The 1988 NBL season was the tenth season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 13 teams contested the league.

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Following the merger of the Sydney Supersonics and West Sydney Westars to form the Sydney Kings, the NBL had 13 clubs spread across all Australian states and territories with the exception of the Northern Territory.

More information Club, Location ...

Club	Location	Home Venue	Capacity	Founded	Head coach
Adelaide 36ers	Adelaide, South Australia	Apollo Stadium	3,000	1982	Gary Fox
Brisbane Bullets	Brisbane, Queensland	Brisbane Entertainment Centre	13,500	1979	Brian Kerle
Canberra Cannons	Canberra, Australian Capital Territory	AIS Arena	5,200	1979	Jerry Lee
Eastside Spectres	Melbourne, Victoria	Burwood Stadium	2,000	1979	Brian Goorjian
Geelong Supercats	Geelong, Victoria	Geelong Arena	2,000	1982	Pete Mathieson [1]
Hobart Tassie Devils	Hobart, Tasmania	Kingborough Sports Centre	1,800	1983
Illawarra Hawks	Wollongong, New South Wales	Illawarra Basketball Stadium	2,000	1979	Dave Lindstrom
Melbourne Tigers	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1931	Lindsay Gaze
Newcastle Falcons	Newcastle, New South Wales	Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium	2,200	1979	Ken Cole
North Melbourne Giants	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1980	Bruce Palmer
Perth Wildcats	Perth, Western Australia	Perth Superdome	4,500	1982	Cal Bruton
Sydney Kings	Sydney, New South Wales	State Sports Centre	5,006	1988	Claude Williams
Westside Saints	Melbourne, Victoria	Keilor Stadium	2,000	1979	Andris Blicavs

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The 1988 regular season took place over 21 rounds between 12 February 1988 and 9 July 1988.

This is the ladder at the end of season, before the finals. The top 6 teams qualified for the finals series.

Updated to match(es) played on 9 July 1988. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

¹Head-to-Head between North Melbourne Giants and Brisbane Bullets (1-1). North Melbourne Giants won For and Against (+9).

²Newcastle Falcons won Head-to-Head (2-0).

³Head-to-Head between Illawarra Hawks and Eastside Spectres (1-1). Illawarra Hawks won For and Against (+9).

⁴Head-to-Head between Hobart Tassie Devils and Sydney Kings (1-1). Hobart Tassie Devils won For and Against (+12).

• Most Valuable Player: Joe Hurst, Hobart Tassie Devils
• Most Valuable Player Grand Final: Phil Smyth, Canberra Cannons
• Rookie of the Year: Shane Heal, Brisbane Bullets
• Coach of the Year: Bruce Palmer, North Melbourne Giants