The 2020 Basketball Africa League season is the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League. The league is a joint effort between the National Basketball Association and FIBA. Starting from this season, it is the highest tier continental league of Africa, replacing the FIBA AfroLeague. In its first season, the league exists out of 12 teams and is scheduled to begin in March 2020. The qualifying rounds for the season were held in October and December 2019. The national champion of each African country has the opportunity to qualify through the qualifying rounds. Meanwhile, six national champions directly qualify for the [|regular season]. On 3 March 2020, the BAL announced it was postponing its inaugural season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made following recommendations of the Senegalese government. The BAL intends to start its league at a later date.
Overview
On 1 August 2019, the seven host cities for the BAL season were announced. Additionally, it was revealed that the inaugural BAL Final Four will be played in the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. BAL president, Amadou Gallo Fall, announced at the NBA All-Star 2020 Africa Luncheon in Chicago, that the season will tip off on 13 March 2020. On 20 February 2020, it was announced that the twelve teams were drawn in two conferences named Sahara and Nile Conference.
Qualification
The twelve teams for the inaugural BAL season had to qualify in their domestic competitions to be able to play in the league, similar to the other FIBA-organised competitions. Six teams qualified directly as their national champions while six winners of the qualifying tournaments would.
Direct qualification
FIBA announced that the national champions of six member associations would be directly qualified for the regular season. These teams are from countries which are also hosts cities for the regular season, except for Final Four host Rwanda. On 23 October 2019, AS Douanes won the Senegalese national championship to qualify.
Qualifying tournaments
Each of the FIBA Africa member associations was able to register one team from its country to participate in the qualifying tournaments. A total of 31 teams played in the first round, which was divided into six groups in six different host cities. The qualification tournaments started on 16 October and will end 21 December 2019.
Teams
Qualified teams
Personnel and sponsorship
Foreign players
Venues
On 1 August 2019, the NBA announced the seven host cities for the regular season. Six cities in six countries would host the regular season games, with three assigned to each conference. The Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda was announced as venue for the inaugural Final Four.
In the qualifying rounds, 32 teams from 32 countries participated in the West and East Division. The first round began 15 October and ended 3 November 2019, with sixteen teams advancing to the second round. The second-round games began 26 November and will end 22 December 2019, with six teams qualifying for the regular season.
Teams
Transactions
Regular season
In the regular season, twelve teams play in two Conferences with six teams each. Each team will play five games, one against each opponent, inside its conference. The top three teams from each conference advance to the Super 6. The games will be played in six [|arenas] divided over the African continent. The regular season will start in March 2020.
Nile Conference
Sahara Conference
Playoffs
The season concludes with the play-offs which will be played in the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
