# Nigerian Premier League (basketball)

The Nigerian Premier Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NPL, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Nigeria. The league consists of sixteen teams who are categorized into two conferences based on the geographical location. These conferences are Savannah and the Atlantic.

## Format

The league usually spans from March till mid year. Each team plays a total of 14 games in a regular season after which the top four teams qualify for the Final Eight Playoffs which usually takes place at the National Stadium Surulere Lagos. The team at the bottom of the table in each conference is relegated from the league. Towards the end of the year, the Division 1 Championship is held to determine who will be promoted to the DSTV League for the new season. In the 2014 season, Royal Hoopers of Rivers State and Niger Potter of Nigers State were both relegated from the Atlantic and Savannah Conference respectively. Accordingly, the Delta Force and FCT Rocks were promoted to the league having won the Division 1 Championship in November 2014.
Amendments were made to the schedule of events this season. At the end of the season, the top six teams from each conference will play conference playoffs to determine the winner of each conference before the top four of each conference will play the Final Eight Playoffs to determine the league winner. This is to increase the number of games played by each team in a particular season.

## History

The Nigerian Premier League was founded in 1995.
In 2017, Nigeria Basketball Federation reached an agreement with Kwese Sports for the title rights of the league. The deal runs till 2021, and it was worth $12 million.
Since 2021, the champions of the Premier League qualify directly for the regular season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), Africa's new first-tier created as a joint venture by the NBA and FIBA.
In the 2021 season, the league was organised by the Nigerian Ministry of Youth and Sports , after they earlier dissolved the caretaker committee of the NBBF. FIBA rules prohibit governments from intervening in federations, which is why the championship was ruled illegitimate. As a result, the 2021 champions Rivers Hoopers were excluded from participation in the 2022 BAL season.

## Sponsorships

For sponsorship reasons the league has known several names in its existence. The league was sponsored by the DSTV until 2017, who had both title and TV rights through the contract agreement. The league was then referred to as the DSTV Premier Basketball League.
* 7up Premier League
* Vmobile Premier League (2006)
* DSTV Premier Basketball League (2017)

## List of winners

| Season | Champions | Runner-up | Finals score | Finals venue | Ref. |
| 2024 | Rivers Hoopers | Hoops & Read | 71–54 | Rivers State Complex, Port Harcourt | |
| 2023 | Rivers Hoopers | Gboko City Chiefs | Round-robin | Rivers State Complex, Port Harcourt | |
| 2022 | Kwara Falcons | Nigeria Customs | 78–53 | National Stadium, Lagos | |
| 2021$^1$ | Rivers Hoopers | Gombe Bulls | 74–57 | Abuja Sports Hall, Abuja | |
| 2020 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 2019 | Rivers Hoopers | Raptors | 97–57 | National Stadium, Lagos | |
| 2018 | Gombe Bulls | Kwara Falcons | | | |
| 2017 | Kano Pillars | Gombe Bulls | | | |
| 2016 | Kano Pillars | Nigeria Customs | | | |
| 2015 | Mark Mentors | Kano Pillars | | | |
| 2014 | Kano Pillars | Mark Mentors | | | |
| 2013 | Kano Pillars | Union Bank | | | |
| 2012 | Royal Hoopers | Kano Pillars | | | |
| 2011 | Royal Hoopers | Kano Pillars | | | |
| 2010 | Kano Pillars | Union Bank | | | |
| 2009 | Kano Pillars | Lagos Islanders | 83–72 | National Stadium, Lagos | |
| 2008 | Kano Pillars | Union Bank | | National Stadium, Lagos | |
| 2007 | Ebun Comets | Union Bank | 74–64 | National Stadium, Lagos | |
| 2006 | Plateau Peaks | Dodan Warriors | 2–0 | Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna | |
| 2005 | Ebun Comets | Niger Potters | Round-robin | | |
| 2003 | Ebun Comets | | | | |
| 2001 | Lagos Islanders | Plateau Peaks | 70–55 | | |
| 2000 | Lagos Islanders | | | | |
| 1999 | Lagos Islanders | | | | |
| 1998 | Lagos Islanders | | | | |
| 1997 | Lagos Islanders | | | | |
$^1$ The 2021 season was not organised by the NBBF, but by the Nigerian Ministry of Youth and Sports in a response to the lack of . FIBA did not recognise Rivers Hoopers as champions, which caused them to lose their place in the 2022 BAL season.

### Titles by club

| Club | Champions | Runners-up | Years won |
| Kano Pillars | 7 | 2 | 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 |
| Rivers Hoopers | 6 | 0 | 2011, 2012, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 |
| Lagos Islanders | 5 | 0 | 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 |
| Ebun Comets | 3 | 0 | 2003, 2005, 2007 |
| Gombe Bulls | 1 | 2 | 2018 |
| Plateau Peaks | 1 | 1 | 2006 |
| Kwara Falcons | 1 | 1 | 2022 |

## Clubs
### Savannah Conference

| Club | City |
| Mark Mentors | Abuja |
| Bauchi Nets | Bauchi |
| Kano Pillars | Kano |
| Civil Defenders | Abuja |
| Plateau Peaks | Jos |
| Gombe Bulls | Gombe |
| Niger Potters | Minna |
| Kada Stars | Kaduna |

### Atlantic Conference

| Club | City |
| Oluyole Warriors | Ibadan |
| Delta Force | Asaba |
| Hoops And Read | Lagos |
| Nigeria Customs | Lagos |
| NAF Rockets | Lagos |
| Police Baton | Lagos |
| CAMAC | Bayelsa |
| Kwara Falcons | Ilorin |
| Rivers Hoopers | Port-Harcourt |

## In the Basketball Africa League

The champions of the Nigerian Premier League qualify directly to the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Two teams, namely Rivers Hoopers and Kwara Falcons, have represented the country in the BAL thus far.
| Season | Representative | Road to BAL | Road to BAL | Road to BAL | Road to BAL | Main competition | Main competition | Main competition |
| Season | Representative | W | L | Result | Qualified | W | L | Result |
| 2021 | Rivers Hoopers | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | 1 | 2 | 3rd in Group Phase |
| 2022 | Rivers Hoopers | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified |
| 2023 | Kwara Falcons | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | Directly qualified | 0 | 5 | 6th in Sahara Conference |
| Total | | – | – | | | 1 | 7 | |

## Individual awards

In some seasons, the NBBF has awarded individual awards to the best performing players of a given Premier League season.

### Most Valuable Player

* 2009 – Abubakar Usman, Kano Pillars
* 2011 – Abubakar Usman, Kano Pillars
* 2012 – Azuoma Dike, Royal Hoopers
* 2013 – Azuoma Dike, Kano Pillars
* 2014 – Abubakar Usman, Kano Pillars
* 2015 – Abdul Yahaya, Royal Hoopers
* 2016 – Abubakar Usman, Kano Pillars
* 2018 – Ibe Agu, Gombe Bulls
* 2019 – Abdul Yahaya, Rivers Hoopers
* 2021 – Anaiye Johnson, Rivers Hoopers
* 2024 – Kelvin Amayo, Rivers Hoopers

### Finals Most Valuable Player

* 2017 – Nwafor Joseph, Kano Pillars
* 2021 – Victor Anthony Koko, Rivers Hoopers
* 2022 – Dada Samuel, Kwara Falcons