The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the
top-tier regional men's professional
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 ...
league that originally featured
clubs
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands a ...
from
former Yugoslavia (
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
,
Montenegro
, image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg
, coa_size = 80
, national_motto =
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map = Europe-Mont ...
,
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
,
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
and
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
). Due to sponsorship reasons, the league was also known as the
Goodyear League from 2001 to 2006, the
NLB League from 2006 to 2011, and as the AdmiralBet ABA League from 2021.
The league coexists alongside scaled-down national leagues in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
,
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
,
Montenegro
, image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg
, coa_size = 80
, national_motto =
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map = Europe-Mont ...
,
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, and
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
. All but one of Adriatic League clubs join their country's own competitions in late spring after the Adriatic League regular season and post-season have been completed. In the past, the league has also consisted of clubs from
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
(
Levski), the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
(
ÄŒEZ Nymburk),
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
(
Szolnoki Olaj), and
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
(
Maccabi Tel Aviv) that received wild card invitations. For the
2024–25 season Dubai Basketball from the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
is also joining the league.
The Adriatic League is a private venture, founded in 2001 and run until 2015 by the Sidro, a Slovenian limited liability company. Since 2015, the league has been operated by
ABA League JTD, a Zagreb-based general partnership for organizing sports competitions.
Adriatic Basketball Association is the body that organizes the league and is a full member of
ULEB, as well as a voting member of
Euroleague Basketball
Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...
's board.
History
At various points throughout mid-to-late 1990s, in the years following the
breakup
A relationship breakup, breakup, or break-up is the ending of a Interpersonal relationship, relationship. The act is commonly termed "dumping omeone in slang when it is initiated by one partner. The term is less likely to be applied to a ma ...
of
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
and ensuing
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
, different basketball administrators from the newly formed southeast European countries floated and informally discussed the idea of re-assembling a joint basketball competition to fill the void left by the dissolution of the former
Yugoslav Basketball League whose last season was
1991–92.
However, no concrete action towards that end was taken before the summer 2000
ULEB-supported creation of
Euroleague Basketball Company under the leadership of
Jordi Bertomeu that immediately confronted
FIBA Europe
FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all List of men's national basketball teams#FIBA Europe, 50 national European basketball federations.
...
, then proceeded to take a handful of top European clubs into its new competition for the
2000–01 season thereby opening an organizational split in European club basketball. During the 2000–01 split in the continent's top club competition, local regional basketball administrators from the ULEB-affiliated clubs Cibona, Olimpija, and Budućnost (that already competed in this new 'breakaway' Euroleague competition) shifted the discussions of creating a regional basketball league into higher gear.
On the public relations front, Adriatic League was met with strong and mixed reactions. Even though many hailed it as an important step for the development of club basketball in Southeast Europe, others felt that it brings no new quality and that it's not worth dismantling three domestic leagues. There was a lot of negative reaction from political circles, especially in Croatia, with even TV panel discussions being broadcast on Croatian state television. A very vociferous opinion in the country saw the league's formation as a political attempt to reinstate Yugoslavia. The league organizers for their part did their best to appease the Croatian public with statements such as the one delivered by Radovan Lorbek in ''
Slobodna Dalmacija'' in September 2001:
Ten years later, in a 2011 interview for the Serbian newspaper ''
Press'', Roman Lisac explained the league's behind the scenes strategy during its nascent stages was actually quite different:
The league is still occasionally criticized by observers around European basketball for reducing the scope and calendar of the domestic competitions that it replaced for the region's more-established clubs, particularly by clubs and influential figures within Serbia who would like its ABA members to better enhance domestic competition, such as Serbian national-team coach
Svetislav Pesic.
Foundational steps
The competition was agreed upon in principle at a meeting in Ljubljana on 3 July 2001 by a founding assembly containing representatives of four basketball clubs:
KK Bosna,
KK Budućnost,
KK Cibona, and
KK Olimpija. The day is considered to be the league's foundation date. Though club representatives from four countries attended the meeting, the main individuals behind the venture were six Slovenians and Croatians: Roman Lisac, Zmago Sagadin (at the time head coach of Olimpija), Radovan Lorbek (at the time president of Olimpija), Josip Bilić, Danko Radić, and Bože MiliÄević (at the time president of Cibona). The name chosen for the competition was the Adriatic League, invoking the Adriatic Sea as a common thread for participant countries thus purposely avoiding the terms 'Balkans' or 'Yugoslavia' that at the time carried a fairly undesirable public perception in Slovenia and an extremely negative one in Croatia. Sidro d.o.o., the commercial entity that runs it, was created two months later in Slovenia.
On 28 September 2001, the league announced a five-year sponsorship deal with Slovenian company
Sava Tires from
Kranj
Kranj (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fourth-largest city in Slovenia and the largest urban center of the traditional region of Upper Carniola (northwestern Slovenia) and the Slovene Alps. It is located approximately northwest o ...
, a subsidiary of
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturer headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for passenger vehicles, aviation, commercial trucks, military and police vehicles, motorcycles, recreati ...
. The deal also included naming rights, hence from 2001 until 2006, the competition was known as the Goodyear League.
Debut season
With twelve clubs taking part in the inaugural 2001–02 season, the competition commenced in fall 2001 with four teams from Slovenia, four teams from Croatia, three teams from Bosnia-Herzegovina, and one team from
FR Yugoslavia
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
. The first game was contested in Ljubljana between Olimpija and
Å iroki on Saturday, 29 September 2001 at 5:30pm.
[Deset godina NLB lige: Huligani odložili ulazak Partizana](_blank)
''Press'', 12 July 2011
Though the competition purported to gather the strongest sides from former Yugoslavia, as mentioned, teams from Serbia were noticeably absent, particularly Belgrade powerhouses and biggest regional crowd draws Partizan and Crvena zvezda. In addition to no clubs from Serbia proper, the league had no Serb-dominated clubs from Bosnia-Herzegovina either. Since the league founders mostly avoided talking about the issue due to fears of media backlash, the fact that no invitations were extended to Serbian clubs was generally explained through security issues due to organizers' fears of crowd trouble if Croatian and Serbian clubs were to start playing again in the same competition. Then in early February 2002, the public got a preview of just that when Cibona and Partizan met in Zagreb as part of
that season's
EuroLeague group stage. In a nationalistically charged and incident-filled encounter, Croatian fans peppered the Partizan players with rocks, flares, and even ceramic tiles before physically assaulting Partizan head coach
Duško Vujošević
Duško Vujošević ( sr-Cyrl, Душко Вујошевић; born 3 March 1959) is a Serbian former basketball Coach (basketball), coach. He is currently active as coach consultant of the Montenegrin ABA League club KK Studentski centar, Studen ...
in the guest team dressing room after the game.
The Adriatic League debut season was marked by dwindling attendances and lukewarm media support. Still the league did receive a bit of a shot in the arm on 24 February 2002, when its managing body ABA got accepted as full member of
ULEB.
Second season
For the 2002–03 season, the league remained at the total number of 12 teams, while it went through major re-tooling internally. By the time season started, four teams dropped out (Sloboda Dita, Budućnost, Triglav, and Geoplin Slovan) to be replaced by:
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i powerhouse
Maccabi Tel Aviv, Crvena zvezda (the first team from Serbia in the competition), the Bosnian outfit
KK Borac, and Croatian club KK Zagreb.
It was important for the league's long-term business to negotiate acceptable terms for the Serbian clubs to join the competition. To that end, Lorbek and Lisac went to Belgrade in early April 2002 with an offer of taking in three clubs from FR Yugoslavia for the Adriatic League's
2002–03 season.
[Deset godina NLB lige: Zvezdin izlazak na Jadran](_blank)
''Press'', 13 July 2011 The offer was flatly rejected initially by the representatives of five
YUBA Liga clubs – Partizan, Crvena zvezda, Hemofarm, FMP, and Budućnost – as their unified platform was either all five or nothing. Taking in all five required expanding the league to 14 teams, which was something the league organizers weren't prepared to do due to the associated increase in operating costs. The negotiated agreement thus fell through for the time being. However, it didn't take long for dents to appear in the unified front put forth by five YUBA league clubs – in May 2002 Crvena zvezda's management (three businessmen close to the ruling
Democratic Party in Serbia:
Živorad Anđelković,
Igor Žeželj
Igor may refer to:
* Igor (given name)
Igor ( ; ; sr-Cyrl, Игор, ; ) is a common East Slavs, East Slavic given name derived from the Norsemen, Norse name Ingvar (name), Ingvar, that was brought to Kievan Rus', ancient Rus' by the Nor ...
, and
Goran Vesić) hired Zmago Sagadin to be the club's new general manager – and soon after, in June 2002, the club broke the ranks by negotiating terms on its own thus agreeing to join the Adriatic League for the 2002–03 season.
Later developments
For the
2003-04 season, the league expanded to 14 teams, while relegating
KK Bosna; meanwhile,
Maccabi Tel Aviv departed the league in the wake of political unrest in Serbia. In replacement, 4 teams joined:
KK Reflex of Serbia (who would win the league in their first season),
Lovćen 1947 and
Budućnost of Montenegro, and
KD Slovan of Slovenia. The latter two of those returned to the league after a year's absence, having been relegated from the 2001–02 season. In the
2004-05 season, the league expanded again to 16 teams while relegating 3, and its Final Four tournament became a Final Eight. Its clubs included for the first time Serbian powerhouse
Partizan, and another Serbian former-holdout club,
Hemofarm (who would win the league in its first year participating).
After the season, the league contracted down from 16 back to 14 clubs, a number it would stay at until the
2017-18 season. In September 2006 the league signed a general sponsorship contract with
Nova ljubljanska banka (NLB) and was renamed to NLB League, while keeping Goodyear as one of the major sponsors. The league's first all-star game was held in December 2006 in Ljubljana.
For the
2011-12 season, Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv rejoined the Adriatic League for one season, winning it. In 2012, a team from
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
participated for the first time, with
MZT Skopje Aerodrom joining the league for the
2012-13 season.
A conflict emerged in early 2015 between the ABA and
FIBA Europe
FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all List of men's national basketball teams#FIBA Europe, 50 national European basketball federations.
...
, resulting in the former's loss of recognition by the latter, as a part of the broader
FIBA–EuroLeague dispute. On 13 April 2015, ABA League signed a 4-year agreement with
Euroleague Basketball
Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...
for one EuroLeague and 3 EuroCup annual slots. Because of this agreement, FIBA threatened to suspend the six constituent national federations, and on 30 April it suspended ABA League from membership. FIBA wanted the league controlled by the national federations and clubs, while the ABA's organizing corporation, Sidro, wanted to maintain independence. A restructuring proposal from the league's clubs to FIBA in June 2015 involving reincorporating the competition under a new legal entity owned by the clubs was approved by FIBA, and the league's recognition reinstated. The next April, however, FIBA nevertheless suspended 8 nations' ability to have their senior men's national teams participate in
EuroBasket 2017
EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...
, including all 6 constituent members of ABA League plus Russia and Spain, and further threatened their ability to participate in the
2016 Olympics. The suspension of the ABA League was continued by FIBA in May 2016, and letters sent by FIBA to the national associations insisted that any federation that was associated with Euroleague would be punished similarly. Analysis later that year suggested that FIBA's goal was to apply leverage to Euroleague in their dispute by depriving Euroleague's competitions of their ABA League club participants. With the emergence of a FIBA-Euroleague truce in mid-2016, FIBA Europe announced in May 2016 that no federations or teams would, in the end, be suspended from national competition. Despite this, and despite their clubs' continued participation in EuroLeague and EuroCup, the ABA League has not re-joined ULEB as of 2023.
Following the
2016-17 season, and in keeping with their restructuring agreement with FIBA, the league elected to split into two divisions: the relegated team(s) from the First Division would join the Second Division the following year, and the latter promoting to the former, with 12 teams initially in each division (reduced from 14 previously). The Second Division would be composed of the top-finishing clubs of each country's domestic league in the previous season who were not already participating in the ABA League. The allocation of teams between countries was a contentious process, but the reorganization yielded a 25% jump in attendance for the First Division's next season.
Expansion to Dubai
In October 2023, the ABA League's sports director told news media of the league's intention to have a team from
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duËˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
join the competition, and possibly for the city to host an ABA League Final Four competition. On 19 March 2024, the league officially announced
Dubai Basketball would join the league starting from the 2024–25 season, obtaining a license for three seasons.
Competition
Competition system
As of the 2013–14 season the league comprises a 26-game regular season, with the top 4 sides making the play-offs.
From 2002 through 2004, four teams qualified, and the playoffs were termed the "Final Four"; starting in 2005, eight teams advanced to the "Final Eight" round. All playoff rounds consist of one-off knockout matches, unusual among European leagues. However, since all Adriatic League clubs play in domestic leagues at the same time, and many also play in the EuroLeague, the current format has the virtue of limiting fixture congestion for the playoff sides.
In 2017, the
ABA League Second Division was created. The last qualified team from ABA League would be relegated to the Second Division and replaced by the winner of this one.
Current clubs
The following 16 clubs are competing in the
2024–25 ABA season:
Finals
Records and statistics
By club
By country
All-time participants
The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Adriatic League at any time since its formation in 2001 to the current season. A total of 43 teams from 11 countries have played in the League.
Awards
*
ABA League MVP
*
ABA League Finals MVP
*
ABA League Top Scorer
*
ABA League Ideal Starting Five
*
ABA League Top Prospect
The ABA League Top Prospect award, also known as the Adriatic League Top Prospect award, is an annual award given by the ABA League, Adriatic League (ABA League), which is a European regional league, that is the top-tier level professional basketba ...
*
ABA League Player of the Month
*
ABA League-winning head coaches
Records
Source:
Players
*Highest Index Ratings in a Game
**59 by
Dejan Milojević,
Budućnost vs
Reflex on 3 January 2004
*Most Points in a Game
**47 by
Daron Russell,
Mornar vs.
Zadar
Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...
on 9 October 2022
*Most Two Point Field Goals Made in a Game
**17 by
Márton Báder,
Szolnoki Olaj at
Å iroki on 7 October 2012
*Most Three Point Field Goals Made in a Game
**10 by
Josip Sesar,
Å iroki vs.
Union Olimpija on 19 November 2005
**10 by
Teemu Rannikko,
Union Olimpija at
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
on 18 December 2005
*Most Free Throws Made in a Game
**19 by
Igor RakoÄević,
Crvena zvezda at
Reflex on 16 April 2004
**19 by
Milan Gurović,
Crvena zvezda at
FMP on 30 September 2006
**19 by
Milan Gurović,
Crvena zvezda vs.
FMP on 16 December 2006
**19 by
Damir Mulaomerović,
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
vs.
FMP on 19 January 2010
*Most Rebounds in a Game
**23 by
Tommy Smith,
Split vs.
Reflex on 4 October 2003
**23 by
Boris Savović,
Hemofarm vs.
RadniÄki Kragujevac on 22 October 2011
*Most Assists in a Game
**19 by
Žan Mark Šiško,
Primorska vs.
Zadar
Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...
on 9 December 2019
*Most Steals in a Game
**9 by
Curtis McCants,
Split vs.
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
on 16 December 2003
**9 by
Andrés RodrÃguez,
Union Olimpija at
Partizan on 7 November 2004
**9 by
Jure MoÄnik,
Helios
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...
at
Split on 6 April 2005
*Most Blocks in a Game
**7 by
Smiljan PaviÄ,
Union Olimpija vs.
Bosna on 27 November 2004
**7 by
Slavko Vraneš,
Partizan at
Cibona on 10 January 2010
**7 by
Shawn James,
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs.
Zlatorog Laško on 5 January 2012
**7 by
Zoran Nikolić,
Budućnost vs.
Igokea on 15 October 2016
**7 by
Uroš Luković,
Mornar vs.
Mega Basket on 14 December 2019
*Most Turnovers in a Game
**11 by
Jiřà Welsch
Jiřà Welsch () (born 27 January 1980) is a Czech former professional basketball player for BK Pardubice of the Czech Republic National Basketball League (Czech Republic), National Basketball League. He has also represented the senior Czech Rep ...
,
Union Olimpija at
Pivovarna Laško on 9 February 2002
**11 by
Nikola KoraÄ,
Sutjeska at
Mega Basket on 30 October 2015
**11 by
Nejc BariÄ,
Split at
FMP on 14 December 2021
**11 by
Luka Božić,
Zadar
Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...
at
Borac on 23 October 2022
*Triple-Doubles
**2 by
Luka Božić
**1 by
Chester Mason
**1 by
Feliks Kojadinović
Clubs
*Longest winning streak
**20 games by
Crvena zvezda for the
2014–15 and
2016–17 seasons
*Longest losing streak
**21 games by
Levski Sofia for the
2014–15 season
*Biggest Winning Margin
**60 points by
Partizan vs.
Split in the
2021–22 season
*Most Won Games in a Season
**
Crvena zvezda won 25 out of 26 games for the
2016–17 season
*Most Lost Games in a Season
**
Bosna lost 21 out of 22 games for the
2002–03 season
*Most Points scored in a Season
**
Hemofarm scored 2591 points in 30 games for the
2004–05 season
**
Crvena zvezda scored 2325 points in 26 games for the
2006–07 season
*Lowest Scored Points in a Season
**
Bosna scored 1443 points in 22 games for the
2001–02 season
**
Zlatorog Laško scored 1688 points in 26 games for the
2011–12 season
All-time leaders
From the
2001–02 to the
2024–25 season:
{, class="wikitable"
, -
!width="420" colspan="3" , Accumulated
, -
! Points
,
Nemanja Gordić
Nemanja Gordić (; born September 25, 1988) is a Bosnian professional basketball player for Spartak Subotica of the Serbian League (KLS) and the ABA League. He also represents the senior Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team internat ...
, , align=center, 3,404
, -
! Field goals
,
Nemanja Gordić
Nemanja Gordić (; born September 25, 1988) is a Bosnian professional basketball player for Spartak Subotica of the Serbian League (KLS) and the ABA League. He also represents the senior Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team internat ...
, , align=center, 1,180
, -
! 3 Points
,
Suad Šehović, , align=center, 406
, -
! Defensive Rebounds
,
Marin Rozić, , align=center, 1,043
, -
! Offensive Rebounds
,
Alen Omić , , align=center, 541
, -
! Total Rebounds
,
Alen Omić, , align=center, 1,423
, -
! Assists
,
Nemanja Gordić
Nemanja Gordić (; born September 25, 1988) is a Bosnian professional basketball player for Spartak Subotica of the Serbian League (KLS) and the ABA League. He also represents the senior Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team internat ...
, , align=center, 1,224
, -
! Steals
,
Nebojša Joksimović, , align=center, 401
, -
! Blocks
,
Uroš Luković , , align=center, 283
, -
! Index Ratings
,
Nemanja Gordić
Nemanja Gordić (; born September 25, 1988) is a Bosnian professional basketball player for Spartak Subotica of the Serbian League (KLS) and the ABA League. He also represents the senior Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team internat ...
, , align=center, 3,272
, -
! Games Played
,
Branko Lazić, , align=center, 426
Notable players
Well-known basketball players who have played in the Adriatic League include:
Australia
*
Aron Baynes
*
Nathan Jawai
*
Aleks Marić
*
Steven Marković
*
Mark Worthington
Belize
*
Milt Palacio
Bosnia and Herzegovina
*
Kenan Bajramović
*
J. R. Bremer
*
Nemanja Gordić
Nemanja Gordić (; born September 25, 1988) is a Bosnian professional basketball player for Spartak Subotica of the Serbian League (KLS) and the ABA League. He also represents the senior Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team internat ...
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Jasmin Hukić
*
Elmedin Kikanović
*
Nenad Marković
*
Ratko Varda
Ratko Varda ( sr-cyr, Ратко Варда; born 6 May 1979) is a Serbian-Bosnian former basketball player who played professionally for 22 years. Standing at , he played the center position. He first represented FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Monten ...
*
Jusuf Nurkić
Brazil
*
Yago dos Santos
Bulgaria
*
Filip Videnov
*
Jermaine Anderson
*
Carl English
*
Brady Heslip
*
Michael Meeks
Croatia
*
Marko Banić
*
Stanko Barać
*
Bojan Bogdanović
*
Dontaye Draper
*
Davor Kus
*
Oliver Lafayette
*
Davor Marcelić
*
Damir Mulaomerović
*
Davor PejÄinović
*
Zoran Planinić
*
Marko Popović
*
Nikola PrkaÄin
*
Dino Rađa
Dino Rađa (alternatively Radja, ; born 24 April 1967) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He was a member of the Jugoplastika team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which he helped to win two FIBA European Champions Cup champ ...
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Slaven Rimac
*
Josip Sesar
*
Krunoslav Simon
*
Mate Skelin
*
Dario Šarić
*
Marko Tomas
*
Ante Tomić
*
Roko Ukić
*
Josip Vranković
Josip-Jerko "Joke" Vranković (born October 26, 1968) is a Croatian professional 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, co ...
*
Nikola VujÄić
*
Andrija Žižić
*
Ante Žižić
Ante Toni Žižić (; born 4 January 1997) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He was selected 23rd overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft.
Professio ...
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Luka Žorić
Czech Republic
*
Jan Veselý
*
Jiřà Welsch
Jiřà Welsch () (born 27 January 1980) is a Czech former professional basketball player for BK Pardubice of the Czech Republic National Basketball League (Czech Republic), National Basketball League. He has also represented the senior Czech Rep ...
Finland
*
Teemu Rannikko
*
Sasu Salin
France
*
Joffrey Lauvergne
*
Léo Westermann
*
Mickaël Gelabale
*
Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot
Gabon
*
Stéphane Lasme
Germany
*
Maik Zirbes
Greece
*
Stratos Perperoglou
*
Sofoklis Schortsanitis
*
Ioannis Papapetrou
Guyana
*
Rawle Marshall
Hungary
*
Márton Báder
*
István Németh
Israel
*
David Blu
*
Tal Burstein
*
Lior Eliyahu
Lior Eliyahu (; born 9 September 1985) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He is 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) in height and he weighs 105 kg (225 pounds). He plays at the Power forward (basketball), power forward position. He was ...
*
Yotam Halperin
*
Guy Pnini
*
Derrick Sharp
*
Gal Mekel
Jamaica
*
Kimani Ffriend
*
Jerome Jordan
Latvia
*
Roberts Å telmahers
Roberts Štelmahers (born November 19, 1974) is a Latvian professional basketball coach and former player who played the point guard position. He is the current head coach for Czarni Słupsk of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). Štelmahers w ...
*
DÄvis BertÄns
Montenegro
*
Milko Bjelica
*
Nebojša Bogavac
*
Omar Cook
*
Predrag Drobnjak
*
Vladimir DragiÄević
*
Aleksandar Pavlović
*
Nikola Peković
*
Slavko Vraneš
Nigeria
*
Aloysius Anagonye
*
Obinna Ekezie
*
Michael Ojo
North Macedonia
*
Pero Antić
*
Todor GeÄevski
*
Richard Hendrix
*
Vlado Ilievski
*
Bo McCalebb
*
Gjorgji ÄŒekovski
*
Predrag Samardžiski
*
Damjan Stojanovski
*
Aleksandar Kostoski
*
Marko Simonovski
*
Bojan Trajkovski
*
Darko Sokolov
*
Ognen Stojanovski
Panama
*
Chris Warren
Puerto Rico
*
Larry Ayuso
*
Andrés RodrÃguez
Serbia
*
Ognjen Aškrabić
*
Vule Avdalović
*
Stefan BirÄević
*
Nemanja Bjelica
*
Bogdan Bogdanović
*
Petar Božić
*
Marko Gudurić
*
Milan Gurović
*
Tadija Dragićević
*
Mile Ilić
*
Nikola Janković
*
Nikola Jokić
Nikola Jokić ( ; sr-Cyrl, Ðикола Јокић ; born February 19, 1995) is a Serbian professional basketball player who is a Center (basketball), center for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the ...
*
Stefan Jović
*
Nikola Kalinić
*
Dušan Kecman
*
Ognjen Kuzmić
*
Nikola LonÄar
*
Milan MaÄvan
*
Boban Marjanović
*
Stefan Marković
*
Dejan Milojević
*
Dragan Milosavljević
*
Nikola Milutinov
*
Luka Mitrović
*
Miljan Pavković
*
Kosta Perović
*
Bojan Popović
*
Miroslav Raduljica
*
Igor RakoÄević
*
Aleksandar Rašić
*
Duško Savanović
*
Marko Simonović
*
Miloš Teodosić
*
Milenko Tepić
Milenko Tepić (; born February 27, 1987) is a Serbian professional 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 t ...
*
Milenko Topić
Milenko Topić (; born 6 March 1969) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player.
Playing career
A power forward, Topić spent most of his professional career playing in the YUBA League, representing Profikolor, BFC BeoÄin ...
*
Uroš Tripković
*
Novica VeliÄković
*
Rade Zagorac
Slovenia
*
Sani BeÄiroviÄ
*
Mirza Begić
*
Jaka BlažiÄ
Jaka BlažiÄ (born 30 June 1990) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for KK Cedevita Olimpija, Cedevita Olimpija of the Adriatic League and the Premier A Slovenian Basketball League, Slovenian Basketball League. He also represents the ...
*
Goran DragiÄ
*
Nebojša Joksimović
*
Jaka LakoviÄ
*
Marko MiliÄ
*
Hasan Rizvić
*
Uroš Slokar
*
Beno Udrih
*
Gašper Vidmar
*
Jurij Zdovc
Turkey
*
Ender Arslan
*
Hüseyin Beşok
*
Semih Erden
*
Ermal KurtoÄŸlu
*
Emir Preldžić
*
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
*
Alan Anderson
*
Jamie Arnold
*
Isaiah Austin
*
Corey L. Brewer
*
Elton Brown
*
Vonteego Cummings
*
Cade Davis
*
Corsley Edwards
*
Jordan Farmar
*
Reggie Freeman
*
James Gist
*
Drew Gordon
*
Jamon Gordon
*
Jamont Gordon
*
Marcus Goree
*
Will Hatcher
*
Kyle Hill
*
Shawn James
*
Curtis Jerrells
*
Charles Jenkins
*
Julius Johnson
*
Keith Langford
*
Acie Law
*
Michael Lee
*
Quincy Lewis
*
Chester Mason
*
Adam Morrison
*
Jimmy Oliver
*
Andre Owens
*
Scoonie Penn
*
Omar Thomas
*
Torey Thomas
*
Lawrence Roberts
*
Rumeal Robinson
*
David Simon
*
Devin Smith
*
Kenyan Weaks
*
Marcus Williams
*
Andrew Wisniewski
See also
*
List of current ABA Liga team rosters
*
ABA League system
Notes
References
External links
*
ABA League at Sportstats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aba League
Basketball leagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Basketball leagues in Croatia
Basketball leagues in North Macedonia
Basketball leagues in Montenegro
Basketball leagues in Serbia
Basketball leagues in Slovenia
Basketball leagues in Serbia and Montenegro
Multi-national basketball leagues in Europe
2001 establishments in Europe
Sports leagues established in 2001
Professional sports leagues in Serbia
Professional sports leagues in Slovenia
Multi-national professional sports leagues