If you are a basketball fan, then you should be aware of the best European basketball leagues. Out of all the basketball leagues around the world, the European ones are currently some of the most popular.
Basketball in Europe is very competitive and you will surely get huge satisfaction when you watch your favorite teams win.
But what are the best European basketball leagues?
Which ones should you be paying attention to?
If you are looking for the best European Basketball Leagues, then you have come to the right place. Here below we will list the best basketball leagues in Europe as well as everything you need to know about them.
Which European Country is the Best at Basketball?
With several professional European basketball leagues and dozens of teams, it is not always simple to see who the best teams are.
From Italy to France to Serbia to Spain, who is the best at basketball outside America’s finest NBA?
According to FIBA’s current men’s world ranking, the strongest European national teams include:
- Serbia
- Germany
- France
- Spain
Rankings change after each major international competition, but FIBA’s rankings are a better current snapshot of national-team strength than older historical club-league rankings.
Last but not least, it is important to note that other national teams are also very talented and won their fair amount of games played.
Who are the Top 3 Best European Basketball Players?
Apart from the national teams and the best European basketball leagues, the players are the ones who make teams so powerful.
So who are the most notable and popular basketball players that come from Europe? And how did they get to the level they are now?
Whether they play in the NBA or in one of these European leagues, these basketball players are among the best from the old continent and certainly some of the best in the world.
- Nikola Jokić, Serbia – A multiple-time NBA MVP with the Denver Nuggets and one of the best passing big men in basketball history.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece – An NBA champion and multiple-time NBA MVP with the Milwaukee Bucks.
- Luka Dončić, Slovenia – Developed at Real Madrid before becoming one of the NBA’s biggest stars.
That is to say, while the European leagues aren’t so prestigious and popular as the NBA, they certainly give opportunities to talents to shine and become very famous personas.
Best European Basketball Leagues
Now that we’ve been through the best European basketball players and the best countries outside the U.S. in terms of basketball, let’s focus on our main topic.
It is important to note that some rules are different from America’s NBA to the European basketball leagues. First, NBA games are longer in time with 12 minutes instead of 10.
Also, teamwork is more highlighted in European basketball. Of course, the tactics and strategies between both is another factor to consider.
Do these factors mean that one basketball league is better than another? Not necessarily, but these contribute to the talent and popularity of both leagues.
These are the best European basketball leagues you have to know about to have fun, follow an alternative league to the NBA, and eventually even consider playing at if you’re a basketball player.
EuroLeague
The Euroleague, also referred to as the Turkish Airlines Euroleague for commercial reasons, is the highest-level professional basketball club competition in Europe.
Organized in its modern form since 2000, it is one of the most-watched European basketball leagues in the world and has one of the highest attendance rates in the world.
The Euroleague is the perfect place for top European basketball players to showcase their skills and talents, attract audiences and boost international interest in the game. In fact, some celebrities developed at EuroLeague clubs and are now playing in the NBA, such as Luka Dončić, who starred for Real Madrid before moving to the NBA.
It has a unique blend of glamour, prestige, business and marketing and participation in this top European professional basketball league is a high profile event.
The Euroleague is very popular among fans in Europe and beyond, and thus the competition for tickets, sponsorship and endorsements is intense. In recent years, with the growth of the internet and cable television, the reach of the Euroleague has become enormous through online streaming.
Thus the exposure of the Euroleague to the wider audience has also become possible, which was impossible in the past.
The Euroleague has built a name and reputation for itself as the top European professional basketball team competition. The Euroleague has evolved as an innovative, creative and challenging entity, attracting not only top European basketball players but international ones as well.
FIBA’s Basketball Champions League
The European Basketball Champions League is an international professional basketball competition, organised by FIBA, the International Basketball Federation.
This competition is one of the best in the world, with 32 teams in the regular season and hundreds of players.
Notable teams that have been part of the competition include Unicaja, Lenovo Tenerife, AEK Betsson BC, and Galatasaray.
The competition is very exciting for fans of basketball as well as for people who simply follow the sport as entertainment.
So if you are a big basketball fan and are interested in watching some more interesting matches outside the NBA, then take a look at the FIBA’s Basketball Champions League and see if it is right for you!
Liga ACB
The Liga ACB (Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto), also known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the leading professional basketball league in Spain. Some of the best teams in Liga ACB are Real Madrid Baloncesto, Baskonia, or even Gran Canaria.
With the 18 participant teams, this league is very popular with many people and has even earned some recognition internationally within the basketball world.
The Liga ACB is the most recognized and largest of all Spanish basketball competitions with its worldwide following. Each season, the players and teams earn points and based on these points, the teams will advance to different competitions which are all-important in the overall standings.
The league has a very high standard that demands a lot from the players and from teams as a whole. As a result, the competition within this league is very fierce and there is always a battle for second place or even a playoff.
Lastly, Luka Dončić, currently one of the NBA’s biggest stars, started his career for Liga ACB’s Real Madrid.
In plain words, the Liga ACB is one of the best European basketball leagues but also arguably the top second or third league in the world.
The Basketball Bundesliga
Germany’s basketball league Bundesliga is another one of the most popular in Europe and for good reasons. The Basketball Bundesliga features professional clubs from across Germany that are all very talented and exciting to watch.
Created and launched on the 1st of October, 1966, it has long been one of Germany’s top basketball competitions, and the team that got the most titles is the Bayer Giants Leverkusen (with 14 titles).
Apart from that, the most popular teams in the Basketball Bundesliga league are the Alba Berlin, the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, and the FC Bayern Munich.
Moreover, the Basketball Bundesliga is also known as easyCredit BBL for sponsorship reasons.
In conclusion, the basketball Bundesliga is another one of the best leagues in the world and definitely a valid alternative to the NBA if you’re willing to get some feelings in front of your TV or at the stadium.
Basketball Super League (Basketbol Süper Ligi)
The Basketball Super League, also called Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional division of the Turkish basketball league system.
Founded in 1966, it is one of the oldest in Europe and is made up of 16 teams with the Anadolu Efes, the Fenerbahçe, and the Pınar Karşıyaka to stand out from the rest.
Notable players who have played in the league include Ersan İlyasova and Alperen Şengün, who developed at Beşiktaş before becoming an NBA All-Star with the Houston Rockets.
Simply put, if you want to witness some professional and exciting passes outside the NBA, you’ll find what you’re looking for in the Basketball Super League.
VTB United League
The VTB United League is a professional men’s league, which was founded in 2008. It now consists mainly of Russian teams, with others from nearby countries such as Belarus and Kazakhstan.
That is to say, the best teams part of the VTB United League are CSKA Moscow, BC Zenit Saint Petersburg, and PBC Lokomotiv Kuban.
Since 2022, Russian clubs have been suspended from EuroLeague and FIBA club competitions, so the VTB United League is followed more as a regional and domestic competition than as part of the current pan-European club pathway.
Like other leagues, the VTB United League has seen and brought some really good players to NBA teams such as Andrei Kirilenko at the Utah Jazz or Timofey Mozgov for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.
LNB Pro A basketball
The LNB Pro A basketball league, now known as Betclic Élite for sponsorship reasons, is the well-known French basketball association in Europe for men.
The league became part of the modern Ligue Nationale de Basket structure in 1987 and provides a platform for European basketball players to play professionally.
The best teams in the LNB Pro A league are Monaco, Dijon, Lyon-Villeurbanne, and Strasbourg.
Furthermore, some incredibly talented NBA players gained some serious experience in the French top division such as Tony Parker, Rudy Gobert, and Evan Fournier.
To sum up, the LNB Pro A is one of the best European basketball leagues you should pay more attention to.
Adriatic League
Initially called the Goodyear League in the early days from 2001 to 2006 and the NLB League from 2006 to 2011, the Adriatic League is a regional league built around clubs from the former Yugoslavia area, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia.
The Adriatic League (known as ABA, and currently sponsored as AdmiralBet ABA League) features clubs from the region. The most successful teams, out of all of them, are KK Crvena Zvezda, Partizan, and Budućnost Podgorica.
Just like the other European leagues, the ABA gave the chance to basketball players to build an NBA career such as Nikola Peković at the Minnesota Timberwolves.
To wrap this up, the Adriatic League is one of the most successful and long-running professional basketball organizations in Europe and continues to be one of the best European basketball leagues.
Lega Basket Serie A
Lega Basket Serie A is a professional Italian basketball league that was established in 1920 as a competitive men’s basketball league.
It is currently the top professional league in Italian basketball and also among the most high-level European basketball teams.
Lega Basket features several teams throughout Italy.
There are 16 teams to play for the right spots in the tournament, and the regular season typically runs from autumn to spring, followed by playoffs.
Italian basketball players were able to become professional and to join some of the most prestigious NBA teams in the United States after playing in the Lega Basket Serie A such as Nicolò Melli.
That is to say, the Lega Basket Serie A is one of the most professional European leagues in Europe but also in the world.
Are the European Basketball Leagues as Good as the NBA?
Let’s face it, we always want to compare what we have with the best. For this reason, you might wonder if the European basketball leagues are really as good as the NBA.
First of all, and while some European basketball leagues are pretty good such as the EuroLeague, they simply can’t compete in terms of budget, players, and popularity. Published EuroLeague budget estimates are generally in the tens of millions of dollars, while NBA team payrolls and top-player salaries are much higher.
This is less than some top-paid NBA players, according to ESPN.
Secondly, NBA players are simply the best worldwide. For instance, if we were to enjoy a basketball game between a EuroLeague team and an NBA team, we perfectly know that the EuroLeague would struggle like never before and would probably even lose.
In plain words, there is this big gap between the EuroLeague and the NBA. The best European players in the old continent are just very good in the NBA.
To sum up, why aren’t European basketball leagues as good as America? They have been playing for longer, they invest a much higher budget, and the NBA players’ training and education are simply better.
Conclusion
The best European basketball leagues are the ones that stand out from all other competitions including the NBA. While, of course, America’s prestigious NBA is the best in terms of following, popularity, and professionalism, these European leagues will definitely make you love basketball again.
It’s important not to underestimate European basketball, especially if you’re used to the American leagues.
To conclude, these were the best basketball leagues and teams in Europe that you had to know about. From the popular EuroLeague to FIBA’s Champions League to many more, you’ll have the time of your life watching players passing the ball.