Asia League (basketball)

Asia League Limited
Headquarters Hong Kong
Services Basketball tournament organization
CEO
 Matt Beyer
Website www.theasialeague.com

Asia League Limited or simply as the Asia League, is the organizer of the Summer Super 8 and The Terrific 12 basketball tournaments which features professional basketball clubs in Asia. The Super 8 competition is an off-season tournament which is recognized by FIBA.[1]

History

Some years before the inception of the Asia League, Asia League CEO Matt Beyer conceptualized the idea of creating a league in East and Southeast Asia given the lack of high-level international tournaments featuring basketball clubs in the region. He also taken into account the population in the region, about 2 billion, which he views as the potential market for a regional inter-club tournament. The Asia League is envisioned to be East Asian counterpart of the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League where professional teams from Asia could compete against each other with minimal conflict with their mother league's schedules.[1]

While the FIBA Asia Champions Cup which features teams from across the Asia already exists, the Asia League initially plans to focus in the East and Southeast Asia but the organizers plans to transition the league into 32-team tournament.[1]

The first tournament by Asia League was the Super 8: Macau Basketball Invitational[2] which was contested by eight teams in September 2017.[3] The organizers initially dubbed the tournament itself as the "Asia League" this lead to them having a legal dispute with FIBA over the name of the league due to the world sports body perceiving the tournament's branding to be in conflict with its own FIBA Asia Champions Cup. The dispute led to the renaming of the competition to "Super 8"[2] and the tournament was eventually recognized by FIBA. The inaugural Super 8 was won by the Chiba Jets of the Japanese B. League.[4]

Tournament champions

Asia League tournaments
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2018 Asia League – The Terrific 12
Sport Basketball
Inaugural season 2017
No. of teams 12
Country Various
Continent FIBA Asia (Asia)
Most recent
champion(s)		 Super 8
China Guangzhou Long Lions
Terrific 12
Japan Ryukyu Golden Kings
Most titles Japan Chiba Jets
China Guangzhou Long Lions
Japan Ryukyu Golden Kings
(1 title each)
Official website www.theasialeague.com

Super 8

Season Finalists Semifinalists
Country Champions Result Country Runners-up Country Semifinalist Result Country Semifinalist
2017  JPN Chiba Jets 83–73  CHN Zhejiang Guangsha Lions  KOR Goyang Orions 88–71  JPN Ryukyu Golden Kings
2018  CHN Guangzhou Long-Lions 78–72  KOR Seoul Samsung Thunders  KOR Incheon Electroland Elephants 67–62  PHI NLEX Road Warriors

The Terrific 12

Season Finalists Semifinalists
Country Champions Result Country Runners-up Country Semifinalist Result Country Semifinalist
2018  JPN Ryukyu Golden Kings 85–76  CHN Guangzhou Long-Lions  KOR Seoul Samsung Thunders 105–92  JPN Nagoya Diamond Dolphins

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lintag, Paul (21 July 2018). "BASKETBALL SUPER 8: Inside the Asia League's grand basketball plans for the region". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 Atkin, Nicolas (11 August 2017). "The battle for basketball in Asia: upstart Macau tournament ruffles Fiba feathers". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Odeven, Ed (14 September 2017). "Jets, Kings set for inaugural Super 8 tourney". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  4. ↑ Lintag, Paul (25 July 2018). "Two Pinoy teams to see action in new Macau joust". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
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