Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

is one of the most popular sports in Lebanon. The

Lebanese Basketball Federation The Lebanese Basketball Federation, known in French language, French as the Fédération Libanaise de Basketball (FLB or FLBB), is the Sports governing body, governing body of basketball in Lebanon. The federation founded in 1947, represents baske ...

FLB is a member of the Asian federation

FIBA Asia FIBA Asia is a zone within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA) which contains Asian FIBA member associations. Sub-zones 44 member associations in 6 sub-zones: # Central Asia Basketball Association (CABA) – 5 member associati ...

and international federation

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

and also a member of the Arab Basketball Federation.

History

The first time basketball was played was in the mid of 1920's.The Lebanon national basketball team has qualified three consecutive times to the FIBA World Championship in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and 2023. The Lebanese national basketball team won the

2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup was the 3rd FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup. The basketball tournament of FIBA Asia was held in Beirut, Lebanon from 7 August to 15 August 2010, in Ghazir Club Court, involving 10 national teams from Asia. The 3rd FIBA Asia ...

on its home court. They are ranked 24th in the world. The women national team is ranked 61st in the world and currently plays Level I in the FIBA Asia Championship for Women . The Lebanese u-19 national team participated in the

2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Serbian: Светско првенство до 19 година ФИБА до 19 година) was the 8th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship. It was held in Novi Sad, Serbia from 12 to 22 July ...

where they placed 14th.

Lebanese Basketball League

Lebanon's basketball league is the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is recognized as the top-tier professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketb ...

and there is also a cup competition. The most successful Lebanese basketball clubs are

Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut Al Riyadi Club Beirut (), commonly known simply as Al Riyadi, is a multi-sports club team based in Manara, a district in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded in 1934, the multi-sports club, which is mainly known for their basketball program, also plays p ...

and

Sagesse ''Sagesse'' () is a volume of French poetry by Paul Verlaine. First published in 1881 (see 1880), it was important in the symbolist and modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emph ...

for men, having both won the most championships in the

, also the

Arab Club Championship The Arab Club Champions Cup (, ) is a club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by a total of 37 teams from Asia and Africa. F ...

WABA Champions Cup The WABA Champions Cup, between 2011 and 2012 known as the West Asian Basketball League (WABL), was the West Asian club championship for basketball organized by West Asia Basketball Association, and took place every year, It also served as a q ...

and

FIBA Asia Champions Cup The Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia), formerly the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, is an annual continental club men's basketball competition organised by FIBA Asia. It is the highest level club competition for basketball in Asia. Introduce ...

and Antranik SC for women, having won the

Arab Women's Club Basketball Championship The Arab Women's Club Championship is an annual basketball tournament for Arab teams for women.Arab Wo ...

and the

Famous Lebanese Basketball Players

Fadi El Khatib Fadi El Khatib (; born 1 January 1979), nicknamed the "Lebanese Tiger", and "Abu Jihad" is a Lebanese basketball player for Sagesse SC of the Lebanese Basketball League. El Khatib played for several teams in the Lebanese Basketball League, and a ...

Rony Seikaly Ronald Fred Seikaly (born May 10, 1965) is a Lebanese-American former professional basketball player. He was one of the first internationally born players to make an impact on American basketball. Considered one of the top college players from ...

Joe Vogel Joseph Vogel can refer to: * Joseph Vogel (author), American author, scholar and popular culture critic * Joseph Vogel (executive) (1895–1969), American film studio executive * Joe Vogel (basketball) (born 1973), American / Lebanese basketball pla ...

Jean Abdelnour Jean Abdelnour (, born 29 November 1983) is a Lebanon, Lebanese former basketball player. He had a successful 2002–03 season with Ghazir which led him to be signed by the Blue Stars (Lebanon), Bluestars for the 2003–04 season. He stayed with ...

Ali Mahmoud Ali Mahmoud (), sometimes nicknamed Ali Mack, is a Lebanese-Canadian professional basketball player for Beirut Club of the Lebanese Basketball League (LBL). Career Mahmoud was born on May 28, 1983, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Toufic and Gi ...

Chantelle Anderson Chantelle Denise Anderson ( ; born January 22, 1981) is a retired Lebanese-American collegiate and professional basketball player who has played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and overseas. Personal Chantelle Anderson was ...

(woman) * Brian Beshara *

Rony Fahed Rony Boulos Fahed (born November 6, 1981, in Achrafieh, Lebanon) is a Lebanese professional basketball player. He was also a member of the Lebanon national basketball team that participated in the 2002 FIBA World Championship in the United St ...

Matt Freije Matthew Wayne Freije (born October 2, 1981) is a Lebanese/ American former professional basketball player. Freije attended Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park, Kansas before attending Vanderbilt University where he was an All-SEC ...

* Elie Mechantaf *

Jackson Vroman Jackson Brett Vroman (June 6, 1981 – June 29, 2015) was an American-born Lebanese professional basketball player who starred at Iowa State University. Mr. Vroman was naturalized as a Lebanese citizen to play for the Lebanon national basketbal ...

* BOBO THE TIGGER * Ghaleb Rida * Omar El Turk * Roy Samaha *

Sabah Khoury Sabah Khoury (born November 10, 1982) is a former Lebanese basketball player. He coaches Champville SC now in the Lebanese basketball league . He formerly played for Sagesse Club, Amchit Club and Al Mouttahed Tripoli and Champville Club in the ...

* Elie Rustom *

Daniel Faris Daniel Jonathan Faris (born 2 May 1987) is a Lebanese-American basketball player who last played in 2020 for Champville SC and . He is a tall power forward-center. College career Faris played four years of NCAA Division I basketball at the Unive ...

* Rodrigue Akl *

Julian Khazzouh Julian Khazzouh (born 23 February 1986) is a Lebanese-Australian former professional basketball player. He played in Australia, the Netherlands, Israel, and Lebanon. Early life and career Born in Melbourne, Khazzouh moved to Sydney as a child an ...

* Ahmad Ibrahim

Famous Lebanese Basketball Coaches

* Ghassan Sarkis

FIBA ASIA Champions Cup

Sagesse have won a record of 3 FIBA Asia Champions Cup. In addition, their rivals, Al Riyadi also have won 3 FIBA Asia Champions Cups making a total of 6 cups for Lebanon.

References