# Japan Basketball League

The Japan Basketball League (JBL) was a professional basketball league in Japan. It made up the top-tier of basketball in Japan alongside the bj league, Japan's other basketball competition, with no promotion and relegation between bj and the JBL.
The JBL was composed of two divisions, the JBL (Division 1, formerly JBL Super League) and the JBL2 (Division 2, formerly Japan League).
In June 2012, the Japan Basketball Association announced the establishment of the National Basketball League (NBL) as the topflight professional league in Japan. The 2012–13 season was the last JBL season as JBL teams joined the NBL.

## History

The Japan Basketball League was formed after the JBL Super League, which was held from 2001 to 2007, was disbanded. The new Japan Basketball League started with the 2007–08 season with 7 teams of the JBL Super League (Aisin SeaHorses, Hitachi SunRockers, Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Dolphins, OSG Phoenix, Panasonic Super Kangaroos, Toshiba Red Thunders, Toyota Alvark), and one team from another league, Rera Kamuy Hokkaido.

## List of champions

| Season | Regular season champion | Finals champion | Series | Runner-up |
| 2007–08 | Aisin SeaHorses | Aisin SeaHorses | 3–2 | Toyota Alvark |
| 2008–09 | Aisin SeaHorses | Aisin SeaHorses | 3–1 | Hitachi SunRockers |
| 2009–10 | Aisin SeaHorses | Link Tochigi Brex | 3–0 | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2010–11 | Aisin SeaHorses | No winner (league discontinued due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami) | No winner (league discontinued due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami) | No winner (league discontinued due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami) |
| 2011–12 | Aisin SeaHorses | Toyota Alvark | 3–1 | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2012–13 | Aisin SeaHorses | Aisin SeaHorses | 3–2 | Toshiba Brave Thunders |

## Award winners
### Regular season MVP

| Season | MVP | Team |
| 2007–08 | Shinsuke Kashiwagi | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2008–09 | Kosuke Takeuchi | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2009–10 | Kosuke Takeuchi (2×) | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2010–11 | J. R. Sakuragi | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2011–12 | J. R. Sakuragi (2×) | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2012–13 | J. R. Sakuragi (3×) | Aisin SeaHorses |

### Finals MVP

| Season | MVP | Team |
| 2007–08 | Shinsuke Kashiwagi | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2008–09 | Kosuke Takeuchi | Aisin SeaHorses |
| 2009–10 | Yuta Tabuse | Link Tochigi Brex |
| 2010–11 | No winner (playoffs not played) | No winner (playoffs not played) |
| 2011–12 | Philip Ricci | Toyota Alvark |
| 2012–13 | J. R. Sakuragi | Aisin SeaHorses |

## Statistical leaders
### Top scorers

| Season | Player | Team | PPG |
| 2007–08 | Marquis Estill | OSG Phoenix | 24.9 |
| 2008–09 | Takuya Kawamura | Link Tochigi Brex | 20.4 |
| 2009–10 | Takuya Kawamura (2×) | Link Tochigi Brex | 20.5 |
| 2010–11 | Takuya Kawamura (3×) | Link Tochigi Brex | 19.3 |
| 2011–12 | Takuya Kawamura (4×) | Link Tochigi Brex | 20.4 |
| 2012–13 | Nick Fazekas | Toshiba Brave Thunders | 21.6 |

### Rebounding leaders

| Season | Player | Team | RPG |
| 2007–08 | Marquis Estill | OSG Phoenix | 16.0 |
| 2008–09 | Cory Violette | Toshiba Brave Thunders | 11.0 |
| 2009–10 | Kosuke Takeuchi | Aisin SeaHorses | 11.4 |
| 2010–11 | Joji Takeuchi | Hitachi SunRockers | 12.2 |
| 2011–12 | J. R. Sakuragi | Aisin SeaHorses | 12.0 |
| 2012–13 | J. R. Sakuragi (2×) | Aisin SeaHorses | 12.5 |

### Assists leaders

| Season | Player | Team | APG |
| 2007–08 | Cliff Hawkins | OSG Phoenix | 7.5 |
| 2008–09 | Yuta Tabuse | Link Tochigi Brex | 5.6 |
| 2009–10 | Shinsuke Kashiwagi | Aisin SeaHorses | 4.1 |
| 2010–11 | J. R. Sakuragi | Aisin SeaHorses | 3.9 |
| 2011–12 | Takuya Kawamura | Link Tochigi Brex | 4.5 |
| 2012–13 | J. R. Sakuragi (2×) | Aisin SeaHorses | 4.4 |

### Steals leaders

| Season | Player | Team | SPG |
| 2007–08 | Cliff Hawkins | OSG Phoenix | 2.3 |
| 2008–09 | Yuta Tabuse | Link Tochigi Brex | 2.3 |
| 2009–10 | Toshihiro Sato | Hitachi SunRockers | 2.9 |
| 2010–11 | Shinsuke Kashiwagi | Aisin SeaHorses | 2.1 |
| 2011–12 | Toshihiro Sato (2×) | Hitachi SunRockers | 1.7 |
| 2012–13 | Tomokazu Abe | Levanga Hokkaido | 2.1 |

### Blocks leaders

| Season | Player | Team | BPG |
| 2007–08 | Kosuke Takeuchi | Aisin SeaHorses | 1.8 |
| 2008–09 | Kosuke Takeuchi (2×) | Aisin SeaHorses | 1.7 |
| 2009–10 | Kosuke Takeuchi (3×) | Aisin SeaHorses | 2.0 |
| 2010–11 | Kosuke Takeuchi (4×) | Aisin SeaHorses | 1.7 |
| 2011–12 | Joji Takeuchi | Hitachi SunRockers | 1.5 |
| 2012–13 | Jameel Watkins | Panasonic Trians | 2.1 |

## Clubs

The teams that played in JBL's last season in 2012–13 were:

### JBL

* Aisin SeaHorses
* Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins
* Levanga Hokkaido
* Toyota Alvark
* Hitachi SunRockers
* Toshiba Brave Thunders
* Panasonic Trians
* Link Tochigi Brex

### JBL2

* Hitachi Cable Bulldogs
* Big Blue Tokyo
* Kuroda Electric Bullet Spirits
* Ishikawa Blue Sparks
* Toyota Tsusho Fighting Eagles
* Aisin AW Areions Anjo
* Toyoda Gosei Scorpions
* Renova Kagoshima
* TGI D-Rise
* Hyogo Storks