National Basketball League (Lithuania)

National Basketball League
Founded	2005; 19 years ago
First season	2005–06
Country	Lithuania
Confederation	FIBA Europe
Number of teams	15
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	LKL
Relegation to	RKL
Current champions	Jurbarkas-Karys (1st title) ; (2023/24)
Most championships	BC Sūduva-Mantinga (4 titles)
Website	nklyga.lt

The National Basketball League (NKL) (Lithuanian: Nacionalinė krepšinio lyga), also known as 7bet-NKL for sponsorship reasons, is the second-tier basketball minor league in Lithuania. It is placed below the top division Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). The competition currently consists of 15 teams.^[1] The champions of the league have the option to promote to the LKL. However, this rarely happens, as most clubs do not meet the requirements for budget and seating capacity.

History

The league was established in 2005, when the second division LKAL (Lietuvos Krepšinio A Lyga, Lithuanian Basketball A League) was abolished and split into two divisions, the NKL, which is its direct successor, and the newly founded third division RKL.

Current teams

2024–25 NKL clubs' locations.

Team	Arena	Capacity	City	Founded
BC Atletas	Garliava Arena	1,300	Garliava	1962
BC Delikatesas	Saulės Elementary School Sports Hall	300	Joniškis	1994
BC Jurbarkas-Karys	Antanas Giedraitis-Giedrius Gymnasium Sports Hall	500	Jurbarkas	2016
BC Kretinga	Kretinga Arena	822^[2]	Kretinga	1999
BC Olimpas Palanga	Palanga Arena	1,180^[3]	Palanga	2023
BC Olimpas Plungė	Žemaitijos Suvenyras Sports Hall	UDC	Plungė	1989
BC Neptūnas-Akvaservis	Klaipėda KKRC	400	Klaipėda	1987
BC Perlas	Vilkaviškis Sport Center	800	Vilkaviškis	2017
BC Rytas-2	NBA Basketball School Arena	1,490	Vilnius	2003
BC Stekas	Ukmergė TVM Sports Hall	UDC	Ukmergė	2010
BC Sūduva-Mantinga	Marijampolė SC Sports Hall	800^[4]	Marijampolė	2006
BC Šilutė	Šilutės Vydūno Gymnasium	650	Šilutė	1990
BC Telšiai	Telšiai Sport Arena	1,000^[4]	Telšiai	2012
BC Vytis-VDU	Šakiai JKSC Sports Hall	800	Šakiai	2005
BC Vytis-VDU	Valdas Adamkus Center	288	Akademija	2005
BC Žalgiris-2	Žalgiris Training Center	500	Kaunas	1999

League champions

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place	Ref.
2005–06	Akademija-MRU Vilnius	Nafta-Uni-Laivitė Klaipėda	Puntukas-Jarimpeksas Anykščiai	^[5]^[6]
2006–07	Nafta-Uni-Laivitė Klaipėda	Dextera Jonava	Meresta Pakruojis	^[7]^[8]
2007–08	Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school Kaunas	Naglis-Adarkis Palanga	Dextera Jonava	^[9]^[10]
2008–09	Rūdupis Prienai	Meresta Pakruojis	Mažeikiai	^[11]^[12]
2009–10	Naglis-Adarkis Palanga	Malsta Jonava	Mažeikiai	^[13]
2010–11	Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys	Mažeikiai	Nafta-Universitetas Klaipėda	^[14]^[15]
2011–12	LKKA-Atletas Kaunas	Statyba Vilnius	Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school Kaunas	^[16]^[17]
2012–13	Mažeikiai	Dzūkija Alytus	Žalgiris-2 Kaunas	^[18]
2013–14	Mažeikiai	Trakai	Tiumenas-Ežerūnas Molėtai	^[19]
2014–15	Nafta-Uni-Akvaservis Klaipėda	Ežerūnas-Karys Molėtai	Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė	^[20]^[21]
2015–16	Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė	Žalgiris-2 Kaunas	Palanga	^[22]^[23]
2016–17	Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė	Nafta-Uni-Akvaservis Klaipėda	Vytis Šakiai	^[24]^[25]
2017–18	Neptūnas-Akvaservis Klaipėda	Žalgiris-2 Kaunas	Vytis Šakiai	^[26]^[25]
2018–19	Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė	Vytis Šakiai	BC Telšiai	^[27]^[28]
2019–20	Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė	BC Telšiai	BC Šilutė	^[29]
2020–21	Cbet Jonava	BC Telšiai	Vytis Šakiai	^[30]^[31]
2021–22	Gargždai	Sūduva-Mantinga Marijampolė	BC Telšiai	^[32]^[33]
2022–23	Žalgiris-2 Kaunas	M Basket Mažeikiai	BC Telšiai	^[34]^[35]
2023–24	Jurbarkas-Karys	Kretinga	Olimpas Palanga	^[36]

Titles by club

Rank	Club	Titles	Runner-up	Champion years	Level
1	BC Sūduva-Mantinga	4	1	2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20	2.	NKL
2	BC Neptūnas-Akvaservis	3	2	2006–07, 2014–15, 2017–18	2.	NKL
3	BC Mažeikiai M Basket	2	2	2012–13, 2013–14	1.	LKL
–	BC Žalgiris-2	2	2	2007–08, 2022-23	2.	NKL
5	BC Jonava	1	2	2020–21	1.	LKL
6	BC Lietkabelis-2	1	1	2009–10	†
7	Š.Marčiulionio KA-Twomenas [lt]	1	0	2005–06	†
–	Labas Gas Prienai	1	0	2008–09	†
–	BC Pieno žvaigždės	1	0	2010–11	1.	LKL
–	BC Atletas	1	0	2011–12	2.	NKL
–	Gargždai	1	0	2021–22	†
–	Jurbarkas-Karys	1	0	2023–24	2.	NKL

† Marks defunct former winners of the competition.

References

External links

Official website of National Basketball League (in Lithuanian)

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Founded	2005; 19 years ago (2005)
First season	2005–06
Country	Lithuania
Confederation	FIBA Europe
Number of teams	15
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	LKL
Relegation to	RKL
Current champions	Jurbarkas-Karys (1st title) (2023/24)
Most championships	BC Sūduva-Mantinga (4 titles)
Website	nklyga.lt