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 the second most popular sport in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, directly behind

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. The top Spanish League,

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

, is a member of

ULEB Union of European Leagues of Basketball (ULEB; ) is a sports organization within basketball created for growth of professional basketball in Europe.Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

and Eurocup, and also under the

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. ...

umbrella, in the

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA Europe's second level competition. Clubs mainly qualify based on their performance in national leagues an ...

. The Spanish teams also compete in a national domestic cup competition each year, called the

Copa del Rey de Baloncesto The Copa del Rey de Baloncesto ( English: ''Basketball King's Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Spanish basketball teams organized by Spain's top professional league, the Liga ACB. History Originally known as the ''Copa de España de Bal ...

, which is played by the top eight teams in the standings of the Liga ACB, at the end of the first half of the regular season.

Spanish basketball league system

The tier levels

Evolution of the Spanish basketball league system

Spanish women's basketball league system

Spain national basketball team

Men's team

Women's team

Autonomous teams

Like in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, several

Autonomous Communities The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Spa ...

have their own autonomous team. These teams are not recognized by

, and only play in friendly games. Between 2008 and 2010, the Torneo de las Naciones was played between the teams of Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia, and a foreign national team was invited. The following Autonomous Communities have played at least one friendly game: * * * * * * * * * Also, has got a basketball team which plays biennially in the

Island Games The Island Games (currently known as the NatWest International Island Games for sponsorship reasons) are biennial international multi-sports events organised by the International Island Games Association (IIGA). Competitor teams each represent ...

. On the other hand,

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

has its own national team recognized by

. plays biannually in the European Basketball Championship for Small Countries and, like Menorca, the

Other competitions

Supercopa de España de Baloncesto The Supercopa de España de Baloncesto ( English: ''Spanish Basketball Supercup'') is a Spanish annual men's professional basketball competition. The competition is a super cup tournament. History The Supercopa was created in 1984 by the recen ...

* Copa Príncipe de Asturias

References

External links

Liga ACB Official Website

Spanish Basketball Federation

Basketball In Spain
(In English) {{Basketball in Europe by country