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ESAKE A1 Ethniki

Greek Basket League
Greek Basket League logo.png
Country  Greece
Confederation FIBA Europe
Founded 1927; 90 years ago (1927)
First season 1927–28
Number of teams 14
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to A2 Basket League
Domestic cup(s) Greek Cup
International cup(s) EuroLeague
EuroCup
Champions League
Current champions Olympiacos
(12th title)
Most championships Panathinaikos
(34 titles)
Commissioner Michalis Mellis
TV partners OTE Sport
Nova Sports
Website www.esake.gr
2016–17 Greek Basket League

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 first 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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