The first Final was played at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre, where Livingston continued their success from the British Masters Cup by beating Portsmouth 96–91 to become the first and so far only Scottish winners.

From the 1989–90 season the Trophy continued with a North and South group format for the opening round, although due to a lack of members in the League the Quarter-finals were axed and the top two teams advanced to the two-game Semi-final series.

The Final had switched venues to the larger Royal Albert Hall in London,[3] and both the 1990 and 1991 editions saw Kingston defeat the Manchester Giants two years in a row.

Kingston claimed their third Trophy win in three seasons with a 71–68 victory over Leicester at the National Exhibition Centre as the Final returned to a Birmingham venue after its two-year stint in London.

This format remained consistent for the next three seasons, in a period that saw Southern domination in the Trophy from the London Towers franchise as they reach three consecutive Finals, winning in 1996 and 1997 and finishing as Runners-up in 1998.

All 13 BBL teams entered the First round along with three invitees from the National Basketball League – Plymouth Raiders, Solent Stars and Sutton Pumas.

During this period, the competition had now become the BBL Trophy after its sponsorship contract for the naming rights was not renewed with uni-ball, whilst the venue for the Final had moved to Sheffield and the Hallam FM Arena.

For the first time the BBL also welcomed the top two teams from the Scottish Basketball League, Troon Tornadoes and Edinburgh Kings into the competition which brought the total number of entrants to 16.

Having won all four BBL competitions during the 2005–06 campaign, Newcastle Eagles were widely tipped to win the Trophy again in 2007, especially as their home venue – the Metro Radio Arena – was hosting the Final.

Four invitees – Edinburgh Kings, Essex Leopards, Reading Rockets and Worthing Thunder – were brought in from the EBL to bring the number of entrants to 16.

[12] Thunder made history and became the first ever non-BBL team to progress past the 1st Round of the competition after an 84–64 win at home to Mersey Tigers on 6 January 2013.