1986 NBL season

The NBL had 14 clubs spread across all Australian states and territories with the exception of the Northern Territory.

Club	Location	Home Venue	Capacity	Founded	Head coach
Adelaide 36ers	Adelaide, South Australia	Apollo Stadium	3,000	1982	Ken Cole
Brisbane Bullets	Brisbane, Queensland	Sleeman Sports Centre Brisbane Entertainment Centre	2,700 13,500	1979	Brian Kerle
Canberra Cannons	Canberra, Australian Capital Territory	AIS Arena	5,200	1979	Bob Turner
Coburg Giants	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1980	Les Riddle
Geelong Supercats	Geelong, Victoria	Geelong Arena	2,000	1982	Ken Richardson
Hobart Devils	Hobart, Tasmania	Kingborough Sports Centre	1,800	1983	David Adkins
Illawarra Hawks	Wollongong, New South Wales	Illawarra Basketball Stadium	2,000	1979	Dave Lindstrom
Melbourne Tigers	Melbourne, Victoria	Albert Park Basketball Stadium	2,000	1931	Lindsay Gaze
Newcastle Falcons	Newcastle, New South Wales	Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium	2,200	1979	Steve Johansen
Nunawading Spectres	Melbourne, Victoria	Burwood Stadium	2,000	1979	Barry Barnes
Perth Wildcats	Perth, Western Australia	Perry Lakes Basketball Stadium	1,500	1982	Jay Brehmer
St. Kilda Saints	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1979	Andris Blicavs
Sydney Supersonics	Sydney, New South Wales	State Sports Centre	5,006	1982	Owen Wells
West Sydney Westars	Sydney, New South Wales	State Sports Centre	5,006	1982	Robbie Cadee

The home and away season took place over 21 rounds between 25 April 1986 and 28 September 1986.

The Adelaide 36ers had a near perfect regular season recording a 24–2 win/loss record which included an undefeated 13-0 home record at the Apollo Stadium, a feat not matched before or since in the NBL. Adelaide's only two losses of the year came away in Round 6 when they lost 89–87 to the West Sydney Westars in Sydney, and in Round 11 against the Coburg Giants in Melbourne when they went down 116–114. Both the Westars and Giants won the games on last second baskets. The 36ers were easily the best offensive team in the league, averaging 116 points per game (11.5 points more per game than the next best team, the Brisbane Bullets), while they had the 5th best defence in the NBL only giving up 96.5 points per game.

6'5" (196 cm) Brisbane Bullets swingman Leroy Loggins was selected as the NBL's Most Valuable Player. Loggins averaged 29.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in 1986. It was Loggins' 2nd NBL MVP award having also won in 1984.

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win-loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

¹Head-to-Head between West Sydney Westars and Illawarra Hawks (1-1). West Sydney Westars won For and Against (+8).

²3-way Head-to-Head between Sydney Supersonics (3-1), Geelong Cats (2-2) and Coburg Giants (1-3).

There were two quarter finals, two semi-finals, and then best of three grand final. All of the Quarter and Semi-finals were sudden death. As the top two teams in the regular season the Adelaide 36ers and Canberra Cannons automatically qualified to host a home Semi-final.

• Most Valuable Player: Leroy Loggins, Brisbane Bullets
• Most Valuable Player Grand Final: Mark Davis, Adelaide 36ers
• Rookie of the Year: Steve Lunardon, Nunawading Spectres
• Coach of the Year: Ken Cole, Adelaide 36ers