A1 Ethniki
Upcoming season or competition: 2016–17 Greek Basket League
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| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1927 |
| Inaugural season | 1927–28 |
| Commissioner | Michalis Mellis |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country |
 Greece
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| Continent |
 FIBA Europe (Europe) |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Olympiacos (12th title) |
| Most titles | Panathinaikos (35 titles) |
| TV partner(s) |
OTE Sport Nova Sports |
| Level on pyramid | 1st Tier |
| Relegation to | Greek A2 Basket League - 2nd Tier |
| Domestic cup(s) | Greek Cup |
| International cup(s) |
EuroLeague (1st tier) Champions League (3rd tier) |
| Official website |
Esake.gr (Greek) Esake.gr (English) |
The Greek Basket League (GBL), often referred to as the Greek Basketball League, Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), is the 1st tier professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by HEBA (Greek: ΕΣΑΚΕ), under the legal authority of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (E.O.K.). The league is also known as the Stoiximan.gr Greek Basket League for sponsorship reasons.
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 first held a playoff round in the 1986–87 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.
Basketball first came to Greece in the year 1910. By the 1927–28 season, the first official Greek basketball championship began. The league was originally organized by the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association (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.
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