Heavenfall Basketball League
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Current season, competition or edition: 2175-76 HBL season | |
Formerly | Refugee Basketball Community (2063-2065) Heavenfall Refugee Basketball (2065-2079) |
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Association | Heavenfall Assocation of Professional Basketball |
Sport | Basketball |
Founded | 7 March 2063 (112 years ago), New Brooklyn, Heavenfall |
Commissioner | Big Abrines (since 2166) |
No. of teams | 45 |
Country | Heavenfall |
Most recent champion(s) | Mizunoma Cherry Blossoms (1st title) (2174-75) |
Most titles | New Brooklyn Knicks (16 titles) |
Sponsor(s) | Freud Entertainment |
The Heavenfall Basketball League (HBL), known colloquially as the HeavensLeague, is a professional basketball league in Heavenfall composed of 45 teams divided equally between the Land, Air, and Sea conferences. Since its founding, it has been the most popular sports league in Heavenfall and is considered among the "big six" of Heavenfall sports.
The HBL was founded on 7 March 2063 as the Refugee Basketball Community (RBC) before renaming itself as Heavenfall Refugee Basketball (HRB) in 2065. Following a reorganization and professionalization in 2079, the league renamed itself to the Heavenfall Basketball League for the 2080 season after a merger with the Basketball Association of Heavenfall.
Teams
Regular season
The HeavensLeague regular season begins in early September. During the regular season, each team plays 66 games, 33 each home and away. A team faces opponents in its own division four times (16 games) and other teams in its conference two times (20 games). Among teams in other conferences, a team faces 5 teams twice (10 games) and 5 teams once (5 games), adding up to 30 total interconference games.
Autumn's Tournament
The Autumn's Tournament, officially the Green Valley Autumn's Tournament, is the first of two HeavensLeague in-season tournaments, taking place in November. Every team in the league is seeded based on record and participates in a single-elimination tournament bracket to become the "Autumn's Champion". The Autumn's Champion team is granted an automatic playoff berth unless it finishes in the bottom half of its conference.
Bell Cup
The Bell Cup Tournament, named after former Commisioner Devante Bell, is the second of two HeavensLeague in-season tournaments, taking place in late February. The top 16 teams in the HeavensLeague and the top 16 teams in the Heavenfall Women's Basketball League, as determined by point differential, participate in a single-elimination tournament bracket with matchups decided randomly. The two teams to reach the Bell Cup Finals play a best-of-three series, with the winner being awarded the Devante Bell Cup and being granted an immediate playoff berth in its respective league unless it finishes in the bottom half of its conference.