1988–89 British Basketball League season
The 1988–89 BBL season was the second season of the British Basketball League (known as the Carlsberg League for sponsorship reasons) since its establishment in 1987. The season featured a total of 11 teams, playing 20 games each. The league had suffered in the 1989 close season because Portsmouth was wound up followed by Calderdale Explorers and Birmingham Bullets both dropping out of the league. Bolton and Bury Giants became the Olympic City Giants and Kingston moved north of the border playing as Glasgow Rangers. The new season was supposed to feature 12 teams, however Oldham Celtics dropped out of the league and into the National League (Tier 2) after just one game, due to financial difficulties.
| 1988–89 BBL season | |
|---|---|
| League | British Basketball League |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Number of teams | 11 |
| Roll of Honour | |
| BBL champions | Glasgow Rangers |
| Play-off's champions | Glasgow Rangers |
| National Cup champions | Bracknell Tigers |
| BBL Trophy champions | Bracknell Tigers |
The season was dominated by the success of the league's two Scottish teams Glasgow Rangers and Livingston, who finished the regular season in first and second place respectively. Glasgow's Kevin Cadle and Alan Cunningham were also named as the league's Coach and Player of the year, however the Scottish dominance was broken by Bracknell Tigers who were victorious in the League Trophy against Livingston in the Final.
Below the Carlsberg League in the National League Division 1, it came as no surprise that Oldham Celtics sealed the title bearing in mind that they had originally planned to play in the top tier.