Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB)

What is the NBB?

The Novo Basquete Brasil — NBB CAIXA, after its sponsor — is Brazil’s top men’s basketball division, organised by the Liga Nacional de Basquete, which the clubs founded in 2008. The Confederação Brasileira de Basketball endorses the competition and every athlete must hold CBB registration; the league’s regulation incorporates FIBA’s rules. The LNB also runs the Copa Super 8, the under-22 LDB and the second tier, Liga Ouro, and its champion and runners-up qualify for FIBA’s Basketball Champions League Americas.^{[1] [4] [5] [8]}

How does it work?

The 2026–27 season, opening on 17 October 2026, has 18 teams — down from a record 20 — playing a double round-robin of 34 games, with the top 16 going to playoffs in which every round is a best-of-five in a 1-2-2 format; every game is televised or streamed. Promotion and relegation with Liga Ouro exist on paper and are applied unevenly: the 2025–26 regulation relegated the two lowest finishers, but for 2026–27 the last-placed club drops and the Liga Ouro champion may petition for entry — the 2026 champion declined, one club left voluntarily and one relegated club stayed. Teams may carry up to four foreign players.^[3] [4]

Since when does it exist?

The first NBB season was 2008–09. Flamengo lead the all-time list with seven titles; Sesi Franca’s 2025–26 championship, sealed 85–76 over Pinheiros in Game 4 at the Ginásio Pedrocão on 7 June 2026, was the club’s fifth in a row — the first penta in the league’s history — and took it to five titles in all.^{[2] [6] [7]}

Champions of the last ten seasons; the 2019–20 season was cancelled.

Why does it matter?

The NBB is Brazil’s only national top division in basketball, with a CBB endorsement and a second tier beneath it, and the LNB describes its 2014 agreement with the NBA as the first official partnership between the NBA and a foreign league. Its champion and runners-up go into FIBA’s continental club competition.^{[1] [5] [8]}