The National Basketball League (LBN) was officially born this Thursday with the presentation of its first season, which will have the jump between two during the second half of 2026, specifically from August 14 to December 1.
In this way, it will be guaranteed that there will be basketball in the country for at least 10 months, as long as the previous tournament, the Professional Basketball Super League (SPB), starts in the first three months of the year as speculated.
The LBN then arrives to fill that gap of inactivity that many players have suffered for some years who cannot get a contract abroad and who ultimately go to urban tournaments to keep up.
This new showcase of national basketball will be played in principle with six organizations with geographical proximity to avoid logistical and economic setbacks, according to what was explained by the commissioner of the circuit, Jesús Madriz.
Feinos de Caracas and Mirandinos will share the court at the José Joaquín “Papá” Carrillo Gymnasium in Greater Caracas, Fortines de La Guaira will be home to the José María Vargas Dome, Aviadores de Aragua will host the court at the Mauricio Johnson de Maracay, Marineros de Carabobo will live in the Teodoro Gubaira Gymnasium in Valencia and Llaneros de Guárico will remain in the Olympic Dome in San Juan de Los Morros.
Of course, it is not ruled out that in the near future the LBN will have an expansion with franchises that cover the West and East of the country, where there is also a strong influence of basketball.
Regarding the formation of the squads, it was reported that the Venezuelan Basketball Federation (FVB) will provide a list of the players available for the tournament who will be part of a draft in which they will be chosen to join the six teams. Such a draw will not be applied in the postseason so there will be no major modifications except the replacement of the only imported reinforcement that will be allowed.
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In order to support the development of young players, the team owners agreed to include at least one under-19 player on their rosters who will have a minimum of 5 minutes per game to gain experience and projection towards a possible call-up to the national team.
Game format
It was established that each club will play 30 games in the regular round. The four best in that phase will go to a playoffs for the best of seven matches, under the 2-3-2 format, to define the finalists who will fight for the trophy under the same previous conditions.
New modality
Each team will have a 3×3 under-21 team that will follow a similar schedule, but two hours before the full-court duels. All matches can be seen on YouTube and perhaps on open air.
