Bj league

Infobox sports league
current_season=
logo=
pixels=
caption=
sport=Basketball
founded=2005
ceo=
teams=12
country=JPN
champion=Osaka Evessa
TV=BS Fuji, Gaora
website= [http://www.bj-league.com bj-league.com]

bj league (Basketball Japan League), is a professional basketball league in Japan that began on November 5, 2005, with sponsors such as Spalding. The league is divided into two conferences, The Eastern Conference, and the Western Conference. It had its inaugural All-Star game in 2006.

The bj league operates on the American sports franchise system. Below the bj there is a Japan Basketball League, composed of company and otherwise-affiliated clubs, with promotion and relegation between its two divisions but not between bj and JBL-1. This organization is similar to the Rugby Super League in England and is also shown in the British Basketball League (which includes clubs from both England and Scotland).

Teams

Eastern Conference
*Sendai 89ERS (Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture)
*Niigata Albirex BB (Niigata, Niigata Prefecture)
*Tokyo Apache (Tokyo)
*Saitama Broncos (Saitama Prefecture)
*Toyama Grouses (Toyama Prefecture)

Western Conference
*Osaka Evessa (Osaka Prefecture)
*Takamatsu Five Arrows (Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture)
*Oita Heat Devils (Beppu, Ōita Prefecture)
*Rizing Fukuoka (Fukuoka Prefecture)
*Ryukyu Golden Kings (Okinawa Prefecture)

Expansion teams in 2008-2009 season
*Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix (Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Higashimikawa Area, Aichi Prefecture)
*Shiga Lakestars (Shiga Prefecture)

Link

*jp icon [http://www.bj-league.com/bj/Top.do/| Bj league Official Web site]
*jp icon [http://www.basketballjapantv.com/ bjtv]