The 2020–21 NBL season was the 49th edition of the English Men's National Basketball League.
It was announced that there would be no promotion or relegation following the 2020–21 season, due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBL2 and NBL3 seasons were indefinitely suspended, later cancelled, and the NBL1 season structure was revised into regionalised schedules, due to the ongoing situation presented by the pandemic.
NBL Division 1
Team changes Promoted from NBL Division 2 Team Newcastle Essex Rebels
Relegated to NBL Division 2 Liverpool Westminster Warriors
Team changes Essex & Herts Leopards to Oaklands Wolves Barking Abbey to BA London Lions
Teams
ClubLocationLast seasonBA London Lions London (Barking)12thBradford Dragons Bradford8thDerby Trailblazers Derby3rdEssex Rebels Colchester D2 Sou, 1st (promoted) Hemel Storm Hemel Hempstead4thLeicester Warriors Leicester9thLoughborough Riders Loughborough6thNottingham Hoods Nottingham10thOaklands Wolves St Albans11thReading RocketsReading7thSolent KestrelsSouthampton1stTeam Newcastle Newcastle upon TyneD2 Nor, 1st (promoted) Thames Valley Cavaliers London (Uxbridge)2ndWorthing Thunder Worthing5th
Regular season
Playoffs
First round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Awards Award Basketball England – Awards 2020–21 NameTeamPlayer of the Year Greg PoleonHemel StormTeam of the Year Greg PoleonHemel Storm Hakeem SyllaThames Valley Cavaliers Taylor JohnsonThames Valley Cavaliers Ian SmithSolent Kestrels Travis CharlesSolent KestrelsBritish Team of the Year Kyle JimenezLoughborough Riders Orlan JackmanSolent Kestrels Andre ArissolSolent Kestrels Morakinyo WilliamsLeicester Warriors Blayne FreckletonThames Valley CavaliersCoach of the Year Matt GuymonSolent KestrelsU-19 Player of the Year Blake BowmanDerby TrailblazersDefensive Player of the Year Andre ArissolSolent Kestrels
Statistics Player of the Week Awards WeekPlayerTeamRefWeekPlayerTeamRefWeekPlayerTeamRef1 Ian Smith Solent Kestrels Week 1 – Basketball England15 Travis Charles Solent Kestrels 28 Mike Williams Hemel Storm 2 Hakeem Sylla Thames Valley Cavaliers Week 2 – Basketball England16 Orlan Jackman Solent Kestrels 3 Blake Bowman Derby Trailblazers Week 3 – Basketball England17 Taylor Johnson Thames Valley Cavaliers 4 Travis Charles Solent Kestrels Week 4 – Basketball England18 Greg Poleon Hemel Storm 5 Mike Williams Hemel Storm Week 5 – Basketball England19 Hakeem Sylla Thames Valley Cavaliers 6 Zaire Taylor Worthing Thunder Week 6 – Basketball England20 Greg Poleon Hemel Storm 7 Kyle Jimenez Loughborough Riders Week 7 – Basketball England21 O'Showen Williams Reading Rockets 8 Seth Hawley Thames Valley Cavaliers Week 8 – Basketball England22 Taylor Johnson Thames Valley Cavaliers 9 David Moya Team Newcastle Week 9 – Basketball England23 Howard Crawford Worthing Thunder 11 Max Richardson Worthing Thunder 24 Ian Smith Solent Kestrels 12 Greg Poleon Hemel Storm 25 Brandon Federici Team Newcastle 13 Hakeem Sylla Thames Valley Cavaliers26 Max Richardson Worthing Thunder 14 Ethan Price Essex Rebels 27 Tom Ward Worthing Thunder
Scoring As of 18 April 2021 NBL D1 Top Scorers – Dave Owen BasketballNBL Competition Statistics – Genius Sports Rank Player Club PTS 1 Greg Poleon Hemel Storm 426 2 Ronald Blain Team Newcastle 421 3 O'Showen Williams Reading Rockets 415 4 Mike Williams Hemel Storm 404 5 Jordan Santiago Oaklands Wolves 401 6 Hakeem Sylla Thames Valley Cavaliers 377 7 Taylor Johnson Thames Valley Cavaliers 371 8 Victor Olarerin Nottingham Hoods 341 9 Howard Crawford Worthing Thunder 333 10 Jonas Dieterich Loughborough Riders 322
Rebounding As of 18 April 2021 NBL D1 Top Rebounders – Dave Owen BasketballNBL Competition Statistics – Genius Sports Rank Player Club REB 1 Hakeem Sylla Thames Valley Cavaliers 233 2 Greg Poleon Hemel Storm 204 3 Oliver Stanley Derby Trailblazers 183 4 Howard Crawford Worthing Thunder 163 5 Max Richardson Worthing Thunder 160 6 Ronald Blain Team Newcastle 159 7 Rihards Sulcs Bradford Dragons 156 8 Kyle Jimenez Loughborough Riders 148 9 Leome Francis Reading Rockets 140 10 Great Osobor Bradford Dragons 140
Assists As of 18 April 2021 NBL D1 Top Assists – Dave Owen BasketballNBL Competition Statistics – Genius Sports Rank Player Club AST 1 Kyle Jimenez Loughborough Riders 196 2 David Moya Team Newcastle 110 3 Ian Smith Solent Kestrels 109 4 Charlie Brown Derby Trailblazers 101 5 Blayne Freckleton Thames Valley Cavaliers 99 6 Kayne King Leicester Warriors 96 7 Tom Ward Worthing Thunder 90 8 O'Showen Williams Reading Rockets 88 9 Zaire Taylor Worthing Thunder 87 10 Reiss Pinnock Reading Rockets 84
L Lynch Trophy The 2020–21 L Lynch Trophy was the inaugural edition of the competition, organised by participating clubs to mark the return to play for men's basketball. 16 teams, the 14 NBL Division 1 sides and the Myerscough and Charnwood academy sides, were split into four regional groups. Each group was intended to play all games within one "bubble" venue. The top 2 sides from each group would advance to the quarter-finals, therein playing a knockout format to determine the overall winners.L LYNCH TROPHY ANNOUNCED FOR NBL DIVISION 1 – L LynchLynch Trophy to provide opener to new NBL Division 1 Men's season – Hoopsfix
Group stage
Group 1, Myerscough
Group 2, Oaklands
Group 3, Loughborough
Group 4, Solent
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
References