The 1990 NBL season was the 12th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. With the addition of the Gold Coast Cougars a total of 14 teams contested the league.
Clubs
| Club |
Location |
Home Venue |
Capacity |
Founded |
Head coach |
| Adelaide 36ers |
 Adelaide, South Australia |
Apollo Stadium |
3,000 |
1982 |
 Don Shipway |
| Brisbane Bullets |
 Brisbane, Queensland |
Brisbane Entertainment Centre |
13,500 |
1979 |
Brian Kerle |
| Canberra Cannons |
 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
AIS Arena |
5,200 |
1979 |
Steve Breheny [1] |
| Eastside Melbourne Spectres |
.svg.png) Melbourne, Victoria |
Burwood Stadium |
2,000 |
1979 |
 Brian Goorjian |
| Geelong Supercats |
Geelong, Victoria |
Geelong Arena |
2,000 |
1982 |
Barry Barnes [2] |
| Gold Coast Cougars |
Gold Coast, Queensland |
Carrara Indoor Stadium |
2,992 |
1990 |
Dave Claxton |
| Hobart Tassie Devils |
 Hobart, Tasmania |
Derwent Entertainment Centre |
5,400 |
1983 |
Tom Maher [3] |
| Illawarra Hawks |
 Wollongong, New South Wales |
Illawarra Basketball Stadium |
2,000 |
1979 |
Dave Lindstrom |
| Melbourne Tigers |
Melbourne, Victoria |
The Glass House |
7,200 |
1931 |
Lindsay Gaze |
| Newcastle Falcons |
Newcastle, New South Wales |
Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium |
2,200 |
1979 |
Ken Cole |
| North Melbourne Giants |
Melbourne, Victoria |
The Glass House |
7,200 |
1980 |
Bruce Palmer |
| Perth Wildcats |
 Perth, Western Australia |
Perth Entertainment Centre |
8,200 |
1982 |
Alan Black
Cal Bruton |
| Sydney Kings |
Sydney, New South Wales |
Sydney Entertainment Centre |
12,500 |
1988 |
Bob Turner |
| Westside Melbourne Saints |
Melbourne, Victoria |
Keilor Stadium |
2,000 |
1979 |
Dean Templeton |
Regular season
The home and away season took place over 23 rounds between 30 March 1990 and 22 September 1990 with semi-final on 26 September 1990 until 14 October 1990 and grand final on 19 October until 28 October 1990.
Finals
There were two best of three Elimination finals, two best of three semi-finals, and then best of three grand final. All three of these finals were sudden death.
1990 NBL statistics leaders