# 2008–09 Chinese Basketball Association season

The 2008–09 CBA season was the 14th CBA season. Guangdong Southern Tigers defended their CBA title after defeating Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Finals, four games to one.
Tianjin Ronggang were promoted to the CBA after the team owners voted in favor of them over two other candidates, Qingdao DoubleStar and Guangdong Fenglü. Qingdao later replaced Beijing Aoshen for their place in the CBA, when the latter failed to submit relevant files on time and lost their qualification for the season.
Foreign players of each team could play unlimited time each game, except only 5 quarters collectively when facing Bayi Rockets. The two newly promoted teams and the bottom two teams of the last season could each have one extra Asian foreign players.

## Regular Season standings

| # | 2008–09 CBA season | 2008–09 CBA season | 2008–09 CBA season | 2008–09 CBA season | 2008–09 CBA season | 2008–09 CBA season | 2008–09 CBA season | 2008–09 CBA season |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | 45 | 5 | .900 | - | 24–1 | 21–4 | |
| 2 | Xinjiang Flying Tigers | 44 | 6 | .880 | 1 | 24–1 | 20–5 | |
| 3 | Jiangsu Dragons | 36 | 14 | .720 | 9 | 20–5 | 16–9 | |
| 4 | Shaanxi Kylins | 30 | 20 | .600 | 15 | 21–4 | 9–16 | |
| 5 | Dongguan Leopards | 29 | 21 | .580 | 16 | 18–7 | 11–4 | DG 3-1 FJ |
| 6 | Fujian Xunxing | 29 | 21 | .580 | 16 | 20–5 | 9–16 | DG 3-1 FJ |
| 7 | Zhejiang Lions | 28 | 22 | .560 | 17 | 16–9 | 12–13 | |
| 8 | Shandong Lions | 27 | 23 | .540 | 18 | 16–9 | 11–14 | SD 2-2(417-400) BJ |
| 9 | Beijing Ducks | 27 | 23 | .540 | 18 | 17–8 | 10–15 | SD 2-2(417-400) BJ |
| 10 | Shanxi Zhongyu | 26 | 24 | .520 | 19 | 15–10 | 11–14 | |
| 11 | Bayi Rockets | 25 | 25 | .500 | 20 | 14–11 | 11–14 | |
| 12 | Liaoning Dinosaurs | 24 | 26 | .480 | 21 | 11–14 | 13–12 | |
| 13 | Jilin Northeast Tigers | 23 | 27 | .460 | 22 | 13–12 | 10–15 | |
| 14 | Zhejiang Whirlwinds | 19 | 31 | .380 | 26 | 13–12 | 6–19 | |
| 15 | Qingdao DoubleStar | 13 | 37 | .260 | 32 | 10–15 | 3–22 | QD 2-2(361-358) TJ |
| 16 | Tianjin Ronggang | 13 | 37 | .260 | 32 | 8–17 | 5–20 | QD 2-2(361-358) TJ |
| 17 | Shanghai Sharks | 6 | 44 | .120 | 39 | 5–20 | 1–24 | SH 2-2(436-406) YN |
| 18 | Yunnan Bulls | 6 | 44 | .120 | 39 | 6-19 | 0–25 | SH 2-2(436-406) YN |
Key to colors :
* Top 8 teams advance to the Playoffs

## Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in regular season, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. Home court advantage belongs to the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.
| Quarter Finals | Quarter Finals | Quarter Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | 3 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Shandong Lions | 0 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Shandong Lions | 0 | 1 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | 3 | | | |
| | | | 5 | Dongguan Leopards | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Shaanxi Kylins | 0 | 5 | Dongguan Leopards | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Dongguan Leopards | 3 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Dongguan Leopards | 3 | | | | 1 | Guangdong Southern Tigers | 4 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Xinjiang Flying Tigers | 1 |
| 3 | Jiangsu Dragons | 3 | | | | | | | 2 | Xinjiang Flying Tigers | 1 |
| 6 | Fujian Xunxing | 0 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Fujian Xunxing | 0 | 3 | Jiangsu Dragons | 1 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Xinjiang Flying Tigers | 3 | | | |
| 2 | Xinjiang Flying Tigers | 3 | 2 | Xinjiang Flying Tigers | 3 | | | |
| 7 | Zhejiang Lions | 0 | | | | | | |