2008–09 NBL season
The 2008–09 NBL season was the 31st season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 10 teams contested the league.
2008–09 league participants
- On 30 June 2008 the Brisbane Bullets confirmed they would be handing back the team's license to the NBL. The NBL confirmed there will be no Brisbane team participating in the 2008/09 season.
- On 2 July 2008 the NBL announced that two bids for the Sydney Kings license had failed and that there would be no second Sydney team in the 2008/09 season.
- On 29 July 2008 the Singapore Slingers announced that they had decided to withdraw from the competition permanently due to the dramatic increase in international travel costs.
Pre-season Transactions
| Coach | Recruited From | Signed By |
| Phil Smyth | Adelaide 36ers | Released |
| Scott Ninnis | 36ers Academy | Adelaide 36ers |
| Scott Fisher | Perth Wildcats | Released |
| Bill Tomlinson | Sydney Kings | Sydney Kings |
| Brian Goorjian | Sydney Kings | South Dragons |
| Conner Henry | Perth Wildcats | Perth Wildcats |
| Player | Recruited From | Signed By |
| Lanard Copeland | Adelaide 36ers | Retired |
| Darryl McDonald | Melbourne Tigers | Retired |
| Jason Crowe | Gold Coast Blaze | Released |
| Nic Campbell | Gold Coast Blaze | Released |
| Jared Newson | Cairns Taipans | Released |
| Sean Lampley | Melbourne Tigers | Released |
| Galen Young | Townsville Crocodiles | Released |
| Mike Helms | Singapore Slingers | Released |
| John Philip | Wollongong Hawks | Released |
| Darren Ng | Adelaide 36ers | Singapore Slingers |
| Jacob Holmes | South Dragons | Adelaide 36ers |
| Mark Worthington | Sydney Kings | South Dragons |
| Mika Vukona | New Zealand Breakers | South Dragons |
| Daniel Johnson | Pepperdine University | Melbourne Tigers |
| Brad Hill | South Dragons | Adelaide 36ers |
| Rod Grizzard | Singapore Slingers | Melbourne Tigers |
| Jason Smith | Sydney Kings | Sydney Spirit |
| Luke Schenscher | Brose Baskets | Adelaide 36ers |
| C. J. Bruton | Brisbane Bullets | New Zealand Breakers |
| Dillon Boucher | Brisbane Bullets | New Zealand Breakers |
| Ryan Kersten | New Zealand Breakers | Adelaide 36ers |
| Sam Harris | Old Dominion | Singapore Slingers |
| Jayson Castro | Harbour Centre Batang Pier | Singapore Slingers |
| Drew Williamson | Townsville Crocodiles | West Sydney Razorbacks |
| Cameron Rigby | Wollongong Hawks | Brisbane Bullets |
| Chris Daniel | New Zealand Breakers | Singapore Slingers |
| Brad Williamson | Brisbane Bullets | Townsville Crocodiles |
| Shane Heal | South Dragons | Gold Coast Blaze |
| Paora Winitana | New Zealand Breakers | Adelaide 36ers |
| David Gruber | Frankston Blues | West Sydney Razorbacks |
| Steven Broom | Brisbane Bullets | Townsville Crocodiles |
| Darnell Hinson | West Sydney Razorbacks | Perth Wildcats |
| Darius Rice | Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | Singapore Slingers |
| Thomas Abercrombie | Washington State | New Zealand Breakers |
| Corey Webster | Lambeth College | New Zealand Breakers |
| Rhys Martin | Brisbane Bullets | Wollongong Hawks |
| Adam Tanner | University of Denver | New Zealand Breakers |
| Glen Saville | Sydney Kings | Wollongong Hawks |
| Eric Sandrin | Ulsan Mobis Phoebus | Singapore Slingers |
| Kerry Williams | Cairns Marlins | Cairns Taipans |
| Adam Gibson | Brisbane Bullets | South Dragons |
| Stephen Weigh | University of Utah | Perth Wildcats |
| Anthony Petrie | West Sydney Razorbacks | Wollongong Hawks |
| Russell Hinder | Sydney Kings | Townsville Crocodiles |
| Ian Crosswhite | Sydney Kings | Cairns Taipans |
| Dave Thomas | Melbourne Tigers | Cairns Taipans |
| Sam Mackinnon | Brisbane Bullets | Melbourne Tigers |
| Jason Smith | Sydney Kings | Sydney Spirit |
| Isiah Victor | Sydney Kings | Perth Wildcats |
| Rhys Carter | West Sydney Razorbacks | South Dragons |
| Dusty Rychart | Brisbane Bullets | Wollongong Hawks |
| Derrick Low | Washington State | Sydney Spirit |
| Aaron Bruce | Baylor University | Adelaide 36ers |
| Steve Constanzo | Townsville Heat | Townsville Crocodiles |
| Greg Vanderjagt | Townsville Crocodiles | Gold Coast Blaze |
| James Quinn | Illawarra Hawks | Wollongong Hawks |
| Mark Tyndale | Temple University | Adelaide 36ers |
| Chris Goulding | Brisbane Bullets | Perth Wildcats |
| Cameron Tovey | Sydney Kings | Townsville Crocodiles |
| Ben Knight | Singapore Slingers | Perth Wildcats |
| Tim Labka | Bankstown Bruins | Wollongong Hawks |
| Anthony Olah | Gold Coast Goannas | Gold Coast Blaze |
| James Orr | Frankston Blues | South Dragons |
| Peter Hoban | Forestville Eagles | Adelaide 36ers |
| Zac Carter | Southern Districts Spartans | Gold Coast Blaze |
| Ebi Ere | Brisbane Bullets | Melbourne Tigers |
| Tremmell Darden | Spirou Charleroi | South Dragons |
| Daniel Dillon | University of Arizona | South Dragons |
Mid-season transactions
| Coach | Recruited From | Signed By |
| Alan Black | Cairns Taipans | Released |
| Mark Beecroft | Cairns Taipans | Cairns Taipans |
| Player | Recruited From | Signed By |
| Tariq Naqqash | East Central University | South Dragons |
| Luke Kendall | Sydney Kings | Perth Wildcats |
| Anthony Susnjara | Keflavik | Townsville Crocodiles |
| Juaquin Hawkins | Gold Coast Blaze | Released |
| Justin Bowen | Austin Toros | Gold Coast Blaze |
| Mark Tyndale | Adelaide 36ers | Released |
| Julius Hodge | Free Agent | Adelaide 36ers |
| Cortez Groves | South Dragons | Released |
| Liam Rush | Sydney Spirit | Sundsvall Dragons |
| Larry Abney | Cairns Taipans | Released |
| Blagoj Janev | Singapore Slingers | Sydney Spirit |
| Stephen Black | Cairns Taipans | Released |
| Donta Smith | Shanxi Zhongyu | South Dragons |
| Luke Kendall | Perth Wildcats | Melbourne Tigers |
| Dave Thomas | Cairns Taipans | Melbourne Tigers |
| Rod Grizzard | Melbourne Tigers | Released |
| Julian Khazzouh | Sydney Spirit | Hanzevast Capitals |
| Shane McDonald | Singapore Slingers | Perth Wildcats |
| Julius Hodge | Adelaide 36ers | Released |
| Rod Grizzard | Melbourne Tigers | Adelaide 36ers |
Sponsors
Apparel
Regular season
Home and away season
The home and away season will take place over 22 rounds between 13 September 2008 and 14 February 2009 with finals starting 18 February 2009. It has been confirmed that each team will still play 30 games in the season, with each team playing 15 home games.Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Ladder
This is the ladder at the end of season, before the finals. The top 6 teams qualified for the finals series.The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win-loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.
Finals series
Playoff bracket
Elimination Finals
Semi Finals
Grand Final
Player of the Week
Player of the Month
Coach of the Month
NBL awards
- Most Valuable Player: Kirk Penney, New Zealand Breakers
- Rookie of the Year: Aaron Bruce, Adelaide 36ers
- Best Defensive Player: Adam Gibson, South Dragons
- Best Sixth Man: Phill Jones, New Zealand Breakers
- Most Improved Player: Matthew Knight, Sydney Spirit
- Coach of the Year: Brian Goorjian, South Dragons
- Finals MVP: Donta Smith, South Dragons
- All-NBL First Team:
- *Kirk Penney – New Zealand Breakers
- *Chris Anstey – Melbourne Tigers
- *C. J. Bruton – New Zealand Breakers
- *Ebi Ere – Melbourne Tigers
- *Mark Worthington – South Dragons
- All-NBL Second Team:
- *Corey Williams – Townsville Crocodiles
- *Luke Schenscher – Adelaide 36ers
- *Adam Ballinger – Adelaide 36ers
- *Shawn Redhage – Perth Wildcats
- *Glen Saville – Wollongong Hawks
- All-NBL Third Team:
- *Matthew Knight – Sydney Spirit
- *James Harvey – Gold Coast Blaze
- *David Barlow – Melbourne Tigers
- *Joe Ingles – South Dragons
- *Adam Gibson – South Dragons
Television coverage
- – Fox Sports
- – Maori TV
Radio coverage