2020 BAL season

The 2020 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season is the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The league is a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA.[1] Starting from this season, it is the highest tier continental league of Africa, replacing the FIBA AfroLeague.

2020 BAL season
Season2020
Teams12
Games played37
DatesPostponed
2021 →

In its first season, the league exists out of 12 teams and is scheduled to begin in March 2020. The qualifying rounds for the season were held in October and December 2019. The national champion of each African country has the opportunity to qualify through the qualifying rounds. Meanwhile, six national champions directly qualify for the regular season.

On 3 March 2020, the BAL announced it was postponing its inaugural season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The decision was made following recommendations of the Senegalese government. The BAL intends to start its league at a later date.

Overview

On 1 August 2019, the seven host cities for the BAL season were announced.[3] Additionally, it was revealed that the inaugural BAL Final Four will be played in the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.

BAL president, Amadou Gallo Fall, announced at the NBA All-Star 2020 Africa Luncheon in Chicago, that the season will tip off on 13 March 2020.[4]

On 20 February 2020, it was announced that the twelve teams were drawn in two conferences named Sahara and Nile Conference.[5]

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 3 March 2020, the BAL announced it was postponing its inaugural season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] The decision was made following recommendations of the Senegalese government.

In November, the start of the inaugural season was delayed once again and the new season was moved to somewhere in 2021.[7]

Qualification

The twelve teams for the inaugural BAL season had to qualify in their domestic competitions to be able to play in the league, similar to the other FIBA-organised competitions. Six teams qualified directly as their national champions while six winners of the qualifying tournaments would .

Direct qualification

FIBA announced that the national champions of six member associations would be directly qualified for the regular season. These teams are from countries which are also hosts cities for the regular season, except for Final Four host Rwanda.[3] On 23 October 2019, AS Douanes won the Senegalese national championship to qualify.[8]

Directly qualified teams
No. Country Team Notes
1  Angola Petro de Luanda Directly Qualified
2  Egypt Zamalek
3  Morocco AS Salé
No. Country Team Notes
4  Nigeria Rivers Hoopers Directly Qualified
5  Senegal AS Douanes
6  Tunisia US Monastir

Qualifying tournaments
Main article: 2020 BAL Qualifying Tournaments

Each of the FIBA Africa member associations was able to register one team from its country to participate in the qualifying tournaments. A total of 31 teams played in the first round, which was divided into six groups in six different host cities.[9] The qualification tournaments started on 16 October and will end 21 December 2019.

Teams and countries playing in the 2020 BAL Qualifying Tournaments
No. Country Team Notes
1  Algeria GS Pétroliers Qualified
2  Benin ASPAC
3  Botswana Dolphins
4  Burundi Dynamo
5  Cameroon FAP
Qualified
6  CAF Les Abeilles
Withdrew
7  Comoros Usoni
8  DR Congo ASB Mazembe
9  Ethiopia Hawassa City
10  Gabon Manga
11  Ghana Braves of Customs
12  Guinea SLAC
13  Ivory Coast ABC
14  Kenya KPA
15  Liberia NPA Pythons
16  Libya Al-Nasr Benghazi
No. Country Team Notes
17  Madagascar GNBC
Qualified
18  Malawi Brave Hearts
Withdrew
19  Mali AS Police
Qualified
20  Mozambique Ferroviário de Maputo
Qualified
21  Namibia Lions Club
22  Niger Nigelec
23  Rwanda Patriots
Qualified
24  Seychelles Beau Vallon Heat
25  South Africa Jozi Nuggets
26  South Sudan Cobra
27  Tanzania JKT
28  Uganda City Oilers
29  Zambia UNZA Pacers
30  Zimbabwe Mercenaries
31  Equatorial Guinea Virgen Maria de Africa

Teams

Qualified teams
Team Home city Qualified as Qualified on
US MonastirMonastirWinners of the 2018–19 Championnat National A1 May 2019
ZamalekGizaWinners of the 2018–19 Egyptian Super League4 May 2019
Petro de LuandaLuandaWinners of the 2018–19 Angolan Basketball League25 May 2019
AS SaléSaléWinners of the 2018–19 Division Excellence30 May 2019
DouanesDakarWinners of the 2019 Nationale 1 season23 October 2019
Rivers HoopersPort HarcourtWinners of the 2019 NBBF President Cup17 November 2019[10]
GS PétroliersAlgiersWest Division winners30 November 2019[11]
FAPYaoundéWest Division runners-up30 November 2019[11]
AS PoliceBamakoWest Division third place1 December 2019[12]
PatriotsKigaliEast Division winners21 December 2019
GNBCVakinankaratraEast Division runners-up21 December 2019[13]
Ferroviário de MaputoMaputoEast Division third place22 December 2019

Personnel and sponsorship
Team Head coach Team captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
AS Douanes Pabi Gueye
AS Salé Bouzidi El Said[14] Jordan
AS Police Moussa Sogoré Badra Samake[15]
FAP Gilles Kouamo
Ferroviário de Maputo Milagre Macome
GNBC Lova Navalona Raharidera
GS Pétroliers Sofiane Boulahia[16]
Patriots Dean Murray[17]
Petro de Luanda José Neto[18]
Rivers Hoopers Ogoh Odaudu
US Monastir Safouene Ferjani[19]
Zamalek Tarek Selim[14]

Foreign players
Team African Non-African
Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4
AS Douanes Gerel Simmons
AS Salé Deuce Bello Terrell Stoglin Tony Mitchell
AS Police Dércio Mula Saliou Ndiaye Malcolm White Tim Steed
FAP Jordan Rezendes Matthew Hezekiah
Ferroviário de Maputo Gracin Bakumanya Adjehi Baru Álvaro Calvo Rashad Whack
GNBC Rashaad Singleton[20]
GS Pétroliers Rolly Fula Demarius Bolds
Patriots A'Darius Pegues Guibert Nijimbere
Petro de Luanda
Rivers Hoopers Ahmed Hamdy Kaylon Tappin Billy Baptist
US Monastir Ater Majok Alhaji Mohammed Chris Crawford Andre Washington III
Zamalek Matthew Bryan-Amaning Maxi Shamba Wayne Arnold Mike Taylor

Venues
Location of venues of the 2020 BAL season.
Red: Sahara Conferences; Yellow: Nile Conference; Green: Playoffs & Finals.

On 1 August 2019, the NBA announced the seven host cities for the regular season.[3] Six cities in six countries would host the regular season games, with three assigned to each conference. The Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda was announced as venue for the inaugural Final Four.

Arena Capacity Location
Dakar Arena
15,000
 Dakar, Senegal
Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex
16,500
 Cairo, Egypt
Salle El Bouâzzaoui
2,000
 Salé, Morocco
Kilamba Arena
12,270
 Luanda, Angola
Kigali Arena (Final Four)
10,000
 Kigali, Rwanda
National Stadium
3,000[21]
 Lagos, Nigeria
Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall
4,075
 Monastir, Tunisia

Qualifying Tournaments
Main article: 2020 BAL Qualifying Tournaments

In the qualifying rounds, 32 teams from 32 countries participated in the West and East Division. The first round began 15 October and ended 3 November 2019, with sixteen teams advancing to the second round. The second-round games began 26 November and will end 22 December 2019, with six teams qualifying for the regular season.

Transactions
Main article: List of 2020 BAL season transactions

Regular season

In the regular season, twelve teams play in two Conferences with six teams each. Each team will play five games, one against each opponent, inside its conference. The top three teams from each conference advance to the Super 6.[22] The games will be played in six arenas divided over the African continent.[22] The regular season will start in March 2020.

Nile Conference
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification USM FAP RIV FER ZAM PAT
1 US Monastir 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to Playoffs —
2 FAP 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 Rivers Hoopers 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
4 Ferroviário de Maputo 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
5 Zamalek 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
6 Patriots 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played on 13 March 2020. Source: FIBA

Sahara Conference
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification GSP GNB DOU ASS POL PET
1 GS Pétroliers 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to Playoffs —
2 GNBC 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 AS Douanes 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
4 AS Salé 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
5 AS Police 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
6 Petro de Luanda 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played on 20 March 2020. Source: FIBA

Playoffs

The season concludes with the play-offs which will be played in the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.[23]

Bracket
 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
          
 
TBD
 
 
 
TBD
 
 
 
TBD
 
 
 
TBD
 
 
 
TBD
 
 
 
TBD
 
 
 
TBD
 
 
 
 
 

References
  1. "NBA, FIBA launching 12-team league in Africa; Barack Obama to have hands-on role". USA TODAY.
  2. "Basketball Africa League postpones start of inaugural season". NBA.com. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  3. "NBA's Basketball Africa League Reveals Seven Host Cities for Inaugural Season". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  4. "FIBA Press Release - February 15, 2020: Basketball Africa League announces the 12 teams that will compete in inaugural season".
  5. "BAL Conferences are drawn: Nile and Sahara Conference". 20 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  6. "Basketball Africa League postpones start of inaugural season". NBA.com. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. "BAL inaugural season postponed to 2021". The New Times. 12 November 2020.
  8. "L'As Douanes représentera le Sénégal au Basketball Africa League". Senego.com. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  9. "African clubs to compete in qualifying tournaments for the Basketball Africa League confirmed". FIBA Africa. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  10. "River Hoopers win 2019 NBBF President's Cup, qualify for Basketball Africa League". 18 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  11. "GSP, FAP qualify to the regular season of Basketball Africa League 2020". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  12. "AS Police secure maiden Basketball Africa League ticket". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  13. "GNBC flair sparks life into Basketball Africa League Qualifiers". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  14. "Who are the five new head coaches in the Basketball Africa League?". FIBA. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  15. "AS Police captain Samake: They'll respect us at BAL". FIBA. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  16. "GSP coach Boulahia: We will be outsiders at the BAL". 1 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  17. "Report: Murray will be new Patriots coach". BAL Report. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  18. "Angolan champions Petro de Luanda hire Brazilian Jose Neto as new head coach". FIBA. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  19. "Meet Union Sportive Monastir's new head coach Safouene Ferjani". FIBA. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  20. "Donald Rashaad Singleton en renfort de la GNBC – Midi Madagasikara". 26 February 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  21. "Lagos ready to take over Surulere National Stadium – Ambode". Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  22. "NBA's Basketball Africa League Gets One Step Closer To Reality With Announcement Of Host Cities". Forbes. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  23. "Rwanda to host NBA's Africa League final". The East African. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
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