Outside of the NBA, the top 12 basketball leagues worldwide
1. The EuroLeague
Every year, the best European clubs qualify for the EuroLeague, which is the basketball equivalent of the Champions League in soccer. The teams spend the week playing in the EuroLeague and the weekends playing in competitions inside their own nations.
Read More: what are the best overseas basketball combines
Regular season: from October through April
Teams for the current campaign: 16
Champions in the past: CSKA Moscow
Notable: The second-tier international league in Europe is called the EuroCup, and it is managed by the EuroLeague. A team can qualify for the competition by invitation from the EuroLeague, other competitions, and victory in their home league. A club may advance in the EuroLeague the following season by winning the EuroCup.
Watch this 6-foot-7 Real Madrid potential for the NBA. The 17-year-old guard Luka Doncic, a prodigy from Slovenia, has been a vital member of one of the top teams in Europe. The talk of the league has been his playmaking and scoring. Since Nikola Mirotic of the Chicago Bulls played for the same team, he is the greatest young player in the EuroLeague.
2. Liga ACB of Spain
Since its founding in 1957, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have dominated the ACB (Asociaci?n de Clubs de Baloncesto), winning 51 of the 60 championships between them. Relegation in the ACB, like in many professional leagues outside of the NBA, entails the bottom two clubs in the standings being sent to LEB Oro, the second division, and being replaced by the top two teams in LEB Oro.
Normal season dates: October through May
Present-season teams: 17
Champions in the past: Real Madrid
Notable: The league has produced NBA All-Stars like Paul and Marc Gasol in recent years. Kristaps Porzingis, a player with the New York Knicks, most recently attended Seville before dominating the NBA in his first two seasons. Out of all the international leagues, the NBA had the most number of former ACB players—39—last season.
3. The BSL, or Turkish Basketball Super League
Basketball was played in the nation for the first time in 1904, but the BSL wasn’t established until 1966. The league is receiving enormous financial support, and as a result, its level of play may soon surpass that of the ACB. Anadolu Efes of Istanbul and Fenerbahce are two of the top teams in Europe right now.
Regular season: from October through April
Teams for the current campaign: 16
Champion in rematch: Fenerbahce
Notable: Before moving to the NBA, former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt enjoyed great success in Europe. He is presently the head coach of Darussafaka S.K. in the BSL and EuroLeague. In addition to the two-year contract he inked with the Turkish team, it is thought that he is collecting the $3.3 million that the Cavaliers owe him in the last year of his contract.
NBA talent to keep an eye on: The 6-foot-7 forward Furkan Korkmaz was chosen by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. When he was 19 years old, he was only getting 12 minutes a game for Anadolu Efes, the dominant team in the BSL. However, he was just loaned to Banvit, where he is now getting more playing time. This ought to help him advance as a player.
4. The VTB United League in Russia
The league comprises clubs from Estonia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus and is the elite Russian circuit.
Regular season: from October through April
Present-season teams: 13
Champions in the past: CSKA Moscow
Notable: Keith Langford, a former standout player at the University of Kansas, left the NBA early in his career because he was not talented enough to stay on the team. He made a seven-figure wage and became one of Europe’s top players during the last ten years. At the moment, he plays as a star for Unics Kazan, a EuroLeague team.
5. The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) in Germany
Despite being a midtier European league at the moment, some think this league has the potential to be among the best in Europe soon. The games are well-attended, well-funded, and well-marketed. Also, the national team system has a pipeline of young German players.
Regular season: September through May
Present-season teams: 18
Champion in the past: Brose Bamberg
Remarkable: In his junior and senior years at Marist College, Jared Jordan led the NCAA in assists. He was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2007 NBA Draft. Now that he is playing for Tigers Tubingen, he leads the BBL in assists this season.
NBA prospect to keep an eye on: Isaac Bonga, a 6-foot-8 forward who is now a member of the Fraport Skyliners of the Basketball Basketball League (BBL), spends most of his time playing in the Pro B league, which is the third division of German basketball. He belongs to a group of promising young Germans under the age of twenty.
6. Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) of Italy
With its founding in 1920, the League is conceivably the oldest professional basketball league in Europe. Two formulae determine how each team’s roster is put together. A team may consist of five players from outside the EU and five players from within the EU, or it may consist of three players from outside the EU and four players from within the EU in addition to five Italian players.
Normal season dates: October through May
Teams for the current campaign: 16
Champion in the past: Olimpia Milano
Notable: Olimpia Milano, the team where Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni began his coaching career and with whom he won two FIBA European Champions Cups (the equivalent of EuroLeague championships) and five Italian league titles as a player, retired D’Antoni’s No. 8. In 1977, following four uneventful seasons in the NBA and ABA, he moved to Milan.
7. LNB Pro A in France
Ligue Nationale de Basket Pro A, the best basketball league in France, was established in 1921. With eighteen titles, ASVEL has won the most French basketball championships. Tony Parker, a guard with the San Antonio Spurs, owns the team.
Regular season: September through May
Present-season teams: 18
The current champion is ASVEL.
Notable: In 1999, Parker began competing professionally for Paris Racing Club at the age of 17. Before the Spurs selected him with the 28th overall choice in the 2001 NBA Draft, he spent two seasons playing there.
NBA prospect to keep an eye on: none
8. League of Adriatic (ABA)
Teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia compete in the ABA, a regional league. It was established in 2001, around ten years following the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The NBA big men Dario Saric, Jusuf Nurkic, and Nikola Jokic are recent graduates of the league, which has turned into a more developing environment. This season at KK Cibona, Ante Zizic, a first-round draft selection of the Celtics, is being developed. The soon-to-be 20-year-old is averaging over 10 rebounds and 20 points per game.
Regular season: from September through March
Present-season teams: 14
Champion in the past: KK Crvena zvezda
Notable: The Yugoslav League, which was among the greatest in Europe until its dissolution following the 1991–92 season, was the forerunner of the Adriatic League, which made its debut in 2001–02. Before they joined the NBA, the Yugoslav League produced outstanding European athletes like Toni Kukoc, Vlade Divac, and Drazen Petrovic.
9. The Greek A1 League
Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, two superb clubs situated in Athens who have one of the fiercest basketball rivalries in the world, have long been at the top of the league.
Regular season: from October through April
Present-season teams: 14
Champion in the past: Olympiakos
Notable: The Olympiakos-Panathinaikos rivalry, known as the “Mother of All Battles,” dates back to the 1940s. However, in the last 20 years, the clubs have faced off over 75 times in Greek League, Greek Cup, and EuroLeague competition, with 16 of those encounters being in the Greek League finals. There is also a strong rivalry between the clubs’ soccer squads.
NBA prospect to keep an eye on: none
10. The National Basketball League (NBL) of Australia
In 1979, seven Australian clubs and one New Zealand team formed the NBL. The NBL may eventually move to China, where basketball is quite popular.
Regular season dates: February through October
Present-season teams: 8
Perth Wildcats, the defending champions
Notable: Playing the Adelaide 36ers and Perth Wildcats on the same weekend via road trip is known as the “Doomsday Double.” It’s the most difficult road journey in the NBL, with flights between cities taking about three hours.
NBA prospect to keep an eye on: Before signing with Adelaide, Terrance Ferguson, an 18-year-old from Dallas, made a commitment to play at the University of Arizona. Ferguson, like Emmanuel Mudiay of the Denver Nuggets, skipped college and is predicted to be selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft.
11. LKL in Lithuania
In this 3 million-person nation, basketball is the second most popular religion. Lithuania’s basketball teams competed in the Soviet League under the Soviet Union’s occupation. The LKL (Lietuvos Krepsinio Lyga) was established in 1993, shortly after Lithuania attained independence, thanks to the financial backing of its first NBA player and Hall of Famer Sarunas Marciulionis.
Regular season: from September through April
Teams for the current campaign: ten
Champion in rematch: Zalgiris
Notable: In 1981, at the age of 17, Arvydas Sabonis, a 7-foot-3 Hall of Famer, began his professional career at Zalgiris. Later, he spent seven seasons as a player with the Portland Trail Blazers.
NBA prospect to keep an eye on: German player Isaiah Hartenstein, 18, is a member of the illustrious Zalgiris, the LKL’s glamor squad with eighteen titles. Born in Eugene, Oregon, Hartenstein is the 6-foot-11 son of former University of Oregon star Flo Hartenstein.
12. The CBA, or Chinese Basketball Association
Since its founding in 1995, the CBA has grown to become Asia’s top basketball league. With a few notable exceptions, teams are only allowed to have two foreign players, who can play a combined total of six quarters. The quality of play is significantly lower than in most of Europe’s top leagues as a result of such restrictions and the reliance on Chinese players. Some players have the opportunity to sign with NBA teams prior to the playoffs because the league playoffs typically conclude in March.
Regular season dates: February through October
Teams participating in the current campaign: 20
Champion in the past: Sichuan Blue Whales
Notable: Jimmer Fredette, an NBA lottery selection and former national college player of the year, leads the CBA in scoring this season with an average of almost 40 points per game for the Shanghai Sharks. Yao Ming, a former NBA player and Hall of Famer, owns the squad.