Professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

clubs in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

can compete in a number of different competitions, including national leagues, regional (multi-national) leagues, and continental competitions. It is therefore possible for clubs from some countries to take part in several levels of competition in the same season. Clubs usually qualify for European competitions through performance in their national or regional leagues, with the exception of wild cards.

Continental competitions

There are currently four competitions which are branded as Europe-wide, two controlled by

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball is the private company that runs and operates the top continental-wide basketball men's professional sports club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has been o ...

, and two by FIBA Europe. Clubs which compete in these competitions also play in their national and/or regional leagues. Clubs usually qualify for these competitions based on their performance in the national or regional leagues in the previous season. The EuroLeague is a competition with currently 18 teams. It has historically been the most prestigious competition in European basketball and is widely recognised as the top-tier league in Europe. The EuroCup is Euroleague Basketball's secondary competition, and currently made up of 20 teams from around Europe. The two finalists of the EuroCup qualify for the next season's EuroLeague. The Basketball Champions League, which began in 2016, is FIBA Europe's highest competition. Initially, FIBA established EuroLeague in 1958 but never trademarketed the name which was later taken over by Euroleague Basketball. The Basketball Champions League involves 52 teams. The Europe Cup is FIBA Europe's secondary competition. 47 teams compete, and the teams which did not enter in the Basketball Champions League regular season have the option to drop down into the regular season of the Europe Cup.

Other competitions

;Female * EuroLeague Women * EuroCup Women * Europe SuperCup Women ;Youth * Next Generation Tournament ;Defunct * Saporta Cup * International Christmas Tournament * Korać Cup *

Ronchetti Cup The Ronchetti Cup (called till 1996 ''European Cup Liliana Ronchetti'') was an annual women’s basketball European club competition held by FIBA between the years 1972 and 2002. It was the second competition in European basketball, after the E ...

* European Super Cup * SuproLeague * EuroCup Challenge * EuroChallenge

Regional leagues

In addition to national leagues in individual countries, there are leagues which include clubs from several countries. The ABA League, commonly called the Adriatic League, began in 2001, and consists of clubs from the former Yugoslavia (

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

). At different times, the league has also included clubs from

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

, and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Clubs generally also compete in their own national leagues in the same season, after the conclusion of the ABA League season. The winner of the league qualifies for the next season's EuroLeague. The VTB United League is made up of mostly Russian clubs, as well as a smaller number of clubs from nearby countries - currently Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Kazakhstan and Poland. It serves as the top division of the Russian national league system. One club from the league qualifies for the next season's EuroLeague, in addition to CSKA Moscow, which holds a EuroLeague license. Other multi-national leagues in Europe have included the

Baltic Basketball League Baltic Basketball League (BBL) was the Baltic states basketball league founded in 2004. The league mainly focused on teams from the Baltic states, but teams from Sweden, Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland, and Belarus have participated in the Balti ...

(2004-2018), the Central European Basketball League (2008–2010), and the Balkan International Basketball League (began in 2008).

National leagues

Each country generally has its own league system, with various divisions which involve promotion and relegation, as well as

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

following the regular season. The Spanish Liga ACB contributes the most, three to four clubs to the EuroLeague each season. Other leagues among the strongest include Russia's VTB United League, Turkey's BSL, the Greek Basket League, Italy's

LBA LBA or lba may refer to: Science * Live blood analysis, the observation of live blood cells through a dark field microscope * Long branch attraction, an error in molecular phylogeny * Ligand binding assay, an assay whose procedure relies on the b ...

, the LNB Pro A in France and the ABA League.

References

External links