1996–97 British Basketball League season a bye into Quarter-finals. Birmingham Bullets vs. Leicester Riders Leopards vs. London Towers Thames Valley Tigers vs. Chester Jets Worthing Bears vs. Sheffield Sharks Chester Jets vs. Leicester Riders Sheffield Sharks vs. London Towers 1996–97 British Basketball League season The 1996–1997 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The league retained a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. The main change featured the long-awaited return of Crystal Palace after several seasons of rejected applications. Palace replaced Doncaster Panthers following the liquidation of the South Yorkshire club. The League's two London-based teams dominated throughout the
Basketball England Basketball England Basketball England (BE, former: "England Basketball") is the governing body of the sport of basketball for England. The organisation operates the English Basketball League for both Men and Women, as well as the England national team. The organisation was also involved in the establishment of the Great Britain team in December 2005, along with its compatriots – Basketball Scotland and Basketball Wales. Whilst the organisation governs the British Basketball League, the country's elite and only professional basketball league, they are not involved in the day-to-day running of the league. They also offer the opportunity to play basketball. The