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An Overview of Foreign Professional Basketball

by Harlan Schreiber (1/25/03)

When one looks at the European basketball leagues, all that can be seen is an alphabet soup of leagues, divisions, players. Teams play in different leagues and different tournaments in a single year, players jump from team-to-team, and there is just a general sense of confusion to outsiders. However, there is some, not much but some, method to this complicated system of somewhat interconnected leagues. Here is a general breakdown of how European basketball works:

1) Every teams starts out in a local league

Each country in Europe has its own local league which all the local teams compete in. The leagues are often broken down into A1 and A2 divisions. The teams play about 28 regular season games and playoffs which are played in the best-of-three or best-of-five formats. The winner of A1 usually goes on to compete in a European championship (some leagues do not participate from a number of reasons). The A2 division is considered a minor league and its does not compete in the championship but it is able to move up to the A1 league and replace the worst A1 teams. Some countries also have B and C leagues which are considered the lowest rung of competition. In all, the foreign players end playing about half the basketball games that a typical NBA player plays.

The local teams are not necessarily made up only of native players. Often players are imported from other countries. Some have limits on the number of imports. The concept of national teams is different and distinct from the local league. National teams refer only to international competitions like the Olympics or the Basketball World Championships and have no bearing on professional leagues. For example, Vlade Divac is a Yugoslavian native but plays in America, he still plays for the Yugoslavian national team. However, he has no role in the local professional Yugoslavian League.

2) European Championships

The local champion plays in a pan-European league known as the Euroleague. In addition to the champion, some local leagues also have their second and third place teams participate in the Euroleague. These invitations function something like the American college basketball playoffs where a judgment is made about which runner-up teams are strong enough to play for the Euroleague championship.

The teams are divided into qualifying brackets. After playing each of these qualifiers, 16 teams play a tournament with each round being best-of-three. The winner is considered, like the NBA Finals winner, to have won the title of European champion.

3) Local Cups and Other Championships

Since the European leagues are really a loose aggregations of teams, the Euroleague is not necessarily the only tournament that is played. A number of basketball cups are also played. The two prominent ones are the Korac Cup and the Saporta Cup. The teams that do not qualify for the Euroleague might participate in these cups. They are considered minor league championships. They are very similar to American college basketball and its NIT tournament, the lesser tournament when compared to the NCAA tournament.

This loosely amalgamated system has bothered some and there is now a push to make a more cohesive structure to link all the European leagues. The cup structure may die as a result.

4) Relative Strength of Each League

The Italian and Spanish leagues are traditionally the most competitive leagues. The Greek league is considered the next most talented league. The Turkish and French Leagues are probably the next strongest leagues. After these big five, some teams have stronger reputations than the rest of their league. The Israeli and Russian leagues are relatively weak but each has one team, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and CSKA Moscow, that has been strong in Euroleague competition.

Even though Yugoslavia and Croatia have produced much of the talent in Europe their leagues are not particularly strong. Much of the talent leaves the Baltic for higher paying teams in Europe and America.

5) Contracts and Player Movement

Players do not typically stay on one team for a long term. There is much bouncing around Europe and even around continents. The key issues to players are the strength of the league, proximity to home, and the solvency of the team. The best players usually like to play in the best leagues. However, players will come to their home countries for an odd year here and there. The best players also have an eye on America hoping for a shot to measure up against the NBA players.

Solvency is also an issue with some of the weaker teams. Players are aware of which teams have strong financial reputations and are less likely to take a shot at a weaker. In particular, Americans abroad have complained about playing either for teams that quickly went under or refused to pay salary due.

On the flip side, taxation issues can be favorable to import players. Many of the better American players in Europe prefer to remain there because given the light schedule of games, the opportunity for more playing time than in the NBA, and the fact that they are either exempt or have reduced taxation compared to American tax rates.

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