The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

reasons, is the first tier level 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 in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is run by the

Hellenic Basketball Association The Hellenic Basketball Association (HEBA), is a governing body for the sport of basketball in Greece. In Greek, it is officially known as the Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος Ανωνύμων Καλαθοσφαιρικών Εταιρει� ...

(abbreviated as HEBA; ), under the legal authority of the

Hellenic Basketball Federation The Hellenic Basketball Federation (abbreviated HBF; , abbreviated as Ε.Ο.Κ.,) is the main basketball governing body for the sport in Greece. It directs and oversees all of the national basketball teams of Greece, including both the junior a ...

(abbreviated as HBF; ). Over the years, the league has previously been known by several different names, which have included: the Panhellenic Basketball Championship or Greek Basketball Championship, the Panhellenic Basketball First Category Championship (1st) (A) or Greek Basketball First Category Championship (1st) (A), the Greek Alpha National Basketball Category Championship (A), the Greek Alpha1 National Basketball Category Championship (A1), the HEBA Alpha1 (A1), and most recently, the Greek Basket League. The league's current official main sponsor is Stoiximan. The GBL is the highest-tier level of the Greek league system. The GBL plays under FIBA rules and currently consists of 12 teams, with each season's lowest-placed team being

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

to the A2 Basketball League, and then being replaced by the winner of the playoffs of that tier. The league runs from October to June, with teams playing 22 games each during the regular season, and the top 8 placed teams in the regular season standings then competing in the league's playoffs. The first official Greek Basketball Championship was held in the 1927–28 season. The league held a competition in which the teams of the league played under a format with a nationwide schedule, for the first time, in the 1963–64 season. The league first held a playoff round in the 1986–87 season. The league first allowed foreign (non-Greek) players, in the 1988–89 season. The league first became a fully professional competition in the 1992–93 season, and that was also when its competition status was officially changed from the

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

category, to the

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

category. Historically, the GBL has been ranked as one of the top 3 level national domestic leagues in European basketball, since the league rankings began. For further information, see

historical European national basketball league rankings The historical European national basketball league rankings are the rankings for each of the different European regional and domestic basketball leagues that are or were eligible to participate in Europe's international continental professional cl ...

, and European national basketball league rankings.

History

The first official regional club basketball tournament in Greece, took place in the year 1924. While the first edition of the Greek basketball championship took place in the 1927–28 season, the first fully organized Greek basketball championship began. The league was originally organized by the

Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association The Hellenic Athletics Federation (Greek: ; abbreviated SEGAS) is Greece's governing body for Amateur sports, amateur sport. SEGAS SEGAS was created in 1897 and has been the principal organiser of many international sporting competitions held in ...

(SEGAS). There have been four different official championship eras. The first era was the Panhellenic Championship (Πανελλήνιο Πρωτάθλημα), which lasted from the 1927–28 to 1962–63 seasons, when the champions of every regional district played each other to decide the Greek Champion. The second era started in the 1963–64 season, when the A National Category (Α' Εθνική Κατηγορία), or Alpha National Category was founded. In 1969, the Hellenic Basketball Federation (E.O.K.) took over the duties of overseeing the competition, and did so until the year 1992. The third era of the championship existed between the 1986–87 and 1991–92 seasons, when the first division A1 National Category (Α1 Εθνική Κατηγορία), with a regular season and playoffs, and the second division A2 National Category (Α2 Εθνική Κατηγορία) were formed. The 1988–89 season, marked the first time that Greek Basket League teams were allowed to have foreign players on their rosters. The fourth era of the championship began in the 1992–93 season, when the

(HEBA) took over the competition and renamed the first division the HEBA A1 (ΕΣΑΚΕ Α1). The league was then renamed to Greek Basket League (Ελληνική Μπάσκετ Λιγκ), starting with the 2010–11 season. The Greek League has been one of the most competitive basketball leagues in Europe through the years, and it was widely regarded as the second best national domestic league in the world, after only the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, in the 1990s decade. It currently ranks among the best national domestic leagues in the world (excluding the NBA), such as

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 ...

in Spain,

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

(counts as the domestic league for Russian clubs), and BSL in Turkey. Historically, the league has been ranked as one of the top 3 European national domestic leagues, along with Italy's

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

and Spain's

, under the

and European national basketball league rankings. The league has several European historical basketball powers, which also belong to some of the most traditional European basketball clubs, especially Panathinaikos,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, and AEK (which had great success in the 1960s), which are three of the most successful European basketball clubs of all time. Also,

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

, led by

Nikos Galis Nikolaos Georgalis (; born July 23, 1957), commonly known as either Nikos Galis (), or Nick Galis, is a Greek-American former professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playing days was nicknamed, "Nick The Greek", "The Gangster", and ...

Panagiotis Giannakis Panagiotis "Notis" Giannakis (, ; born January 1, 1959), alternatively spelled Panayiotis Yiannakis or Yannakis, is a former Greek professional basketball player and coach. He is considered to be one of the greatest sportspeople of Greece. He st ...

, and Slobodan "Lefteris" Subotić, was the dominant Greek club, and one of the most powerful European teams in the 1980s. Other clubs that have had significant success throughout the history of Greek basketball, as well as success in European basketball, are

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

and

Panellinios Panellinios G.S. (Greek: Πανελλήνιος Γ.Σ.), full name, Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos (Greek: Πανελλήνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος), is a Greek multi-sport club that is located in Athens and was founded i ...

. The first five aforementioned clubs (Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, AEK, Aris and PAOK), are also the most widely supported by fans in Greece. Despite the championship having been contested 84 times, only nine different clubs have won it so far. The dominating club has usually been Panathinaikos, having claimed the championship 40 times. Since the foundation of the Alpha National Category in the 1963–64 season, only two teams have participated in every season of the competition, Panathinaikos and Aris.

Brand

Name

* Amateur era (1927–28 to 1991–92): ** 1927–28 to 1960–61: Panhellenic Championship ** 1961–62 to 1962–63: Panhellenic First Category Championship (1st) (A) ** 1963–64 to 1985–86: Alpha (A) National Category ** 1986–87 to 1991–92: Alpha1 (A1) National Category * Professional era (1992–93 to ''present'') : ** 1992–93 to 2011–12: HEBA Alpha1 (A1) ** 2012–13 to 2023–24: Greek Basket League ** 2024–25 to present: Greek Basketball League (GBL)

Logo

The main elements of the logo were changed in 2013. Greek Basket League Logo.jpg, 2012–2013 GBL Official emblem.png, 2013–2024

Regulations

The championship, in its current form, has been organized since the 1992–93 season by the

(HEBA), under the authority of the

. The fully professional Greek basketball

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 ...

compete in the first division championship, which is often colloquially called the "A1", in which 12 teams compete for the Greek National Championship. There is also a professional level second division championship that is run entirely by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, which is called the " A2", in which 16 teams compete for the second division crown. The bottom one place finishing team each year in the A1 division standings is

to the A2 division, due to poor performance. While conversely, the top one teams each year from the A2 division is promoted to the A1 division, due to good performance.

Club and arena standards

In order to compete in the Greek Basketball League, clubs must invest a minimum of €1 million on club operations per season. The minimum club budget per season is €800,000, and each club must also invest €200,000 into a league-wide fund that insures players get their full salaries. Most of the league's clubs invest more than the minimum requirements in each season. Currently, Greek Basketball League clubs must play their home games in arenas with a seating capacity of at least 2,000 people, in order to play Greek domestic league games. Some Greek clubs have two arenas that they primarily use. One for domestic Greek League games, and one for European-wide games. Greek clubs that play in European-wide competitions, such as the

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 ...

, the EuroCup, or the

FIBA Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefor ...

, must play their home games in those leagues in arenas that fit the arena standards of those leagues. Which are currently, a 5,000 seat minimum for the EuroLeague, and a 3,000 seat minimum for the EuroCup and FIBA Champions League.

Foreign players

Greek Basketball League teams were first allowed to have foreign (non-Greek) players on their rosters in the 1988–89 season. Under the league's current foreign player rules, Greek Basketball League teams must have at least 6 players with Greek citizenship on their active 12-man game rosters. Each team is allowed to have up to 6 foreign (non-Greek) players on their active 12-man game roster. Starting with the 2022–23 season, each team can have a total of up to 7 foreign players registered on its active league roster. However, every team is obliged to select only 6 of them for the 12 man game rosters, right before each game is started. Originally, that rotation of 6 of the 7 foreign players was not allowed to take place during the league's playoffs. However, it was ultimately decided that starting with the 2023–24 season, the aforementioned rotation of 6 out of the 7 foreign players on each team's roster, is also allowed in the league's playoffs. However, there are no restrictions on the number of foreign players allowed by country of origin, or on the overall total number of foreign players allowed to be signed to a team's roster. Meaning that for example, any team in the league can sign any number of American players, Canadian players, or players from European countries, etc., that it wants to, and that any team in the league can sign as many foreign players overall to its roster as it wants to, but that they can only register 7 of them at a time to the active roster, and that they can only play 6 of them in any one game.

Current clubs

The clubs for the 2025–26 season:

Statistics

Title holders

* 1927–28: Azzurro e Bianco con H

Iraklis * 1928–29: Flag of Panellinios-Greek Sports Club

* 1929–30: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1930–34: Not held * 1934–35: Azzurro e Bianco con H

Iraklis * 1935–36: 600px Bianco e Rosso diagonale con stella Rossa

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

* 1936–37:

Athens University The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

* 1937–38: Not held * 1938–39: Flag of Panellinios-Greek Sports Club

* 1939–40: Flag of Panellinios-Greek Sports Club

* 1940–45: Not held due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

* 1945–46: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1946–47: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1947–48: Not held * 1948–49: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1949–50: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1950–51: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1951–52: Not held * 1952–53: Flag of Panellinios-Greek Sports Club

* 1953–54: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1954–55: Flag of Panellinios-Greek Sports Club

* 1955–56: Not held * 1956–57: Flag of Panellinios-Greek Sports Club

* 1957–58: 600px Giallo con aquila bicefala nera2 svg

AEK * 1958–59: 600px Bianco con aquila bicefala nera

* 1959–60: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1960–61: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1961–62: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1962–63: 600px Giallo con aquila bicefala nera2 svg

AEK * 1963–64: 600px Giallo con aquila bicefala nera2 svg

AEK * 1964–65: 600px Giallo con aquila bicefala nera2 svg

AEK * 1965–66: 600px Giallo con aquila bicefala nera2 svg

AEK * 1966–67: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1967–68: 600px Giallo con aquila bicefala nera2 svg

AEK * 1968–69: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1969–70: 600px Giallo con aquila bicefala nera2 svg

AEK * 1970–71: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1971–72: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1972–73: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1973–74: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1974–75: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1975–76: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1976–77: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1977–78: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1978–79: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1979–80: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1980–81: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1981–82: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1982–83: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1983–84: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1984–85: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1985–86: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1986–87: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1987–88: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1988–89: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1989–90: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1990–91: Giallo e Nero Aris

* 1991–92: 600px Bianco con aquila bicefala nera

* 1992–93: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1993–94: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1994–95: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1995–96: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1996–97: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 1997–98: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1998–99: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 1999–00: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2000–01: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2001–02: 600px Giallo con aquila bicefala nera2 svg

AEK * 2002–03: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2003–04: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2004–05: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2005–06: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2006–07: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2007–08: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2008–09: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2009–10: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2010–11: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2011–12: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 2012–13: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2013–14: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2014–15: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 2015–16: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 2016–17: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2017–18: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2018–19: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2019–20: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2020–21: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2021–22: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 2022–23: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

* 2023–24: Verde con trifoglio Verde su cerchio Bianco

Panathinaikos * 2024–25: 630px_seven_vertical_stripes_HEX-ED1C24_and_White

Performance by club

A1 Finals

Basket League/A1 finals participation by club (through 2025)

Number of seasons in the Panhellenic Championship (1927–28 to 1962–63)

The number of times that clubs participated in the league's original format, the Panhellenic Championship.

Number of seasons in the A and A1 National Categories by club (1963–64 – 2023–24)

The number of times that clubs participated in the top A National Category, while it existed from the 1963–64 season to the 1985–86 season. As well as the number of times that clubs have participated in the top A1 National Category, since it began with the 1986–87 season. Only two clubs, Panathinaikos and

, have played in the top division every year since its formation. * ''1963–64 to 1985–86: Alpha (A) National Category'' * ''1986–87 to 1991–92: Alpha1 (A1) National Category'' * ''1992–93 to 2009–10: HEBA Alpha1 (A1)'' * ''2012–13 to 2023–24: Greek Basket League'' * ''2024–25 to present: Greek Basketball League (GBL)''

Number of seasons in the top-tier level Greek Basket League in total (1928 to 2023–24)

The total number of times that each club has played in the top-tier level Greek Basket League, through all of its different league formats. * ''1927–28 to 1960–61: Panhellenic Championship'' * ''1961–62 to 1962–63: Panhellenic First Category Championship (1st) (A)'' * ''1963–64 to 1985–86: Alpha (A) National Category'' * ''1986–87 to 1991–92: Alpha1 (A1) National Category'' * ''1992–93 to 2009–10: HEBA Alpha1 (A1)'' * ''2010–11 to 2023–24: Greek Basket League'' * ''2024–25 to present: Greek Basketball League (GBL)''

Best regular season records in the history of the A and A1 National Categories (1963–2024)

* ''1963–64 to 1985–86: Alpha (A) National Category'' * ''1986–87 to 1991–92: Alpha1 (A1) National Category'' * ''1992–93 to 2009–10: HEBA Alpha1 (A1)'' * ''2010–11 to 2023–24: Greek Basket League'' * ''2024–25 to present: Greek Basketball League (GBL)''

A and A1 National Category (1963–2024)

The best overall season records of the HEBA A1 (1992–2024)

Greek basketball clubs in European and worldwide competitions

Awards and players

All-time stats leaders

The all-time stats leaders of the HEBA fully

level era Greek Basketball League, from the 1992–93 season to the present. These are the officially recognized league stats leaders. Although the Greek Basketball League officially recognizes results and championships from the earlier formats of the league, it only officially recognizes the stats leaders since the league's professional era began, with the 1992–93 season. The competition's stats from years prior, when the league was officially classified as an

level competition, are not officially recognized. *Through the 2023–24 season. *Currently active players in the league in bold.

References

External links

*
Greek Basketball (Men) Eurobasket.com

Official Hellenic Basketball Federation Site
{{Men's professional basketball leagues Greek Basket League 1 Professional sports leagues in Greece Sports leagues established in 1927

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 ...

Top-level basketball leagues in Europe