The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) was an international professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia, composed of eight teams from Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), in addition to Hong Kong and Macau. Earlier teams have included Taiwan and Brunei. The league was proposed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and launched its inaugural season on 1 October 2009.
History Formation Basketball officials from 6 ASEAN nations gathered in Metro Manila on 1 September 2009 to officially launch the new league. In its inaugural season, there were six participating teams from different nations in Southeast Asia:
+TeamCityRegionBrunei BarracudasBandar Seri BegawanBruneiKuala Lumpur DragonsKuala LumpurMalaysia Philippine PatriotsSan JuanPhilippines Satria Muda BritAmaJakartaIndonesia Singapore SlingersKallangSingaporeThailand TigersBangkokThailand
League expansion On 22 September 2011, the Brunei Barracudas announced that they were bowing out of the third season of ABL after participating for 2 seasons. On 20 October 2011, the Saigon Sports Academy officially announced the participation of Saigon Heat into the third season of ABL, making them the first ever international professional basketball team to represent Vietnam. In the same season, San Miguel Beermen and Bangkok Cobras joined the league along with Saigon Heat. Unfortunately, the Beermen left the ABL after winning the title in 2013. The Cobras also left the league after one season. Further, in 2014, Laskar Dreya South Sumatra (INA) joined and played for a season.
In 2015, Pilipinas MX3 Kings and Mono Vampire joined the league and both teams left in 2016. On 17 July 2016, Kaohsiung Truth from Kaohsiung, Taiwan announced that they will participate in the 2016–17 season.Taiwan's Kaohsiung Truth Joins ABL as League Expands In the same year, the Eastern Basketball Club confirmed its participation in the league. The two teams were the first teams from outside Southeast Asia to compete in the league. The Philippines returned in the league with Alab Pilipinas on 6 August 2016. In September 2017, ABL confirmed four new teams for the 2017–18 season: CLS Knights Indonesia, Formosa Dreamers, the returning Mono Vampire Basketball Club, and the Nanhai Kung Fu after the Kaoshiung Truth disbanded after the seventh season of ABL.
After the 2018 season, the Kung Fu moved to Macau and became the Macau Black Bears, while the league announced the addition of the Zhuhai Wolf Warriors, based in Zhuhai in the Pearl River delta. On 9 September 2019, the league confirmed the entry of the third team from Taiwan, Taipei Fubon Braves situated in Taipei after Formosa Dreamers and disbanded Kaohsiung Truth. Fubon Braves secured the best record in the Super Basketball League and capped it off with the SBL championship after sweeping the Finals series in four games. They are also one of the eight teams to compete in the 2019 FIBA Asia Champions Cup.
COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty The 2019–20 ABL season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, placing the status of the ABL in uncertainty. The withdrawal of Mono Vampires, the reports of Taiwanese teams planning to join a domestic league, and the inactivity of the league's social media were among the factors that fuelled speculations that the ABL itself would fold. However, an ABL co-owner dispelled such rumours, stating that they planned to hold the eleventh season in 2021. Plans to resume the league were postponed again with the new starting date for the season initially being in February 2022. The start date was pushed back again a month later to September. The plan did not proceed, but in October the ABL announced its return.
An invitational tournament was held in 2023 and won by Hong Kong Eastern. On November 20, 2023, the league's uncertainty continued as FIBA had dropped support for the ABL. It is "unlikely to play for the foreseeable future", from statement made by the Singapore Slingers.
Teams
NationTeam(s)Year(s)FromToBrunei Barracudas20092011Hong Kong Eastern20162023CLS Knights Indonesia20172019Indonesia Warriors20122014Laskar Dreya South Sumatra2014Louvre Surabaya2023Satria Muda20092011Macau Wolf Warriors20182020Macau Black Bears20172023Kuala Lumpur Dragons20092020NS Matrix Deers2023AirAsia Philippine Patriots20092012Pilipinas MX3 Kings20152016San Miguel Alab Pilipinas20162020San Miguel Beermen20122013Zamboanga Valientes 2023 (Taiwan)Formosa Dreamers20172020Kaohsiung Truth20162017Taipei Fubon Braves20192020Singapore Slingers20092023Thailand Tigers2009Bangkok Cobras 2012Bangkok Tigers2023Hi-Tech Bangkok City20102016Mono Vampire 2015 2020Saigon Heat 2012 2023
Champions The finals is a best-of-5 (2–2–1) series (2010, 2013, 2016–2019) and is a best-of-3 (1–1–1) series (2011, 2012, 2014, 2023)
SeasonFinalistsSemi-finalistsChampionsResultRunners-up2009–10 Philippine Patriots^3–0 Satria Muda Kuala Lumpur Dragons Singapore Slingers2010–11 Chang Thailand Slammers^2–0 Philippine Patriots Singapore Slingers Westports KL Dragons2012 Indonesia Warriors2–1 San Miguel Beermen^ Philippine Patriots Westports Malaysia Dragons2013 San Miguel Beermen^3–0 Indonesia Warriors Thailand Slammers Westports Malaysia Dragons2014 Hi-Tech Bangkok City2–0 Westports Malaysia Dragons^ Saigon Heat Singapore Slingers2015–16 Westports Malaysia Dragons^3–2 Singapore Slingers Hi-Tech Bangkok City Saigon Heat2016–17 Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions^3–1 Singapore Slingers Alab Pilipinas Saigon Heat2017–18 San Miguel Alab Pilipinas3–2 Mono Vampire Chong Son Kung Fu^ Hong Kong Eastern2018–19 CLS Knights Indonesia3–2 Singapore Slingers Hong Kong Eastern Mono Vampire2019–20Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia.2020–21Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia.2021–222023 Hong Kong Eastern2–1 Saigon Heat^ NS Matrix Deers Singapore Slingers
^ finished regular season with the best win–loss record.
Championship table by club This medal ranking is based on the club/team representation. Team Total Hi-Tech Bangkok City 2 0 2 4 Hong Kong Eastern 2 0 2 4 Kuala Lumpur Dragons 1 1 4 6 AirAsia Philippine Patriots 1 1 1 3 Indonesia Warriors 1 1 0 2 San Miguel Beermen 1 1 0 2 Alab Pilipinas 1 0 1 2 CLS Knights Indonesia 1 0 0 1 Singapore Slingers 0 3 4 7 Saigon Heat 0 1 3 4 Mono Vampire 0 1 1 2 Satria Muda BritAma 0 1 0 1 Macau Black Bears 0 0 1 1 NS Matrix Deers 0 0 1 1Total 10 10 20 40 Italic: teams from outside Southeast Asia
Individual awards ABL presented five individual awards to players: the Local MVP, World Import MVP, ASEAN Heritage MVP, and the Defensive Player of the Year. The Coach of the Year award was given to the league's best head coach of the season.
Prior to the 2015–16 ABL season, there was only one MVP award for imports and was called the Best Import award. It was divided into two for World Imports (for players hailing from outside Southeast Asia and to the ASEAN Heritage Imports (for players from other Southeast Asian countries or players with at least one Southeast Asian parent). Also, the Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards were only awarded since the 2012 season.
Most Valuable Players
Locals Season Player Nationality Team 2009–10 Attaporn Lertmalaiporn Thailand Tigers 2010–11 Mario Wuysang Satria Muda 2012 Leo Avenido San Miguel Beermen 2013 Asi Taulava San Miguel Beermen 2014 Wei Long Wong Singapore Slingers 2015–16 Wei Long Wong Singapore Slingers 2016–17 Bobby Ray Parks Jr. Alab Pilipinas 2017–18 Bobby Ray Parks Jr. Alab Pilipinas 2018–19 Bobby Ray Parks Jr. Alab Pilipinas
World Imports Season Player Nationality Team 2009–10 Jason Dixon Philippine Patriots 2010–11 Nakiea Miller Westports KL Dragons 2012 Anthony Johnson AirAsia Philippine Patriots 2013 Christien Charles Sports Rev Thailand Slammers 2014 Christien Charles Hi-Tech Bangkok City 2015–16 Reggie Johnson Westports Malaysia Dragons 2016–17 Marcus Elliott Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions 2017–18 Anthony Tucker Chong Son Kung Fu 2018–19 Xavier Alexander Singapore Slingers
Heritage Imports Season Player Nationality Team 2015–16 Matthew Wright Westports Malaysia Dragons 2016–17 Tyler Lamb Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions 2017–18 Mikh McKinney Chong Son Kung Fu
Finals Season Player Nationality Team 2009–10 Warren Ybañez Philippine Patriots 2010–11 Attaporn Lertmalaiporn Chang Thailand Slammers 2012 Evan Brock Indonesia Warriors 2013 Chris Banchero San Miguel Beermen 2014 Jerick Cañada Hi-Tech Bangkok City 2015–16 Jason Brickman Westports Malaysia Dragons 2016–17 Marcus Elliott Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions 2017–18 Bobby Ray Parks Jr. San Miguel Alab Pilipinas 2018–19 Maxie Esho CLS Knights Indonesia 2023 Tonny Trocha-Morelos Hong Kong Eastern
Special awards
Defensive Player of the Year Season Player Nationality Team 2012 Steven Thomas Indonesia Warriors 2013 Chris Charles Sports Rev Thailand Slammers 2014 Justin Williams Saigon Heat 2015–16 Chris Charles Hi-Tech Bangkok City 2016–17 Justin Howard Singapore Slingers 2017–18 Renaldo Balkman San Miguel Alab Pilipinas Chris Charles Singapore Slingers 2018–19 John Fields Singapore Slingers 2023 Chris McLaughlin Hong Kong Eastern
Coach of the Year Season Coach Nationality Team 2012 Todd Purves Indonesia Warriors 2013 Leo Austria San Miguel Beermen 2014 Ariel Vanguardia Westports Malaysia Dragons 2015–16 Neo Beng Siang Singapore Slingers 2016–17 Edu Torres Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions 2017–18 Charles Dubé-Brais Chong Son Kung Fu 2018–19 Dean Murray Formosa Dreamers 2023 Željko Pavličević Hong Kong Eastern
See also ABL 3x3 International Champions Cup East Asia Super League West Asia Super League FIBA Asia Champions Cup AsiaBasket
References