Colonel William A. Phillips

The Indian National Basketball League (INBL) is the open-entry off-season developmental basketball league in India, organized and by the HAI and Basketball Federation of India (BFI).^[1]^[2]

History

The league's founder has been Headstart Arena India, a Punjab-based recreational, cultural and sporting activities company which also has business interests in Australia. They have been granted a five-year license by the BFI to run the competition and also help promote the 3x3 version of the game.^[1]

Distinguished from other leagues, the INBL operates with a closed setup, allowing only Indian players to participate. By doing so, the league aims to strengthen grassroots-level talent from within the nation, nurturing them into future basketball professionals. K. Govindaraj, BFI president, said the INBL's aim was to provide players with additional competitive games to improve their standards towards the Elite Pro Basketball League and look to qualify for competitions such as the Olympics and World Cups.^[1]^[3]

The inaugural season was held in 2022 across three rounds in three different cities, namely Kochi, Pune and Delhi. The Chennai Heat won the first-ever INBL championship after defeating the Bengaluru Kings in the finals, that were hosted in the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru.

Teams

Team	Representing city/state
Bengaluru Kings	Bengaluru
Chennai Heat	Chennai
Chandigarh Warriors	Chandigarh
Delhi Dribblers	Delhi
Kochi Tigers	Kochi
Mumbai Titans	Mumbai

Results

List of finals


Season	Champions	Score	Runners-up	Ref.
2022–23	Chennai Heat	183–151	Bengaluru Kings	^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Most valuable player

Season	Player	Team
2022–23	Arvindkumar Muthu Krishnan	Chennai Heat

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Indian National Basketball League from 4 January The Hindu, 18 November 2021. Accessed 23 February 2022.
^ "Indian National Basketball League announced in Bengaluru-League to get underway in January 2022". India Today. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
^ "BFI launch INBL (Indian National Basketball League), aim to take sport to higher standards across all formats". NBA.com. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

External links

[Staff_Reporter-1] Indian National Basketball League from 4 January The Hindu, 18 November 2021. Accessed 23 February 2022.

[2] "Indian National Basketball League announced in Bengaluru-League to get underway in January 2022". India Today. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.

[3] "BFI launch INBL (Indian National Basketball League), aim to take sport to higher standards across all formats". NBA.com. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

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