Asian Basketball Championship
Upcoming season or competition: 2017 FIBA Asia Cup
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| Formerly | FIBA Asia Championship |
|---|---|
| Sport | Basketball |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Inaugural season | 1960 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country | FIBA Asia member nations |
| Continent | FIBA Asia (Asia) |
| Most recent champion(s) |
 China (16th title) |
| Most titles |
China (16 titles) |
| Official website | FIBA Asia |
The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly FIBA Asia Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every two years between men's national teams of Asia. This was the Asian qualifying tournament for the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Olympic basketball tournament. The 2013 and 2015 was the last Asian Championship to serve as qualifiers to the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Olympic Games.
The 2015 FIBA Asia Championship was the last Asian Championship to be held as starting in 2017, it will be renamed as the FIBA Asia Cup and will now feature teams from FIBA Oceania.
The Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship was inaugurated in Manila in 1960. The championship was held to find Asia's best team and for qualification to the World Championship and the Olympics. On the next four tournaments, the Philippines won 3 with the Japanese beating the Filipinos on 1965. Korea, Japan and the Philippines split the next 3 championships until China debuted on 1975 at Bangkok with the championship, where they've dominated ever since.
From 1975 to 2007, there were only two instances where China didn't win the championship. In 1985, the Philippines defeated a full-strength Chinese team, which were by then five-time defending champions, in the championship round. The Chinese then won every game in the championship until 1997, where they to lost to South Korea in the semifinals where they complained about the climate in Riyadh. The Koreans beat the Japanese in the final, but the Chinese would then start a championship streak of four tournaments, led by Yao Ming.
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