The 2025 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 5, was the 5th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 5 April and ended on 14 June 2025 with the final. The playoffs and finals will be held in Pretoria, South Africa, for the first time.
Petro de Luanda were the defending champions, having won the previous season, but lost in the final to Al Ahli Tripoli, who became the first Libyan team to win the BAL championship. As winners, Al Ahli Tripoli earned the right to play in the 2025 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Venues The Moroccan Royal Basketball Federation (FRMBB) announced on 12 November 2024 that Rabat would be one of the host cities of the first phase of the 2025 season.
On 21 November 2024, the BAL announced that the group phase would be hosted in three countries, as the Nile Conference is hosted at the Salle Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, Morocco, the Sahara Conference in Dakar Arena, Dakar, Senegal, and the Kalahari Conference in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. The playoffs and final will be played in the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.
Qualification The number of directly qualified teams changed from the previous four seasons, as the BAL now allocated eight direct slots to designated leagues and markets. As such, the champions of Morocco were given a direct spot in the tournament, while only four teams would qualify through the Road to BAL. FIBA Africa had reported that the champions of South Africa received direct qualification, and this was effectively honored when South African champions MBB were given a wild card spot.
Teams
The defending champions Petro de Luanda were the first team to qualify, as they won the 2023–24 Angolan Basketball League on 12 May 2024 to qualify for a record-extending fifth season in a row. Al Ittihad Alexandria will make its debut, becoming the third Egyptian club to play in the league and it is the greatest Egyptian basketball club in history. ASCVD became the third Senegalese club to qualify following their Nationale 1 title. MBB from South Africa was announced on 12 January 2025 as the last representative, after they were given a wild card.
The season had six debuting teams, setting a new record.
Method of qualification and statistics TeamMethod of qualificationDate of qualificationPrevious yearBest performance Petro de Luanda2023–24 Angolan Basketball League champions 5th20245Champions (2024)2023–24 Egyptian Basketball Premier League champions1st1 US Monastir2023–24 Championnat Pro A champions5th20245Champions (2022) ASC Ville de Dakar2024 Nationale 1 champions27 June 20241st1 APR2024 RBL season champions23 September 20242nd20242Group stage (2024) Rivers Hoopers2024 NBBF Premier League champions3rd20242Third Place (2024) FUS Rabat2023–24 Division Excellence champions10 July 20242nd20242Quarterfinalist (2024) Al Ahli TripoliRoad to BAL West Division winners9 November 20241st1 Stade MalienRoad to BAL West Division runners-up9 November 20242nd20232Third Place (2023) Kriol StarRoad to BAL East Division finalist1st1 Nairobi City ThunderRoad to BAL East Division finalist1st1 MBBWild card1st1 Personnel TeamHead coachCaptainAl Ahli Tripoli Fouad Abou Chakra Mohamed SadiAl Ittihad Alexandria Ahmed Omar Ahmed El SabbaghASC Ville de Dakar Libasse Faye Bara NdiayeAPR James Maye William RobeynsFUS Rabat Said El Bouzidi Abdelhakim ZouitaKriol Star Hugo Salgado Joel AlmeidaMBB Sam Vincent Lebesa SelepeNairobi City Thunder Brad Ibs Tylor OngwaePetro de Luanda Sergio Valdeolmillos Childe DundãoRivers Hoopers Ogoh Odaudu Onyebuchi NwaiwuStade Malien Boubacar Kanouté Mahamane CoulibalyUS Monastir Vasco Curado Radhouane Slimane Pre-season As the champions of the 2024 BAL season, Petro de Luanda played in the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup in September 2024. They finished in fifth place.
Schedule The full schedule for the season was officially released on 21 November 2024. PhaseRoundGamesQualifying rounds (Road to BAL)First Round8 October – 1 November 2024Elite 165 November – 3 December 2024Group phaseNile Conference5 – 13 April 2025Sahara Conference26 April – 5 May 2025Kalahari Conference17 – 25 May 2025Seeding games6 –14 June 2025PlayoffsQuarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal and third place
Group phase
The group phase is played between 5 April and 25 May 2024. The twelve teams of the group phase are allocated into three conferences. The BAL announced the official schedule on 28 February 2025.
Tiebreakers The ranking of teams in the regular season was determined as follows:
Win-loss record; Head-to-head record; Point differential in the games between the respective teams; Number of points scored in the games between the respective teams; Average point differential in all games against other teams in the Conference; Average number of points scored in all games played against other teams in the Conference; Drawing.
Kalahari Conference
Sahara Conference
Nile Conference
Ranking of third-placed teams
Playoffs
Rankings
Seeding games The seeding games between the eight teams that advanced from the group phase were played on 8 and 9 June 2025. The match-ups were determined based on an aggregate ranking of all teams, with four pairings to decide the final seeds. The numbers in brackets are the seeds of the teams.
Bracket
Individual awards
The Coach of the Year award was announced on 14 June 2025, while the other awards were announced on 15 June 2025, before or after the final. For the first time in league history, fans were allowed to vote for the winner of the MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year awards, having the option of picking between four finalists. The fan vote made up for 25% of the points, with the other 75% coming from the MVP panel.
MVP: Jean Jacques Boissy, Al Ahli Tripoli Finalists: Jaylen Adams (Al Ahli Tripoli), Patrick Gardner, Aboubakar Gakou (Petro de Luanda) Defensive Player of the Year: Aliou Diarra, APR Finalists: Anas Mahmoud (Al Ittihad Alexandria), Jean Jacques Boissy (Al Ahli Tripoli) and Childe Dundão (Petro de Luanda) Coach of the Year: Fouad Abou Chakra, Al Ahli Tripoli Sportsmanship Award: Solo Diabate, Petro de Luanda
All-BAL First Team G Jaylen Adams, Al Ahli Tripoli G Jean Jacques Boissy, Al Ahli Tripoli F Majok Deng, Al Ittihad Alexandria F Patrick Gardner, Petro de Luanda C Aliou Diarra, APR
All-BAL Second Team Mohamed Sadi, Al Ahli Tripoli Babacar Sané, US Monastir Ivan Almeida, Kriol Star Taefale Lenard, MBB Youssou Ndoye, APR
BAL All-Defensive First Team G Obadiah Noel, APR G Jean Jacques Boissy, Al Ahli Tripoli F Teafale Lenard, MBB F Caleb Agada, Al Ahli Tripoli C Aliou Diarra, APR
BAL All-Defensive Second Team G Childe Dundão, Petro de Luanda G Mohamed Sadi, Al Ahli Tripoli F Ivan Almeida, Kriol Star F Majok Deng, Al Ahli Tripoli C Youssoupha Ndoye, APR
Statistics
Individual statistic leaders CategoryPlayerTeam(s)StatisticPoints per gameTeafale LenardMBB22.7Rebounds per gameAssem MareiAl Ahli Tripoli12.4Assists per gameCameron ParkerKriol Star7.8Steals per gameTeafale LenardMBB3.5Blocks per gameAliou DiarraAPR3.4Minutes per gameIvan AlmeidaKriol Star37.5FG%Aliou DiarraAPR55.7%3P%Madut AkecRivers Hoopers48.8%FT%Pieter PrinslooMBB100%
Individual game highs
CategoryPlayerTeamStatisticPointsTeafale LenardMBB39ReboundsAssem MareiAl Ahli Tripoli19AssistsChilde DundãoPetro de Luanda11John JordanFUS RabatStealsMadut AkecRivers Hoopers6BlocksAliou DiarraAPR8 (record)Three pointersAxel MpoyoAPR10 (record)
Team statistic leaders CategoryTeamStatisticPoints per gameAl Ahli Tripoli95.7Rebounds per gameASC Ville de Dakar46.0Assists per gameAPR22.7Steals per gameAl Ahli Tripoli11.5Blocks per gameMBB4.7Turnovers per game17.2Fouls per game20.2FG%APR48.0%FT%Kriol Star76.1%3P%FUS Rabat37.9%
Notes
References