Nav Bhatia is bringing his passion for basketball to Brampton.

After two back-to-back years of coming in dead-last in the Canadian Elite Basketball League, the Brampton Honey Badgers are headed to the playoffs.

It’s been a big year for the Brampton team, with famed American entrepreneur, TV personality and billionaire Mark Cuban joining the Honey Badgers’ ownership group.

Brampton put up 11 wins and 10 losses in the regular season, including a win against the Montreal Alliance on Thursday that clinched them a spot in the upcoming CEBL playoffs.

Currently in fourth, the Honey Badgers have one regular-season game left against the No. 1-placing and 2025 championship-winning Scarborough Shooting Stars on Saturday. Who the Honey Badgers will face in the CEBL semi-finals

RELATED: Billionaire Honey Badger owner Mark Cuban comes to Brampton for team’s first 2026 defeat

Making the playoff cut breaks a three-year drought for the Honey Badgers, who came in dead-last at 10th place in the CEBL in 2025 and 2024. The team ranked 7th in 2023.

The Honey Badgers’ last playoff berth was in the 2021-2022 season where they won the CEBL championship.

This is the team’s eighth season in the Canadian Elite Basketball League and their fourth based in Brampton. The team is also owned by Leonard Asper, who has an existing business relationship with Cuban through Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp.

Cuban took a trip to Brampton in June to watch his new investment in action. The game was the team’s first loss of the season, and Cuban was in the crowd spotted rubbing shoulders with Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown.

The American billionaire is connected to the Honey Badgers friend through majority owner Leonard Asper and CEO Al Whitley, who spent more than two decades working for the Dallas Mavericks.

The high-profile investor also pointed to Canada’s growing influence on the global basketball stage as a key reason for joining the team.

His part-ownership comes as the Honey Badgers continue efforts to build momentum, including adding Nav Bhatia — widely known as the “Raptors Superfan” — as a community ambassador in an effort to boost local engagement.


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