket is regarded as the national summer sport. Association football is the most popular sport, followed by Cricket, Tennis and Rugby. A number of modern sports were codified in England during the nineteenth century, among them cricket, rugby union, rugby league, football, field hockey, bandy, squash, tennis, and badminton. The game of baseball was first described in 18th century England.
A national sports team is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.
The Azerbaijan men's national basketball team is the national basketball team of Azerbaijan. The team is controlled by the Azerbaijan Basketball Federation.
Basketball was first included in the Commonwealth Games in the 2006 games in Melbourne and returned as part of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
The International Basketball Federation is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the equipment and facilities required, organizes international competitions, regulates the transfer of athletes across countries, and controls the appointment of international referees. A total of 212 national federations are now members, organized since 1989 into five zones: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
The British Basketball Federation, known as British Basketball, is the national sports governing body for basketball in Great Britain. It organises Great Britain teams for men and women in international competition. Northern Irish players normally compete for Ireland, but are also eligible to compete for the GB.
3x3 basketball is a variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one backboard and in a half-court setup. According to an ESSEC Business School study commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, 3x3 is the largest urban team sport in the world. This basketball game format is currently being promoted and structured by FIBA, the sport's governing body. Its primary competition is an annual FIBA 3X3 World Tour, comprising a series of Masters and one Final tournament, and awarding six-figure prize money in US dollars. The FIBA 3x3 World Cups for men and women are the highest tournaments for national 3x3 teams. The 3x3 format has been adopted for both the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The Basketball Federation of Armenia (BFA) is the national governing body of basketball in Armenia. It was founded in 1989, and is headquartered in Yerevan.
3x3 basketball was among the sports contested at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, England. This variation of basketball and its wheelchair counterpart was staged at the Games for the first time. All four tournaments took place between 29 July and 2 August 2022.
