Greek Basket League
The Greek Basket League, often also referred to as the Greek Basketball League, Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship, and also known as the ΕΚΟ Basket League for sponsorship reasons, is the first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by HEBA, under the legal authority of the Hellenic Basketball Federation.
It consists of 14 teams and runs from October to June, with teams playing 26 games each during the regular season, and the top 8 teams then competing in the 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 players, in the 1988–89 season. The league became a fully professional competition in the 1992–93 season.
The league has always been ranked as one of the top 3-5 level national domestic leagues in European basketball, since league rankings began. For further information, see historical European national basketball league rankings, and European national basketball league rankings.
History
Basketball first came to Greece in the year 1919. The first 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. There have been four different official championship eras. The first era was the Panhellenic Championship, 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, or Alpha National Category was founded.In 1969, the Hellenic Basketball Federation 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, with a regular season and playoffs, and the second division A2 National Category 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 Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association took over the competition and renamed the first division the HEBA A1. The league was then renamed to Greek Basket League, 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, in the 1990s decade. It currently ranks among the best national domestic leagues in the world, such as Liga ACB in Spain, VTB United League, and BSL in Turkey. It has always been considered one of the top 3-5 European national domestic leagues under the historical European national basketball league rankings 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 and AEK, which are three of the most successful European basketball clubs of all-time.
Also, Aris, led by Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, 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 and Panellinios.
The first five aforementioned clubs, are also the most widely supported by fans in Greece.
Despite the championship having been contested 80 times, only nine different clubs have won it so far. The dominating club has usually been Panathinaikos, having claimed the championship 38 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
- 1927–28 to 1962–63: Panhellenic Championship
- 1963–64 to 1985–86: Alpha National Category
- 1986–87 to 1991–92: Alpha1 National Category
- 1992–93 to 2011–12: HEBA Alpha1
- 2012–13 to present: Greek Basket League
Sponsors
- ΕΚΟ
- OPAP
- Scratch
- Betshop.gr
- Stoiximan.gr
- Champion
- Spalding
- Cosmote
- Germanos
- Visit Greece
- Gatorade
Logo
Regulations
The championship, in its current form, has been organized since the 1992–93 season by the Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association, under the authority of the Hellenic Basketball Federation. The fully professional Greek basketball clubs compete in the first division championship, which is often colloquially called the "A1", in which 14 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 two place finishing teams each year in the A1 division standings are relegated to the A2 division, due to poor performance. While conversely, the top two teams each year from the A2 division are promoted to the A1 division, due to good performance.Club and arena standards
In order to compete in the Greek Basket League, clubs must invest a minimum of €1 million euros on club operations per season. The minimum club budget per season is €800,000 euros, and each club must also invest €200,000 euros 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 Basket 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. Several 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 EuroCup, or the FIBA Champions League, 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. Although, the FIBA Champions League's minimum seat rule can be waived with the league's approval.
Foreign players
Greek Basket League teams were first allowed to have foreign players on their rosters in the 1988–89 season.Under the league's current foreign player rules, Greek Basket League teams must have at least 6 Greek players on their active 12 man game rosters. Each team is allowed to have up to 6 foreign players, on their active 12 man game roster. There are no restrictions on the number of foreign players allowed by country of origin. Meaning that for example, any team in the league could sign up to 6 American players, or up to 6 Canadian players, or up to 6 players from European countries, etc.
Current clubs
The clubs for the 2020–21 season:| Club | Position 2019–20 | Greek League Arena | Seating Capacity | EuroLeague / EuroCup / Champions League Arena* | Seating Capacity |
| AEK | 2nd | Ano Liosia Olympic Hall, Athens | 9,903 | Ano Liosia Olympic Hall, Athens | 9,903 |
| Aris | 13th | Alexandreio Nikos Galis Hall, Thessaloniki | 5,138 | Alexandreio Nikos Galis Hall, Thessaloniki | 5,138 |
| Charilaos Trikoupis | 1st | Dimitris Tofalos Arena, Patras | 4,150 | Dimitris Tofalos Arena, Patras | 4,150 |
| Ionikos Nikaias | 10th | Nikaias Indoor Hall, Athens | 2,000 | ||
| Iraklis Thessaloniki | 7th | Ivanofeio Sports Arena, Thessaloniki | 2,500 | ||
| Kolossos Rodou | Kallithea Palais des Sports, Rhodes City | 1,400 | |||
| Larisa | 8th | Larissa Neapolis Indoor Arena, Larissa | 4,000 | Larissa Neapolis Indoor Arena, Larissa | 4,000 |
| Lavrio | 6th | Lavrio Indoor Hall, Lavrio | 1,700 | ||
| Panathinaikos OPAP | 1st | Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens | 19,250 | Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens | 19,250 |
| Panionios | 12th | Sofia Befon Indoor Hall, Athens | 1,204 | ||
| PAOK | 14th | PAOK Sports Arena, Thessaloniki | 8,500 | PAOK Sports Arena, Thessaloniki | 8,500 |
| Peristeri | 3rd | Peristeri Indoor Hall, Athens | 4,000 | Peristeri Indoor Hall, Athens | 4,000 |
| Promitheas Patras | 4th | Dimitris Tofalos Arena, Patras | 4,150 | Dimitris Tofalos Arena, Patras | 4,150 |
Statistics
Title holders
- 1920-21: Panathinaikos
- 1921-22: Not held
- 1922-23: Not held
- 1923-24: Not held
- 1924-25: Not held
- 1925-26: Not held
- 1926-27: Not held
- 1927–28: Iraklis
- 1928–29: Panellinios
- 1929–30: Aris
- 1930–34: Not held
- 1934–35: Iraklis
- 1935–36: Near East
- 1936–37: Athens University
- 1937–38: Not held
- 1938–39: Panellinios
- 1939–40: Panellinios
- 1940–45: Not held due to World War II
- 1945–46: Panathinaikos
- 1946–47: Panathinaikos
- 1947–48: Not held
- 1948–49: Olympiacos
- 1949–50: Panathinaikos
- 1950–51: Panathinaikos
- 1951–52: Not held
- 1952–53: Panellinios
- 1953–54: Panathinaikos
- 1954–55: Panellinios
- 1955–56: Not held
- 1956–57: Panellinios
- 1957–58: AEK
- 1958–59: PAOK
- 1959–60: Olympiacos
- 1960–61: Panathinaikos
- 1961–62: Panathinaikos
- 1962–63: AEK
- 1963–64: AEK
- 1964–65: AEK
- 1965–66: AEK
- 1966–67: Panathinaikos
- 1967–68: AEK
- 1968–69: Panathinaikos
- 1969–70: AEK
- 1970–71: Panathinaikos
- 1971–72: Panathinaikos
- 1972–73: Panathinaikos
- 1973–74: Panathinaikos
- 1974–75: Panathinaikos
- 1975–76: Olympiacos
- 1976–77: Panathinaikos
- 1977–78: Olympiacos
- 1978–79: Aris
- 1979–80: Panathinaikos
- 1980–81: Panathinaikos
- 1981–82: Panathinaikos
- 1982–83: Aris
- 1983–84: Panathinaikos
- 1984–85: Aris
- 1985–86: Aris
- 1986–87: Aris
- 1987–88: Aris
- 1988–89: Aris
- 1989–90: Aris
- 1990–91: Aris
- 1991–92: PAOK
- 1992–93: Olympiacos
- 1993–94: Olympiacos
- 1994–95: Olympiacos
- 1995–96: Olympiacos
- 1996–97: Olympiacos
- 1997–98: Panathinaikos
- 1998–99: Panathinaikos
- 1999–00: Panathinaikos
- 2000–01: Panathinaikos
- 2001–02: AEK
- 2002–03: Panathinaikos
- 2003–04: Panathinaikos
- 2004–05: Panathinaikos
- 2005–06: Panathinaikos
- 2006–07: Panathinaikos
- 2007–08: Panathinaikos
- 2008–09: Panathinaikos
- 2009–10: Panathinaikos
- 2010–11: Panathinaikos
- 2011–12: Olympiacos
- 2012–13: Panathinaikos
- 2013–14: Panathinaikos
- 2014–15: Olympiacos
- 2015–16: Olympiacos
- 2016–17: Panathinaikos
- 2017–18: Panathinaikos
- 2018–19: Panathinaikos
- 2019–20: Panathinaikos
Performance by club
A1 Finals
Basket League/A1 finals participation by club
Number of seasons in the Panhellenic Championship (1928–1963)
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 (1963–64–2018–19)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 Aris, have played in the top division every year since its formation.
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Nikos Chatzis
Stojko Vranković
Walter Berry