By the 2000s, the system of promotion and relegation was scrapped, and the league was instead contested by provincial representative teams.

During this era, NBL clubs also entered academy teams into the league, and the CBL also served as a development league for NBL teams.

The Conference Basketball League (CBL) ran every year between 1981 and 2008,[1] and consisted of multiple conferences throughout its lifetime, including northern, capital, central, and southern.

[5] Basketball New Zealand chose not to host the CBL in 2009,[6] before bringing it back in a one-off, five-day tournament in 2010.

[6] The league was rebranded as the Supercity Basketball Competition in 2010,[8][9] and then as the Senior Intercity Competition in 2011 and 2012,[10][11] although it was still colloquially known during this time as the Conference Basketball League.