Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...

competition in

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 ...

i club

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 (appr ...

, making it Israel's primary basketball competition. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL (Basketball Super League) or ISBL (Israeli Basketball Super League). For sponsorship reasons, the league is also referred to as Ligat Winner Sal ( he, ליגת ווינר סל), lit. ''Winner Basket League'', with "Winner" being the name of a game operated by the league's primary sponsor, Toto Winner. The league is run by the Israeli Basketball Super League Administration Ltd.

Overview

Ligat HaAl comprises the top 12 basketball clubs in Israel, and was founded in 1954. The league itself is most known in Europe, due to the success of the Israeli teams in European-wide competitions, such as the EuroLeague, EuroCup (formerly called the ULEB Cup), and

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

's EuroChallenge (formerly called the FIBA EuroCup). Many non-drafted and

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

players from

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 Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the NBA play in the Israeli league, as an alternative to NBA competition. The league is the first division in Israeli basketball: the team that finishes last in a season is relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, while the Second Division's top 8 teams compete in a play-off system right after the end of the regular season, with the team that reaches the finals series being promoted to the Premier League for the following season.

Format

There are 12 teams in the league, and they play against each other thrice. The top eight teams advance to the five-game series Quarter-finals. The winners of the Quarter-finals advance to the Final Four.

Links with the NBA

During the 1980s and the early 1990s there were many basketball games between the Israeli League stars and NBA teams such as the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

, the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central ...

, the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

, and the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, all of which were played in Israel. In October 2005, Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated the Toronto Raptors 105–103 in an exhibition game that was played in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

; this was the first victory for any European or Israeli team over an NBA team at its home court. Over the years, the league has exported many of its foreign players to the NBA. In 2009,

Omri Casspi Omri Moshe Casspi ( he, עומרי משה כספי, born June 22, 1988) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He mainly played at the small forward position, but could play also at the power forward position. Casspi was drafted 2 ...

became the first Israeli-born NBA player with the Sacramento Kings. Prior to that, three players had been drafted:

Doron Sheffer Doron Sheffer ( he, דורון שפר; born 12 March 1972), is an Israeli retired professional basketball player. He spent most of his club career playing with Maccabi Tel Aviv. During his playing career he played at the point guard and shootin ...

(who played U.S. college basketball at

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

Yotam Halperin Yotam Halperin ( he, יותם הלפרין; born January 24, 1984) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He is currently the sporting director for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Premier League and the Champions League. He is a 1. ...

and Lior Eliyahu. Oded Kattash agreed to play with the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

, but he never actually played in the NBA because of the 1998–99 NBA lockout that started on July 1, 1998. In the 2009 NBA Draft,

was selected 23rd overall by the Sacramento Kings, and Gal Mekel followed in 2013 by signing with

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. Th ...

. In 2016, Dragan Bender became the highest selection from the Israeli Basketball Premier League to be selected in an NBA draft with the

taking him at 4th overall. Other players who have moved from the league to the NBA include:

Will Bynum William Bynum (born January 4, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Arizona and Georgia Tech before going undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft. He was the 2007 Israeli Basketbal ...

Anthony Parker Anthony Michael Parker (born June 19, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as in Italy and Israel. He is one of the most beloved and successful players in Ma ...

Joe Ingles Joseph Howarth Ingles (born 2 October 1987) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Australian national team. He primarily plays at the small ...

, Roger Mason Jr., P. J. Tucker, Eugene "Pooh" Jeter, Elijah Bryant, Carlos Arroyo, and Nate Robinson. In 2016, Amar'e Stoudemire retired from the NBA, however on August 1, 2016, he signed a two-year deal with

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's lead ...

, a team he co-owns. On October 1, 2016, he helped Hapoel Jerusalem win the 2016 Israeli Basketball League Cup. He also played for Maccabi Tel Aviv during the 2019-20 season, helping them win the 2019–20 Israeli Basketball Premier League championship. He was named MVP of the championship game. In 2020 two players declared for the NBA draft. The first being

Deni Avdija Deni Avdija ( he, דֶנִי אָבְדִיָה, sr-cyr, Дени Авдија; born 3 January 2001) is an Israeli-Serbian professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the sma ...

from Maccabi Tel Aviv and the second being Yam Madar from Hapeol Tel Aviv. Avdija was selected in the first round, 9th overall, by the Washington Wizards, and Madar was taken in the second round with the 47th pick of the draft by the Boston Celtics.

High-profile American Jewish recruits

In 2011, the league imposed a limit of four non-Israelis per team. Jews are immediately eligible for Israeli citizenship, under Israel's Law of Return. Consequently, non-Israeli Jewish basketball players are able to join a team in the league without using up one of the few roster spots available for non-Israeli players. Examples of Jewish Americans joining teams in the league include Jon Scheyer, Jordan Farmar, Sylven Landesberg,

David Blu David Blu (born David Bluthenthal; July 18, 1980) is an American–Israeli former professional basketball player, who spent 10 seasons playing in the EuroLeague. Standing at , he played at the small forward and power forward positions. He is c ...

, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Dan Grunfeld.

Current clubs

Titles by team

Title holders

* 1953–54 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1954–55 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1955–56 ''Not held due to

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

* 1956–57 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1957–58 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1958–59 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1959–60

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

* 1960–61

* 1961–62 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1962–63 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1963–64 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1964–65

* 1965–66

* 1966–67 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1967–68 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1968–69

* 2015–16 Maccabi Rishon LeZion * 2016–17

* 2017–18 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 2018–19 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 2019–20 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 2020–21 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 2021–22 Hapoel Holon

Finals

Awards

* Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP * Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP * Israeli Basketball Premier League Quintet *

Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year The Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year, or Israeli Basketball Super League Defensive Player of the Year, is an award given to the best defensive player of each season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is th ...

Israeli Basketball Premier League 6th Man of the Year Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

* Israeli Basketball Premier League Most Improved Player * Israeli Basketball Premier League Discovery of the Year *

Israeli Basketball Premier League Coach of the Year The Israeli Basketball Premier League Coach of the Year, or Israeli Basketball Super League Coach of the Year, is an award given to the best head coach of each season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League (IBPL), which is the top-tier level men ...

Statistical leaders

Notes and references

External links

Eurobasket.com League Page

Official website

IL-Sports
Israeli Sport Website in English
Maccabi Haifa Heat and Maccabi Tel Aviv broadcasts for North America
{{Men's professional basketball leagues 1 1954 establishments in Israel Professional sports leagues in Israel