Indian National Basketball League


The Indian National Basketball League, aka INBL, is a professional basketball league in India.
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History

The INBL was founded in 2021. The league was granted a five-year license by the Basketball Federation of India to run the competition and also help promote the 3x3 version of the game. In its first season, the INBL allowed only Indian players to participate, with the aim being 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.
The inaugural season was held between October 2022 and January 2023 across 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.
Following the 5x5 tournament, the INBL also hosted an inaugural 3x3 tournament.
In May 2024, the league was relaunched as INBL Pro with an August start date and six city-based teams. The competition ultimately did not go ahead due to contract and legal disputes.
On 30 October 2024, the Indian Panthers, a team owned by the INBL Pro, entered the New Zealand National Basketball League for the 2025 season. The team was set up in South Auckland. On 22 May 2025, the Panthers withdrew from the NZNBL mid season due to a variety of reasons.
In December 2024, the league announced that the InBL Pro U25 would commence in January 2025, with six teams comprising youth and college players under the age of 25.