National Basketball Union

National Basketball Union (NBU)
Sport	Basketball
Founded	June 23, 1997
Inaugural Season	1997
Commissioner	Arseni Volkov
No. of teams	20
Country	Slavic Union
Most Recent Champion(s)	Zhukovgrad Cavalry (1)
Most titles	Adrikagorod Monarchs (7)
Current Season	2021-22 NBU Season

The National Basketball Union is a professional basketball league in the Slavic Union. The league is composed of 18 teams in two conferences.

The league was founded in Osipovgrad (Renamed Adrikagorod in 2021) in 1997 after the merging of the Basketball Association of the Slavic Union (BASU) and the Slavic Basketball League (SBL). The NBU's regular season runs from November to April, with each team playing 66 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June.

The Zhukovgrad Cavalry are the defending league champions, as they defeated the Kalyov Behemoths 4-1 in the 2021 Union Super Series.

History

Basketball only game to the Slavic Union in the 1920s, and early on it struggled to gain traction, with multiple pro leagues competing for supremacy while most high level players were poached by foreign leagues. The golden age of Slavic basketball began in the 1980s, when the pro leagues whittled themselves down to the BASU and SBL, which competed for viewership.

In 1997, with both leagues on the verge of bankruptcy they merged into the NBU In the leagues first year the 35 year old Volkov won MVP, with the Monarchs and Charms matching up in the first ever Union Super Series Volkov dominated, winning Series MVP, and had a 42 point 13 rebound performance in game 6 of the finals He would win two more championships with Adrikagorod before retiring in 2003, the NBU logo being changed to honor him soon after The league has grown in popularity since, on pace to become the most popular league in the SU.

Teams

Division	Team	Location
National League
Southern	Adrikagorod Monarchs	Adrikagorod
	Roksa Fire	Roksa
	Korogarsk Steel	Korogarsk
Oceanic	Noyalensk Noise	Noyalensk
	Lodrov Midniters	Lodrov
	Zhukovgrad Cavalry	Zhukovgrad
Western	Tuvodsk Wheels	Tuvodsk
	Kydrov Bears	Kydrov
	Chetsk Swashbucklers	Chetsk
Slavic League
Central	Adrikagorod Warlocks	Adrikagorod
	Kalyov Behemoths	Kalyov
	Ivavo Baskets	Ivavo
Northwestern	Ivanovgrad Oxen	Ivanovgrad
	Noyalensk Cosmonauts	Noyalensk
	Wodrov Champions	Wodrov
Southwestern	Khizny Charms	Khizny
	Sosovrov Warships	Sosovrov
	Kololya Destroyers	Kololya

Regular Season

During the regular season, each team plays 66 games, 33 each home and away. A team faces opponents in it's own divisions six times a year (12 games), they play the other 6 teams from their conference six times a year as well (36 games), and every team from the other conference twice (18 games).

In February, the regular season pauses to celebrate the annual NBU All-Star Game. Fans vote online and the top vote-getters in each conference are named captains. Fan votes determine the rest of the all-star starters. Coaches vote to choose the remaining 14 All-Stars.

Around the middle of April, the regular season ends. It is during this time that voting begins for individual awards, as well as the selection of the honorary, league-wide, post-season teams. The Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to the most outstanding first-year player. The Defensive Player of the Year Award is awarded to the league's best defender. The Coach of the Year Award is awarded to the coach that has made the most positive difference to a team. The Most Valuable Player Award is given to the player deemed the most valuable for (his team) that season.

Also voted on is the All-NBU team and the All-Defense team, there are two All-NBU teams consisting of the best players at every season.

Playoffs

The NBU playoffs begin in April after the conclusion of the regular season with the top four teams in each conference, the division winners getting the top three seeds with the best non division winner making the playoffs as a wildcard. Seeds are awarded in strict order of regular season record (with a tiebreaker system used as needed).

The playoffs follow a tournament format. Each team plays an opponent in a best-of-seven series, with the first team to win four games advancing into the next round, while the other team is eliminated from the playoffs. In the next round, the successful team plays against another advancing team of the same conference. All but one team in each conference are eliminated from the playoffs. In every round, the best-of-7 series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 home-court pattern, meaning that one team will have home court in games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while the other plays at home in games 3, 4, and 6.

The final playoff round, a best-of-seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the Union Super Series and is held anually in May.

Championships

While player stats carried over from the merger team success did not, with each teams championships resetting. Since the 1997 season the Adrikagorod Monarchs have the most championships with 7.

Team	Win	Loss	Total	Year(s) Won	Year(s) runner-up
Adrikagorod Monarchs	7	2	9	1998, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016	2012, 2018
Ivanovgrad Oxen	2	2	4	2011, 2014	1999, 2003
Kalyov Behemoths	2	1	3	2012, 2015	2021
Zhukovgrad Cavalry	1	3	4	2021	2000, 2008, 2017
Adrikagorod Warlocks	1	2	3	2008	2002, 2005
Khizny Charms	1	2	3	2018	1998, 2010
Ivavo Baskets	1	1	2	2000	2009
Sosovrov Warships	1	2	3	2006	2001, 2004
Chetsk Swashbucklers	1	0	1	2003
Lodrov Midniters	1	1	2	2004	2019
Noyalensk Noise	1	1	2	2005	2011, 2014
Korogarsk Steel	0	1	1		2006
Kololya Destroyers	1	2	3	2017	2007, 2015, 2020
Noyalensk Cosmonauts	2	0	2	2013, 2019
Kydrov Bears	0	1	1		2013
Roksa Fire	1	0	1	2020

See Also

NBU Draft Slavic Basketball Hall of Fame List of National Basketball Union awards