Chinese Basketball League (National Basketball League) History
League status
The National Basketball League (NBL) is the second-tier professional basketball league in China. NBL was established in 2001.
The NBL sits above the Northeast China Basketball Third Division League which effectively forms the third-tier of Chinese basketball.
At the end of regular season, top 4 teams qualify to the play-offs.
Limits of non-Chinese players per team: 2 import players (non-Europeans), 2 Bosman players (with European passport) . Total number of allowed imports and Bosmans is 2.
League name history
2001 until now: National Basketball League 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 2021 2023 2024 2025
Title holders
Championships by club
| Titles | Club | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 2 |  Guangxi | 2020-21, 2022-23 |
| 2 |  HK JinNiu | 2023-24, 2024-25 |
| 1 |  Anhui W. | 2022-23 |
Finals year-by-year
| Season | Winner | Result | Finalist | Regular Season Champ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Guangxi Rhino | 2-0 |  Shaanxi Xinda | Anhui Wenyi |
| 2021-22 | Not held | |||
| 2022-23 | Guangxi Rhino | 90-80 | Shaanxi Xinda | Shaanxi Xinda |
| 2021-22 | Not held | |||
| 2022-23 | Anhui Wenyi | 102-96 | Shaanxi Xinda | Anhui Wenyi |
| 2023-24 | HK JinNiu | 4-1 | Anhui Wenyi | Anhui Wenyi |
| 2024-25 | HK JinNiu | 3-1 |  Hunan Changsha | HK JinNiu |
Finals participants
| Club | W | L | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shaanxi | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Anhui W. | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Guangxi | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| HK JinNiu | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Hunan | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Final Four participants
| Club | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guangxi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HK JinNiu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shaanxi | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Anhui W. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Hunan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Hebei | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Hefei | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Players with the most appearances in the Chinese Finals
| Player | Finals Appearances | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Yuxiang Gao | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Shouwei Cun | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Qi Feng | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Tianren Yin | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| PengPeng Ren | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| MingHao Li | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Zhenglin Pang | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Wenbo Yang | 2 | 2023, 2024 |
| Yue Yang | 2 | 2023, 2024 |
| QiXin Zhou | 2 | 2023, 2024 |
Players with the most Chinese titles
| Player | Count | Years Won |
|---|---|---|
| Yuxiang Gao | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Shouwei Cun | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Qi Feng | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Tianren Yin | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| PengPeng Ren | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| MingHao Li | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Zhenglin Pang | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
