Liga Națională (men's basketball)

The Liga Națională Baschet de Masculin (LNBM) () is the top-tier professional basketball league of Romania. Founded in 1950, the winner of the league is crowned the Romanian national champion. Currently, the league consists of 24 teams playing in three different divisions. The most successful club in the league's history is Dinamo București, who has won a record 22 titles. The clubs from the Liga Națională also participate in the European competitions, as they can qualify for the Basketball Champions League or the FIBA Europe Cup based on their performance in the national league and cup competition.

History

The championship was founded in 1950. The most successful club is Dinamo București with 22 titles, followed closely by Steaua București with 21. In recent years Asesoft Ploieşti is the best team in the country, winning the championship seven times in a row from 2004 to 2010 and again in 2012–2014. Asesoft is the only Romanian team who won a European title, namely the FIBA EuroCup Challenge in 2005.

Competition format

Until 2018 were in general 12 teams in men's Liga Națională which played the season in 3 rounds. First round consisted of a regular season which began in October and was played over a normal round-robin home-and-away basis. Then the first six clubs at the end of the regular season played a play-off round and the last 6 a play-out round. The first eight clubs (all 6 from the play-off and the first two places from the play-out) qualified for the play-offs. The play-offs are played using the knock-out format. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals use "best of five" series since 2014. The last two teams following the last 6 teams play-out were automatically relegated to the Liga I.

On 23 May 2018, the board of directors of the Romanian Basketball Federation decided to reform the system entirely. Following this decision, the second level on the Romanian Basketball pyramid, Liga I was dissolved. In the Liga Națională were formed 3 groups (A, B and C), based on performance, financial and infrastructure criteria.Decizii ale Consiliului Director din 23.05.2018
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In the first round of the championship, a regular season is played over a normal round-robin home-and-away basis, in each group. Then in the second round, first 6 teams from the Group A are assigned to the "Red Group"; 7th and 8th placed teams in the Group A, first 3 teams from the Group B and the winner of the Group C, are assigned to the "Yellow Group"; the teams ranked between 4th and 8th place in the Group B and the 2nd place from the Group C, are assigned to the "Blue Group"; finally the teams ranked between 3rd and 8th place in the Group C are assigned to the "Green Group".

In the second round, all the teams from the "Red Group" start with all the points from the regular season, in the rest of the groups, all teams will start with zero points.

In the third round of the championship, the first 2 teams from the "Yellow Group" will enter along with the "Red Group" teams in the play-offs. The play-offs are played using the knock-out format. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals use "best of five" series. To determine the teams ranked between 5th and 8th place, is used the "best of three" system. The other remaining teams form two 8 team groups to determine the final classification.

Notable Liga Națională players

Romanian basketball had a bright past with three of its former players being inducted in the European Basketball Hall of Fame, as a recognition for their careers. They are:
* Gheorghe Mureșan – Signed in 1993 with the Washington Bullets, becoming the tallest player ever in the NBA. Played six successful seasons with the Bullets and the New Jersey Nets, averaging a career 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists. Named NBA Most Improved Player following the 1995–96 NBA season. Began his career playing two years for Universitatea Cluj-Napoca.
* Antonio Alexe – Played all his career in the Romanian and Hungarian basketball leagues. Became Romanian champion three times, twice with Asesoft Ploiești and once with West Petrom Arad, before dying in a tragic car accident, in 2005.
* Constantin Popa – After debuting in Divizia A for BC Dinamo București, went overseas to play for the University of Miami in NCAA Division I, becoming the tallest player ever in the history of the school. Drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1995 NBA Draft, he never played in the NBA, but had a successful career in the CBA, before returning to Europe.
* Cătălin Burlacu – Played in the Italian, Estonian and German basketball leagues, but he also played in Romania at West Petrom Arad and Asesoft Ploiești. With Asesoft Ploiești he has won the championship from 2004 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2014 excluding the 2011 season.
* Levente Szijarto – Played all his career in the Romanian basketball league at West Petrom Arad, U Mobitelco Cluj and Asesoft Ploiești. With Asesoft Ploiești he has won the championship between 2003 and 2014 except the 2011 season in which U Mobitelco Cluj won the title.

Titles

Latest finals

See also

* Romanian Women's Basketball League

References

External links

Official site of the Romanian basketball federation

Baschet.ro News and results

Romanian league on Eurobasket

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liga Nationala

Basketball competitions in Romania
Basketball leagues in Europe
Professional sports leagues in Romania