East Asia Super League

The East Asia Super League (EASL), is an international basketball league featuring clubs from Japan, South Korea, Philippines and Taiwan.

From 2017 to 2019, four pre-season tournaments (the Super 8 and the Terrific 12) were organized by EASL, featuring clubs from selected professional basketball leagues in the region. With official backing from FIBA Asia, EASL has made a transition towards a full-fledged league. The first such season is to be held in 2023 and feature eight teams.

History
The East Asia Super League was co-founded by Matt Beyer and Henry Kerins as the Asia League as a response to what the founders deem as a lack of high-level international tournaments featuring basketball clubs in the region also taking into account the population in the region, about 2 billion, which could be a potential market for a regional inter-club tournament. The Asia League was envisioned to be East Asian counterpart of the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League where professional teams from Asia could compete against each other with minimal conflict with their mother league's schedules.

Their stated mission is to be able to organized basketball tournaments featuring club sides from top Asian leagues with the organizers naming the CBA (China), B.League (Japan), KBL (South Korea), PBA (Philippines), SBL (Taiwan), and the ABL (Southeast Asia, China, and Taiwan).

The Super 8
The first tournament by EASL, then called the Asia League, was the Super 8: Macau Basketball Invitational, involving eight teams in September 2017 at the Studio City Event Centre in Macau. The competing teams in attendance were the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions, Shenzhen Aviators (formerly Shenzhen Leopards), Goyang Orions, Seoul Samsung Thunders, Fubon Braves, Pauian Archiland, Chiba Jets, and Ryukyu Golden Kings.

Organizers initially dubbed the tournament as the "Asia League," but this led to a legal dispute with FIBA over the name of the league when FIBA deemed the tournament's branding and marketing to be in conflict with its own FIBA Asia Champions Cup. The dispute led to the renaming of the competition to "Super 8," and the tournament was then officially recognized by FIBA after the league organizers sought legal assistance of Quinn Emanuel's Thomas Werlen, who has represented FIFA in investigations of the United States Department of Justice.

The inaugural Super 8 tournament was won by the Chiba Jets of the Japanese B. League, with the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions placing second and the Goyang Orions taking third place. The event garnered 21 million views worldwide.

A second edition of the tournament, dubbed the Summer Super 8, followed in July 2018 at the Macau East Asian Games Dome, and featured the introduction of two professional club teams from the PBA, the NLEX Road Warriors and Blackwater Elite. The eight competing teams in attendance were the Guangzhou Loong Lions, Xinjiang Flying Tigers, Seoul Samsung Thunders, Incheon Electroland Elephants, NLEX Road Warriors, Blackwater Elite, Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka, and Formosa Dreamers. The Guangzhou Loong Lions won first place, while the Seoul Samsung Thunders took second place and the Incheon Electroland Elephants placed third.

The Terrific 12


In 2018, the Super 8 tournament was expanded into a larger tournament format called The Terrific 12, featuring 12 teams instead of eight. The Terrific 12 (2018) tournament was organized in collaboration with and supported by the Sports Bureau of Macau SAR government and hosted at the Studio City Event Centre.

The competing teams were the Shandong Heroes (formerly Shandong Golden Stars), Zhejiang Guangsha Lions, Xinjiang Flying Tigers, Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus, Seoul Samsung Thunders, Fubon Braves, Yulon Luxgen Dinos, Nagoya Diamond Dolphins, Ryukyu Golden Kings and Chiba Jets. The Ryukyu Golden Kings won first place, while the Guangzhou Loong Lions placed second and the Seoul Samsung Thunders took third place.

In 2019, Asia League rebranded to the "East Asia Super League," and it hosted the second iteration of The Terrific 12 at the Tap Seac Multi-Sports Pavilion in Macau from September 17–22. The competing teams were the Liaoning Flying Leopards, Shenzhen Aviators, Zhejiang Guangsha Lions, Chiba Jets, Niigata Albirex BB, Ryukyu Golden Kings, Utsonomiya BREX, Jeonju KCC Egis, Seoul SK Knights, Blackwater Elite, TNT KaTropa and San Miguel Beermen.

Terrific 12 (2019) also featured the EASL debut of former NBA player and CBA import Lance Stephenson, who earned MVP awards for his 34-point outburst in the Terrific 12 (2019) championship finals, a close 83–82 finish for the Liaoning Flying Leopards over the Seoul SK Knights. The Zhejiang Guangsha Lions won second place and the San Miguel Beermen took home third in the event.

Plans for a 2020 iteration of The Terrific 12 tournament on September have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plans and postponements
In August 2020, EASL and FIBA entered into a multi-year agreement granting EASL FIBA's recognition to hold a full-fledged in-season league featuring clubs from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan (representing "Greater China"). The inaugural season would feature 8 teams. It was planned that they would play home-and-away games against each other with the top four teams advancing to a Final Four event.

P. League+ (Taiwan), the Philippine Basketball Association, the Korean Basketball League (South Korea), and the B.League (Japan) committed to send teams for the EASL. The Bay Area Dragons, a franchise team meant to represent "Greater China" was also formed by the EASL.

The EASL received high profile financial support. The Raine Group along with former NBA stars such as Metta Sandiford-Artest, Baron Davis and Shane Battier in December 2021 reportedly invested in the EASL.

The launch of the EASL would be hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, with plans to hold its inaugural home-and-away tournament in 2022 cancelled.

2023 season: Champions Week
In place of the cancelled 2022 home-and-away tournament, the 2023 EASL Champions Week would be organized. It was originally meant as a pre-season tournament for the 2023–24 season. Anyang KGC were the first champions.

The tournament would be later retroactively designated as the EASL's first season. The second season, the 2023–24 tournament had the Chiba Jets as its champions.

The third iteration, the 2024–25 season would still have eight teams. An expansion is planned for the 2025–26 season; with eight more additional teams planned to be accommodated for a total of 16 teams.

Leagues represented
The East Asia Super League starting from the 2023 EASL Champions Week is represented by teams from selected domestic leagues.

From 2021 to 2023, the EASL maintained its own franchise team independent from any other domestic leagues, the Bay Area Dragons.

The league considers the franchise team and the P. League+ championship team of Taiwan as representatives of "Greater China".

Preseason tournaments
The following leagues were represented in the EASL's preseason tournaments from 2017 to 2020.