National Basketball Development League (Japan)

The National Basketball Development League (NBDL) was a professional basketball league based in Japan. It was a second-tier league below the National Basketball League and was formed in 2013 as the successor of JBL2, the second division of the former Japan Basketball League. After three seasons the league merged with the National Basketball League and its rival the bj-league to form the B.League.

In 2012 the Japan Basketball Association announced that it was rebranding the Japan Basketball League to the National Basketball League, to commence in the 2013-14 season. At the same time, it was announced that the second division of the JBL would be called the National Basketball Development League. The league commenced in October 2013 with eight of the twelve teams that competed in JBL2 the previous season and Tokyo Excellence, a newly formed team. The other four teams that made up the 12-team JBL2 league did not join the NBDL, with Daytrick Tsukuba and the Hyogo Storks earning promotion to the NBL while the Hitachi Cable Bulldogs () joined a Kanto corporate league. The Ishikawa Blue Sparks () sought entry into the NBDL but were denied due to not satisfying the league's capital requirements; the club subsequently announced it would fold at the close of the final JBL2 season. Three of the NBDL's teams, the Excellence, Toyota Tsusho Fighting Eagles and Renova Kagoshima received associate membership to the NBL, which granted them the possibility of future promotion to the top league. The Fighting Eagles (30-2) finished on top of the standings in the first season of the league, but were defeated by second-placed Tokyo Excellence (29-3) in the championship match.

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