African basketball fans will, starting this weekend, turn their attention to the sixth season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), which tips off on March 27. A total of 12 elite teams from across the continent will compete for the championship, highlighting the growing quality and competitiveness of African club basketball. The competition will take place across three African cities from Friday, March 27 to Sunday, May 31. The opening phase will feature six teams in the Kalahari Conference namely Johannesburg Giants (South Africa), Petro de Luanda (Angola), Al Ahly Ly (Libya), Nairobi City Thunder (Kenya), Dar City (Tanzania), and RSSB Tigers (Rwanda). They will battle from March 27 to April 5 at the iconic SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa. The remaining six teams will compete in the Sahara Conference: Al Ahly (Egypt), JCA Giants (Côte d’Ivoire), Club Africain (Tunisia), FUS Rabat (Morocco), Maktown Flyers (Nigeria), and Ville de Dakar (Senegal). Their games will be held at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco, from April 24 to May 3. Every conference game will count, as the top four teams from each group advance to the 2026 BAL Playoffs, scheduled to take place in Kigali from May 22 to 31. In total, the 12 teams will play 42 games this season. What sets this season apart? There are countless reasons to follow this sixth edition of the BAL, beginning with star-studded rosters featuring familiar names from across the continent and beyond. For the first time in league history, three former MVPs are expected to compete in the same season. Mike Dixon, who inspired US Monastir to the 2022 BAL title, now plays for Club Africain. Jo Lual-Acuil and Jean-Jacques Boissy, winners of the 2024 and 2025 MVP awards respectively, will both feature for Libyan champions Al Ahly Ly. Playing structure Playoff teams will be seeded based on their performance and ranking within their respective conferences. The team with the highest combined ranking will be seeded first and face the eighth-ranked team in a two-game series. The second seed will face the seventh seed, and so on until all matchups are set. Winners of the quarterfinal series will advance to the semifinals. The semifinal winners will compete in the final, while the losing teams will contest the third-place game. ALSO READ: Will any of these BAL records be broken in 2026? Games to watch Among the 15 highly anticipated matchups in Pretoria, Petro de Luanda vs. Al Ahly Ly stands out as a rematch of the 2024 BAL Final. Another headline clash will see FUS Rabat take on Al Ahly on May 3, the final day of the Sahara Conference. Each team will play every other team in its conference once. No title defense Although former champions Al Ahly (Egypt) and Petro de Luanda will be in the competition, reigning champions Al Ahly Tripoli will not defend their title after finishing second in the Libyan league during the 2025 season. Fresh faces Five of the 12 teams will be making their BAL debut this year. Club Africain, Jeunesse Club d’Abidjan, Maktown Flyers, Dar City, and Johannesburg Giants will all be looking to make an immediate impact in their first appearance. NBA experience in the Kalahari Conference Five players with NBA experience feature in the Kalahari Conference this season, including Hasheem Thabeet (Dar City), Damion Baugh and Donovan Williams (Al Ahly Ly), Mangok Mathiang (RSSB Tigers), and Michael Foster Jr. (Dar City). Thabeet remains the only Tanzanian to have played in the NBA, featuring for the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Oklahoma City Thunder between 2009 and 2014. Baugh played 15 regular-season games for the Charlotte Hornets during the 2024–25 season, averaging 7.3 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game. Mathiang, who represented Australia internationally, appeared for the Hornets in the 2017–18 season. Williams featured for the Atlanta Hawks in the 2022–23 season, while Foster Jr. made his NBA debut with the Philadelphia 76ers in the same year. Elevate program The BAL Elevate program returns for its fifth season, once again placing 12 NBA Academy Africa prospects across the participating teams, offering young players valuable professional exposure on a global stage. The following players have been confirmed for the Kalahari Conference: Almoustapha Hama Ide (Al Ahly Ly), Bathie Ndiaye (RSSB Tigers), Benjamin Davies (Johannesburg Giants), Mohamed Niane (Petro de Luanda), Mouhamadou Landoure (Dar City), and N’djj Ibourahima Coulibaly (Nairobi City Thunder).
