2014–15 Dutch Basketball League

The 2014–15 season was the 55th season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The defending champion was Donar from Groningen.
The league started the season with nine teams, after Matrixx Magixx did not enter. In December the number of teams was reduced to eight, after Den Helder Kings went bankrupt.
Top seeded SPM Shoeters won the league, by beating Donar 4–1 in the Finals.

Teams

Before the season Matrixx Magixx announced it was withdrawing from the DBL, because the club could not complete its budget. Consequently, the league started with nine teams instead of ten. In December 2014, Port of Den Helder Kings left as well following its bankruptcy.

Colors

Club

City

Arena

Capacity

Head coach

Main sponsor

Kit manufacturer

Apollo Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Apollohal

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Regular season

Results

	AMS	DBO	GRO	LEE	ROT	LEI	WEE	ZWO
Apollo Amsterdam		52–88	56–85	76–82	66–90	75–87	61–64	46–77
Apollo Amsterdam		70–92	60–77	82–62	87–80	73–76	82–62	58–72
SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	111–60		76–59	93–66	81–59	82–77	95–57	79–56
SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	87–57		84–79	108–80	108–65	91–78	80–61	70–92
Donar Groningen	79–55	78–67		86–54	85–75	70–72	92–62	74–78
Donar Groningen	74–55	69–63		80–56	93–77	70–65	92–50	68–78
Aris Leeuwarden	89–97	72–94	92–86		91–92	81–101	73–61	79–87
Aris Leeuwarden	97–91	75–89	79–97		87–73	76–89	91–85	77–83
Challenge Sports Rotterdam	96–70	65–90	52–70	110–85		73–86	93–81	88–92
Challenge Sports Rotterdam	72–68	74–95	78–104	74–75		72–109	84–58	58–89
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	95–66	66–67	72–81	113–81	97–89		102–55	76–54
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	97–61	65–69	76–72	94–83	107–76		85–45	93–80
BS Weert	75–64	56–88	53–71	65–94	81–83	59–73		56–84
BS Weert	69–80	49–80	64–67	86–75	83–82	53–99		62–83
Landstede Zwolle	77–74	82–81	73–84	89–77	94–89	79–86	85–59
Landstede Zwolle	68–66	65–66	81–83	84–56	94–85	73–82	84–54

Playoffs

Because the number of teams in the DBL decreased to nine, a new play-off format was chosen. After the seeds 3–6 played a best-of-three series in the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and finals would be played in a best-of-seven format.

Awards

Award

Player

Team

Most Valuable Player

Notable occurrences

On May 29, 2014, health insurance company Zorg en Zekerheid extended its sponsorship contract with ZZ Leiden for three more years.
On May 13, 2014, it was announced ZZ Leiden and head coach Toon van Helfteren, who won six trophies with the club, would part ways. On May 30, the Belgian Eddy Casteels coach was hired as new head coach.
On June 6, 2014, Matrixx Magixx announced the club was close to bankruptcy after having difficulties in finding a new main sponsor to replace The Magixx.
On September 29, 2014, the first game ever of the Dutch Talent League was played. This league was the newly formed development league of the DBL, mainly made for players under age 25.
On August 9, 2014, Apollo Amsterdam announced that it would play in the DBL after working a long time to reach the DBL budget standard. This would mean the return of a team from Amsterdam since the departure of ABC in 2010.
On August 16, 2014, GasTerra Flames announced it would be named "Donar" again.
On August 29, 2014, the DBL announced for the season a new play-off system would be used. Six teams would qualify this season, compared to eight last year. In the quarter-finals, the first and second seeds received byes.
On December 2, 2014, Den Helder Kings was declared bankrupt. Consequently, the club was expelled from the DBL.