The National Basketball League (NKL) (), also known as 7bet-NKL for sponsorship reasons, is the second-tier basketball division in Lithuania. It is placed below the top division Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). The competition currently consists of 15 teams. The champions of the league have the option to promote to the LKL. However, this rarely happens, as most clubs do not meet the budgetary and arena infrastructure related requirements.
History The league was established in 2005, when the second division LKAL (Lietuvos Krepšinio A Lyga, Lithuanian Basketball A League) was abolished and split into two divisions, the NKL, which is its direct successor, and the newly founded third division RKL.
The inaugural season featured 16 teams, with Akademija-MRU Vilnius claiming the first championship. Operating across Lithuanian municipalities to grow the sport locally, the league's size has fluctuated between 14 and 19 participants throughout its history. The NKL functions under a system of promotion and relegation; the league champion earns the right to promote to the top-flight LKL, while the lowest-ranked teams face demotion to the RKL. The league features both independent clubs, such as BC Sūduva, and the reserve teams of major LKL clubs like Žalgiris Kaunas and Rytas Vilnius.
Current teams and venues NKL necessitates an arena with a seating capacity of 500 in order to enter in the competition.
Team Arena Capacity City Founded BC Alytus Alytus Arena Alytus 2024 BC Jurbarkas-Karys Antanas Giedraitis-Giedrius Gymnasium Sports Hall 500 Jurbarkas 2016 BC Omega Garliava Arena Garliava 2009 BC Žalgiris-2 Žalgiris Training Center 500 Kaunas 1999 Kėdainiai Sport Center UDC Kėdainiai 2015Kėdainiai Arena BC Neptūnas-Akvaservis Palace of Sports and Gymnastics 400 Klaipėda 1987 BC Kretinga Kretinga Arena 822 Kretinga 1999 BC Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė SC Sports Hall 800 Marijampolė 2006 BC Mažeikiai Mažeikiai Venta Progymnasium Sports Hall 500 Mažeikiai 2005 BC Olimpas Palanga Palanga Arena Palanga 2018 BC Olimpas Plungė Plungė Arena Plungė 1989BC Vytis-VDU Šakiai Sports Center 800 Šakiai 2005VDU Valdas Adamkus Sports Centre300 BC Šilutė Šilutės Vydūno Gymnasium 650 Šilutė 1990 BC Telšiai Telšiai Sport Arena Telšiai 2012 BC Stekas Ukmergė TVM Sports Hall UDC Ukmergė 2010 BC Perlas Vilkaviškis Sport Center 800 Vilkaviškis 2017 BC Rytas-2 Active Vilnius Arena Vilnius 2003
League champions Season Champion Runner-up Third Place Finals MVP 2005–06 Akademija-MRU Vilnius Nafta-Uni-Laivitė Klaipėda Puntukas-Jarimpeksas Anykščiai 2006–07 Nafta-Uni-Laivitė Klaipėda Dextera Jonava Meresta Pakruojis 2007–08 Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school Kaunas Naglis-Adarkis Palanga Dextera Jonava 2008–09 Rūdupis Prienai Meresta Pakruojis Mažeikiai 2009–10 Naglis-Adarkis Palanga Malsta Jonava Mažeikiai 2010–11 Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys Mažeikiai Nafta-Universitetas Klaipėda 2011–12 LKKA-Atletas Kaunas Statyba Vilnius Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school Kaunas Šarūnas Vingelis http://www.basketnews.lt/news-49777-rezultatyviausiu-zaideju-duetas-atvede-lkka-atleta-i-nkl-virsune-komentarai-statistika.html (Lithuanian)http://www.basketnews.lt/news-49768-nkl-bronza-saboniukams-statistika.html (Lithuanian) 2012–13 Mažeikiai Dzūkija Alytus Žalgiris-2 Kaunas Rokas Giedraitis 2013–14 Mažeikiai Trakai Tiumenas-Ežerūnas Molėtai Julius Kazakauskas 2014–15 Nafta-Uni-Akvaservis Klaipėda Ežerūnas-Karys Molėtai Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė Mindaugas Stašys 2015–16 Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė Žalgiris-2 Kaunas Palanga Donatas Sabeckis 2016–17 Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė Nafta-Uni-Akvaservis Klaipėda Vytis Šakiai Gintautas Matulis 2017–18 Neptūnas-Akvaservis Klaipėda Žalgiris-2 Kaunas Vytis Šakiai Aidas Einikis 2018–19 Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė Vytis Šakiai BC Telšiai Aurimas Urbonas 2019–20 Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė BC Telšiai BC Šilutė 2020–21 Cbet Jonava BC Telšiai Vytis Šakiai Edvinas Šeškus 2021–22 Gargždai Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė BC Telšiai Mindaugas Stašys 2022–23 Žalgiris-2 Kaunas M Basket Mažeikiai BC Telšiai Gytis Nemeikšta 2023–24 Jurbarkas-Karys Kretinga Olimpas Palanga Tomas Delininkaitis 2024–25 BC Telšiai Perlas Vilkaviškis Žalgiris-2 Kaunas Lukas Valantinas 2025–26Sūduva-Mantinga MarijampolėNeptūnas-Akvaservis KlaipėdaVytis–VDU Šakiai Tautvydas Kliučinykas
Titles by club RankClubTitlesRunner-upChampion years 1 BC Sūduva-Mantinga512015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2025–262. 2 BC Neptūnas-Akvaservis332006–07, 2014–15, 2017–18 3 BC Mažeikiai M Basket222012–13, 2013–14 BC Žalgiris-2222007–08, 2022–23 5 BC Jonava122020–211. BC Telšiai122024–252. 7 BC Lietkabelis-211 8 102005–06 Labas Gas Prienai102008–09 BC Pieno žvaigždės102010–11 BC Atletas102011–12 Gargždai102021–22 Jurbarkas-Karys102023–242. Marks defunct or inactive former winners of the competition.
References
External links Official website of National Basketball League