# National Basketball League (Lithuania)

The National Basketball League (NKL) (Lithuanian: Nacionalinė krepšinio lyga), also known as 7bet-NKL for sponsorship reasons, is the second-tier basketball minor league in Lithuania. It is placed below the top division Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). The competition currently consists of 15 teams. The champions of the league have the option to promote to the LKL. However, this rarely happens, as most clubs do not meet the requirements for budget and seating capacity.

## History

The league was established in 2005, when the second division LKAL (Lietuvos Krepšinio A Lyga, Lithuanian Basketball A League) was abolished and split into two divisions, the NKL, which is its direct successor, and the newly founded third division RKL.

## Current teams and venues

NKL necessitates an arena with a seating capacity of 500 in order to enter in the competition.
| Team | Arena | Capacity | City | Founded |
| BC Atletas | Garliava Arena | 1,300 | Garliava | 1962 |
| BC Delikatesas | Saulės Elementary School Sports Hall | 300 | Joniškis | 1994 |
| BC Jurbarkas-Karys | Antanas Giedraitis-Giedrius Gymnasium Sports Hall | 500 | Jurbarkas | 2016 |
| BC Kretinga | Kretinga Arena | 822 | Kretinga | 1999 |
| BC Olimpas Palanga | Palanga Arena | 1,180 | Palanga | 2023 |
| BC Olimpas Plungė | Žemaitijos Suvenyras Sports Hall | UDC | Plungė | 1989 |
| BC Neptūnas-Akvaservis | Klaipėda KKRC | 400 | Klaipėda | 1987 |
| BC Perlas | Vilkaviškis Sport Center | 800 | Vilkaviškis | 2017 |
| BC Rytas-2 | NBA Basketball School Arena | 1,490 | Vilnius | 2003 |
| BC Stekas | Ukmergė TVM Sports Hall | UDC | Ukmergė | 2010 |
| BC Sūduva-Mantinga | Marijampolė SC Sports Hall | 800 | Marijampolė | 2006 |
| BC Šilutė | Šilutės Vydūno Gymnasium | 650 | Šilutė | 1990 |
| BC Telšiai | Telšiai Sport Arena | 1,000 | Telšiai | 2012 |
| BC Vytis-VDU | Šakiai JKSC Sports Hall | 800 | Šakiai | 2005 |
| BC Vytis-VDU | Valdas Adamkus Center | 288 | Akademija | 2005 |
| BC Žalgiris-2 | Žalgiris Training Center | 500 | Kaunas | 1999 |

## League champions

| Season | Champion | Runner-up | Third Place | Finals MVP |
| 2005–06 | Akademija-MRU Vilnius | Nafta-Uni-Laivitė Klaipėda | Puntukas-Jarimpeksas Anykščiai | |
| 2006–07 | Nafta-Uni-Laivitė Klaipėda | Dextera Jonava | Meresta Pakruojis | Paulius Beliavičius [lt] |
| 2007–08 | Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school Kaunas | Naglis-Adarkis Palanga | Dextera Jonava | |
| 2008–09 | Rūdupis Prienai | Meresta Pakruojis | Mažeikiai | |
| 2009–10 | Naglis-Adarkis Palanga | Malsta Jonava | Mažeikiai | |
| 2010–11 | Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys | Mažeikiai | Nafta-Universitetas Klaipėda | Darrick Leonard [lt] |
| 2011–12 | LKKA-Atletas Kaunas | Statyba Vilnius | Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school Kaunas | Šarūnas Vingelis |
| 2012–13 | Mažeikiai | Dzūkija Alytus | Žalgiris-2 Kaunas | Rokas Giedraitis |
| 2013–14 | Mažeikiai | Trakai | Tiumenas-Ežerūnas Molėtai | Julius Kazakauskas |
| 2014–15 | Nafta-Uni-Akvaservis Klaipėda | Ežerūnas-Karys Molėtai | Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė | Mindaugas Stašys |
| 2015–16 | Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė | Žalgiris-2 Kaunas | Palanga | Donatas Sabeckis |
| 2016–17 | Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė | Nafta-Uni-Akvaservis Klaipėda | Vytis Šakiai | Gintautas Matulis |
| 2017–18 | Neptūnas-Akvaservis Klaipėda | Žalgiris-2 Kaunas | Vytis Šakiai | Aidas Einikis [lt] |
| 2018–19 | Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė | Vytis Šakiai | BC Telšiai | Aurimas Urbonas [lt] |
| 2019–20 | Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė | BC Telšiai | BC Šilutė | Season stopped due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2020–21 | Cbet Jonava | BC Telšiai | Vytis Šakiai | Edvinas Šeškus |
| 2021–22 | Gargždai | Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė | BC Telšiai | Mindaugas Stašys |
| 2022–23 | Žalgiris-2 Kaunas | M Basket Mažeikiai | BC Telšiai | Gytis Nemeikšta [lt] |
| 2023–24 | Jurbarkas-Karys | Kretinga | Olimpas Palanga | Tomas Delininkaitis |

## Titles by club

| Rank | Club | Titles | Runner-up | Champion years | Level | Level |
| 1 | BC Sūduva-Mantinga | 4 | 1 | 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20 | 2. | NKL |
| 2 | BC Neptūnas-Akvaservis | 3 | 2 | 2006–07, 2014–15, 2017–18 | 2. | NKL |
| 3 | BC Mažeikiai M Basket | 2 | 2 | 2012–13, 2013–14 | 1. | LKL |
| – | BC Žalgiris-2 | 2 | 2 | 2007–08, 2022-23 | 2. | NKL |
| 5 | BC Jonava | 1 | 2 | 2020–21 | 1. | LKL |
| 6 | BC Lietkabelis-2 | 1 | 1 | 2009–10 | † | † |
| 7 | Š.Marčiulionio KA-Twomenas [lt] | 1 | 0 | 2005–06 | † | † |
| – | Labas Gas Prienai | 1 | 0 | 2008–09 | † | † |
| – | BC Pieno žvaigždės | 1 | 0 | 2010–11 | † | † |
| – | BC Atletas | 1 | 0 | 2011–12 | 2. | NKL |
| – | Gargždai | 1 | 0 | 2021–22 | † | † |
| – | Jurbarkas-Karys | 1 | 0 | 2023–24 | 2. | NKL |
† Marks defunct former winners of the competition.