The Basketball Africa League (BAL), a partnership between FIBA and the NBA, have announced the schedules for the upcoming 2023 season on Wednesday.
The tip-off date is set for Saturday, March 11, and a total of 38 games will be played across three African cities over a three-month period in 2023.
Dakar, Senegal; Cairo, Egypt; and Kigali, Rwanda, will all play host to Africa’s premier basketball competition.
The league will be back for a third season and will once again feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries, which will be divided into two conferences.
The Sahara Conference will play a 15-game group phase at the Dakar Arena in Senegal from March 11–21, while the Nile Conference will play their own 15-game group phase at the Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo, Egypt, from April 26–May 6.
Following the group phases, the top four teams from each conference will progress to compete in an eight-game, single elimination playoff series, with the finals taking place at the BK Arena in Kigali from May 21–27.
Last season, Tunisia’s US Monastir emerged as champions after defeating Angola’s Petro de Luanda 83-72 to win the 2022 Finals in front of a packed crowd of about 10,000 people at the BK Arena.
The Basketball Africa League has been vital to the NBA’s goals of development both in Africa and around the world.
Further details about the upcoming season and the teams will be announced in the coming months.
