Other names NBL Final Teams 2 Latest meeting 2–6 March 2016 | Locale Australia
New Zealand First meeting 10 June 1979 Next meeting March 2017 | |
The NBL Grand Final is the championship series of the Australasian-based National Basketball League.
Contents
History
The series is played between the winners of the two teams for the best-of-three. Prior to 1986 the Grand Final was decided by a single game. From 2004 until 2009, the series was expanded to a best-of-five games.
The first NBL Grand Final was played on 10 June 1979 at the Albert Park Basketball Stadium in Melbourne. The St. Kilda Saints defeated the Canberra Cannons 94-93 to become the inaugural NBL Champions.
The Perth Wildcats hold the record for most Grand Final appearances with 11 between 1987 and 2013-14. They have also won a record 6 NBL championships. The Wildcats have not missed the NBL playoffs since 1986, a record of 28 consecutive years.
No Grand Final MVP was awarded between 1981 and 1985. The NBL Grand Final MVP is named for the first winner of the award and is now known as the Larry Sengstock Medal.
Rocky Smith (1980), Leroy Loggins (1987), Scott Fisher (1989), Chris Williams (2002–03), Chris Anstey (2005–06) and Cedric Jackson (2012-13) all won the Grand Final MVP and the regular season MVP awards in the same season.
The NBL Grand Final attendance record of 15,064 was set on 1 November 1996 at Melbourne Park when the South East Melbourne Magic defeated cross town rivals the Melbourne Tigers 88-84 in Game 2 of the series.
Grand Final Appearances
*Teams in bold are currently in the NBL