ABA League

Last updated

AdmiralBet ABA League
AdmiralBet ABA League logo.png
AdmiralBet ABA League logo
FormerlyGoodyear liga (2001–2006)
NLB League (2006–2010)
Organising body ABA League JTD
Founded2001;23 years ago (2001)
First season 2001–02
CountriesFlag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia
Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro
Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria (former)
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic (former)
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary (former)
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel (former)
Confederation FIBA Europe
Number of teams16
Level on pyramid 1st
Relegation to ABA Second Division
Domestic cup(s) ABA Super Cup
International cup(s)
Current champions Flag of Serbia.svg Crvena zvezda
(7th title)
(2023–24)
Most championships Flag of Serbia.svg Partizan
Flag of Serbia.svg Crvena zvezda
(7 titles each)
CEO Dubravko Kmetović
President Đorđije Pavićević
TV partners
Website aba-liga.com
Basketball current event.svg 2024–25 season

The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia). Due to sponsorship reasons, the league was also known as the Goodyear League from 2001 to 2006, the NLB League from 2006 to 2011, and as the AdmiralBet ABA League from 2021.

Contents

The league coexists alongside scaled-down national leagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. All but one of Adriatic League clubs join their country's own competitions in late spring after the Adriatic League regular season and post-season have been completed. In the past, the league has also consisted of clubs from Bulgaria (Levski), the Czech Republic (ČEZ Nymburk), Hungary (Szolnoki Olaj), and Israel (Maccabi Tel Aviv) that received wild card invitations. For the 2024–25 season BC Dubai from the United Arab Emirates is also joining the league.

The Adriatic League is a private venture, founded in 2001 and run until 2015 by the Sidro, a Slovenian limited liability company. Since 2015, the league has been operated by ABA League JTD, a Zagreb-based general partnership for organizing sports competitions. Adriatic Basketball Association is the body that organizes the league and is a full member of ULEB, as well as a voting member of Euroleague Basketball's board.

History

At various points throughout mid-to-late 1990s, in the years following the breakup of SFR Yugoslavia and ensuing Yugoslav Wars, different basketball administrators from the newly independent Balkan states floated and informally discussed the idea of re-assembling a joint basketball competition to fill the void left by the dissolution of the former Yugoslav Basketball League whose last season was 1991–92. [1]

However, no concrete action towards that end was taken before the summer 2000 ULEB-supported creation of Euroleague Basketball Company under the leadership of Jordi Bertomeu that immediately confronted FIBA Europe, then proceeded to take a handful of top European clubs into its new competition for the 2000–01 season thereby opening an organizational split in European club basketball. During the 2000–01 split in the continent's top club competition, local Balkan basketball administrators from the ULEB-affiliated clubs Cibona, Olimpija, and Budućnost (that already competed in this new 'breakaway' Euroleague competition) shifted the discussions of creating a regional Balkan-wide basketball league into higher gear.[ citation needed ]

On the public relations front, Adriatic League was met with strong and mixed reactions. Though many hailed it as an important step for the development of club basketball in the Balkans region, many others felt that it brings no new quality and that it's not worth dismantling three domestic leagues. There was a lot of negative reaction from political circles, especially in Croatia, with even TV panel discussions being broadcast on Croatian state television. A very vociferous opinion in the country saw the league's formation as a political attempt to reinstate Yugoslavia. [2] The league organizers for their part did their best to appease the Croatian public with statements such as the one delivered by Radovan Lorbek in Slobodna Dalmacija in September 2001:

This is not a Yugoslav league, and it will never become a Yugoslav league. The Adriatic League has no clubs from Serbia and Macedonia, therefore the Adriatic League and Yugoslav league are not the same thing. [3] [4]

Ten years later, in a 2011 interview for the Serbian newspaper Press , Roman Lisac explained the league's behind the scenes strategy during its nascent stages was actually quite different:

I'm convinced the league would've never been able to survive without Serbian clubs. Getting Crvena zvezda and Partizan to join the league was something that we worked on from day one. However, the situation ten years ago was not that simple. Too much antagonistic post-war politics was still all around us, and it made our task all the more difficult. Everything that smelled of old Yugoslavia caused a lot of resistance both in Croatia and in Serbia. I repeat, the idea of having both Crvena zvezda and Partizan in the league was there from the very beginning, but we avoided talking about it publicly because of politics. [5]

The league is still occasionally criticized by observers around European basketball for reducing the scope and calendar of the domestic competitions that it replaced for the region's more-established clubs, [6] particularly by clubs and influential figures within Serbia [7] who would like its ABA members to better enhance domestic competition, such as Serbian national-team coach Svetislav Pesic. [8]

Foundational steps

The competition was agreed upon in principle at a meeting in Ljubljana on 3 July 2001 by a founding assembly containing representatives of four basketball clubs: KK Bosna, KK Budućnost, KK Cibona, and KK Olimpija. The day is considered to be the league's foundation date. Though club representatives from four countries attended the meeting, the main individuals behind the venture were six Slovenians and Croatians: Roman Lisac, Zmago Sagadin (at the time head coach of Olimpija), Radovan Lorbek (at the time president of Olimpija), Josip Bilić, Danko Radić, and Bože Miličević (at the time president of Cibona). The name chosen for the competition was the Adriatic League, invoking the Adriatic Sea as a common thread for participant countries thus purposely avoiding the terms 'Balkans' or 'Yugoslavia' that at the time carried a fairly undesirable public perception in Slovenia and an extremely negative one in Croatia. Sidro d.o.o., the commercial entity that runs it, was created two months later in Slovenia. [9]

On 28 September 2001, the league announced a five-year sponsorship deal with Slovenian company Sava Tires from Kranj, a subsidiary of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The deal also included naming rights, hence from 2001 until 2006, the competition was known as the Goodyear League.

Debut season

With twelve clubs taking part in the inaugural 2001–02 season, the competition commenced in fall 2001 with four teams from Slovenia, four teams from Croatia, three teams from Bosnia-Herzegovina, and one team from FR Yugoslavia. The first game was contested in Ljubljana between Olimpija and Široki on Saturday, 29 September 2001 at 5:30pm. [10]

Though the competition purported to gather the strongest sides from former Yugoslavia, as mentioned, teams from Serbia were noticeably absent, particularly Belgrade powerhouses and biggest regional crowd draws Partizan and Crvena zvezda. In addition to no clubs from Serbia proper, the league had no Serb-dominated clubs from Bosnia-Herzegovina either. Since the league founders mostly avoided talking about the issue due to fears of media backlash, the fact that no invitations were extended to Serbian clubs was generally explained through security issues due to organizers' fears of crowd trouble if Croatian and Serbian clubs were to start playing again in the same competition. Then in early February 2002, the public got a preview of just that when Cibona and Partizan met in Zagreb as part of that season's EuroLeague group stage. In a nationalistically charged and incident-filled encounter, Croatian fans peppered the Partizan players with rocks, flares, and even ceramic tiles before physically assaulting Partizan head coach Duško Vujošević in the guest team dressing room after the game. [10]

The Adriatic League debut season was marked by dwindling attendances and lukewarm media support. Still the league did receive a bit of a shot in the arm on 24 February 2002, when its managing body ABA got accepted as full member of ULEB. [11]

Second season

For the 2002–03 season, the league remained at the total number of 12 teams, while it went through major re-tooling internally. By the time season started, four teams dropped out (Sloboda Dita, Budućnost, Triglav, and Geoplin Slovan) to be replaced by: Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv, Crvena zvezda (the first team from Serbia in the competition), the Bosnian outfit KK Borac, and Croatian club KK Zagreb.

It was important for the league's long-term business to negotiate acceptable terms for the Serbian clubs to join the competition. To that end, Lorbek and Lisac went to Belgrade in early April 2002 with an offer of taking in three clubs from FR Yugoslavia for the Adriatic League's 2002–03 season. [12] The offer was flatly rejected initially by the representatives of five YUBA Liga clubs – Partizan, Crvena zvezda, Hemofarm, FMP, and Budućnost – as their unified platform was either all five or nothing. Taking in all five required expanding the league to 14 teams, which was something the league organizers weren't prepared to do due to the associated increase in operating costs. The negotiated agreement thus fell through for the time being. However, it didn't take long for dents to appear in the unified front put forth by five YUBA league clubs – in May 2002 Crvena zvezda's management (three businessmen close to the ruling Democratic Party in Serbia: Živorad Anđelković, Igor Žeželj, and Goran Vesić) hired Zmago Sagadin to be the club's new general manager – and soon after, in June 2002, the club broke the ranks by negotiating terms on its own thus agreeing to join the Adriatic League for the 2002–03 season. [12]

Later developments

For the 2003-04 season, the league expanded to 14 teams, while relegating KK Bosna; meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv departed the league in the wake of political unrest in Serbia. [13] In replacement, 4 teams joined: KK Reflex of Serbia (who would win the league in their first season), Lovćen 1947 and Budućnost of Montenegro, and KD Slovan of Slovenia. The latter two of those returned to the league after a year's absence, having been relegated from the 2001–02 season. In the 2004-05 season, the league expanded again to 16 teams while relegating 3, and its Final Four tournament became a Final Eight. Its clubs included for the first time Serbian powerhouse Partizan, and another Serbian former-holdout club, Hemofarm (who would win the league in its first year participating). [9] After the season, the league contracted down from 16 back to 14 clubs, a number it would stay at until the 2017-18 season. In September 2006 the league signed a general sponsorship contract with Nova ljubljanska banka (NLB) and was renamed to NLB League, while keeping Goodyear as one of the major sponsors. The league's first all-star game was held in December 2006 in Ljubljana. [9]

For the 2011-12 season, Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv rejoined the Adriatic League for one season, winning it. In 2012, a team from North Macedonia participated for the first time, with MZT Skopje Aerodrom joining the league for the 2012-13 season. [14]

A conflict emerged in early 2015 between the ABA and FIBA Europe, resulting in the former's loss of recognition by the latter, as a part of the broader FIBA–EuroLeague dispute. On 13 April 2015, ABA League signed a 4-year agreement with Euroleague Basketball for one EuroLeague and 3 EuroCup annual slots. [15] Because of this agreement, FIBA threatened to suspend the six constituent national federations, and on 30 April it suspended ABA League from membership. [16] FIBA wanted the league controlled by the national federations and clubs, while the ABA's organizing corporation, Sidro, wanted to maintain independence. [17] A restructuring proposal from the league's clubs to FIBA in June 2015 involving reincorporating the competition under a new legal entity owned by the clubs was approved by FIBA, and the league's recognition reinstated. [18] The next April, however, FIBA nevertheless suspended 8 nations' ability to have their senior men's national teams participate in EuroBasket 2017, including all 6 constituent members of ABA League plus Russia and Spain, and further threatened their ability to participate in the 2016 Olympics. [19] The suspension of the ABA League was continued by FIBA in May 2016, [20] [21] and letters sent by FIBA to the national associations insisted that any federation that was associated with Euroleague would be punished similarly. [22] Analysis later that year suggested that FIBA's goal was to apply leverage to Euroleague in their dispute by depriving Euroleague's competitions of their ABA League club participants. [23] With the emergence of a FIBA-Euroleague truce in mid-2016, [24] FIBA Europe announced in May 2016 that no federations or teams would, in the end, be suspended from national competition. [25] Despite this, and despite their clubs' continued participation in EuroLeague and EuroCup, the ABA League has not re-joined ULEB as of 2023. [26]

Following the 2016-17 season, and in keeping with their restructuring agreement with FIBA, the league elected to split into two divisions: the relegated team(s) from the First Division would join the Second Division the following year, and the latter promoting to the former, with 12 teams initially in each division (reduced from 14 previously). [27] The Second Division would be composed of the top-finishing clubs of each country's domestic league in the previous season who were not already participating in the ABA League. [28] The allocation of teams between countries was a contentious process, but the reorganization yielded a 25% jump in attendance for the First Division's next season. [29]

Expansion to Dubai

In October 2023, the ABA League's sports director told news media of the league's intention to have a team from Dubai join the competition, and possibly for the city to host an ABA League Final Four competition. [30] On 19 March 2024, the league officially announced BC Dubai would join the league starting from the 2024–25 season, obtaining a license for three seasons. [31]

Competition

Competition system

As of the 2013–14 season the league comprises a 26-game regular season, with the top 4 sides making the play-offs. [32]

From 2002 through 2004, four teams qualified, and the playoffs were termed the "Final Four"; starting in 2005, eight teams advanced to the "Final Eight" round. All playoff rounds consist of one-off knockout matches, unusual among European leagues. However, since all Adriatic League clubs play in domestic leagues at the same time, and many also play in the EuroLeague, the current format has the virtue of limiting fixture congestion for the playoff sides.

In 2017, the ABA League Second Division was created. The last qualified team from ABA League would be relegated to the Second Division and replaced by the winner of this one.

Current clubs

The following 16 clubs are competing in the 2024–25 ABA season: [33]

Flag of Serbia.svg Borac Flag of Montenegro.svg Buducnost Flag of Slovenia.svg Cedevita Olimpija Flag of Croatia.svg Cibona
Flag of Serbia.svg Crvena Zvezda Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Dubai Flag of Serbia.svg FMP Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Igokea
Flag of Slovenia.svg Krka Flag of Serbia.svg Mega Flag of Montenegro.svg Mornar Flag of Serbia.svg Partizan
Flag of Montenegro.svg Studentski centar Flag of Serbia.svg Spartak Flag of Croatia.svg Split Flag of Croatia.svg Zadar

Finals

YearFinalSemifinalists
ChampionsScoreRunners-up
2001–02
Details
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Union Olimpija
73–59 Flag of Slovenia.svg
Krka
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Pivovarna Laško
Flag of Croatia.svg
Cibona VIP
2002–03
Details
Flag of Croatia.svg
Zadar
91–88 Flag of Israel.svg
Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Crvena zvezda
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Union Olimpija
2003–04
Details
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Reflex
71–70 Flag of Croatia.svg
Cibona VIP
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Crvena zvezda
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Union Olimpija
2004–05
Details
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Hemofarm
89–76 Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Partizan Pivara MB
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Reflex
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Crvena zvezda
2005–06
Details
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
FMP
73–72 Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Partizan Pivara MB
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Crvena zvezda
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg
Hemofarm
2006–07
Details
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Partizan
2–0
playoffs
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
FMP
Flag of Croatia.svg
Cibona VIP
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Hemofarm
2007–08
Details
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Partizan Igokea
69–51 Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Hemofarm
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Union Olimpija
Flag of Croatia.svg
Zadar
2008–09
Details
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Partizan Igokea
63–49 Flag of Croatia.svg
Cibona VIP
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Crvena zvezda
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Hemofarm
2009–10
Details
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Partizan
75–74 (OT) Flag of Croatia.svg
Cibona VIP
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg
Hemofarm
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Union Olimpija
2010–11
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan
77–74 Flag of Slovenia.svg
Union Olimpija
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost m:tel
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Krka
2011–12
Details
Flag of Israel.svg
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
87–77 Flag of Croatia.svg
Cedevita
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan mt:s
2012–13
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan mt:s
71–63 Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda Telekom
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg
Igokea
Flag of Serbia.svg
Radnički Kragujevac
2013–14
Details
Flag of Croatia.svg
Cibona
72–59 Flag of Croatia.svg
Cedevita
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda Telekom
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan
2014–15
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda Telekom
3–1
playoffs
Flag of Croatia.svg
Cedevita
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan NIS
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
2015–16
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda Telekom
3–0
playoffs
Flag of Serbia.svg
Mega Leks
Flag of Croatia.svg
Cedevita
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
2016–17
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda mts
3–0
playoffs
Flag of Croatia.svg
Cedevita
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan NIS
2017–18
Details
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
3–1
playoffs
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda mts
Flag of Croatia.svg
Cedevita
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Mornar
2018–19
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda mts
3–2
playoffs
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan NIS
Flag of Croatia.svg
Cedevita
2019–20
Details
Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic – no champion announced
2020–21
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda mts
3–2
playoffs
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Mornar
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg
Igokea
2021–22
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda mts
3–2
playoffs
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan NIS
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Cedevita Olimpija
2022–23
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan Mozzart Bet
3–2
playoffs
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda Meridianbet
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
Flag of Slovenia.svg
Cedevita Olimpija
2023–24
Details
Flag of Serbia.svg
Crvena zvezda Meridianbet
3–0
playoffs
Flag of Serbia.svg
Partizan Mozzart Bet
Flag of Montenegro.svg
Budućnost VOLI
Flag of Serbia.svg
Mega MIS

Records and statistics

By club

ClubWonRunner-upYears wonYears runner-up
Flag of Serbia.svg Partizan
7
4
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 20232005, 2006, 2022, 2024
Flag of Serbia.svg Crvena zvezda
7
3
2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 20242013, 2018, 2023
Flag of Serbia.svg FMP (defunct)
2
1
2004, 20062007
Flag of Croatia.svg Cibona
1
3
20142004, 2009, 2010
Flag of Montenegro.svg Budućnost
1
2
20182019, 2021
Flag of Israel.svg Maccabi Tel Aviv (restricted)
1
1
20122003
Flag of Serbia.svg Vršac
1
1
20052008
Flag of Slovenia.svg Olimpija (defunct)
1
1
20022011
Flag of Croatia.svg Zadar
1
0
2003
Flag of Croatia.svg Cedevita
0
4
2012, 2014, 2015, 2017
Flag of Serbia.svg Mega Basket
0
1
2016
Flag of Slovenia.svg Krka
0
1
2002
Total2121

By country

Club / NationWonRunner-upFinals
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia
17
10
27
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia
2
7
9
Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro
1
2
3
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
1
2
3
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
1
1
2
Total222244

All-time participants

The following is a list of clubs who have played in the Adriatic League at any time since its formation in 2001 to the current season. A total of 43 teams from 11 countries have played in the League.[ citation needed ]

2DPlayed in the Second Division
CanceledSeason was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
DefunctDefunct teams
RestrictedTeams out of the Adriatic area
SuspendedSuspended teams
1stChampions
2ndRunners-up
SFSemi-finalists
BoldTeams playing in the 2024–25 season
RRegular season champions
Team 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 [lower-alpha 1] 21 22 23 24 25 Total
seasons
Highest
finish
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Borac Banja Luka 11th13th2D2D2D211th
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosna 12th12thQFQF10th7th13th2D2D7Quarter-finals
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Igokea 11thSFR6th12th9th5th10th8thCn.SFQF9thQFTBD14Semi-finals
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Sloboda Tuzla 5th15th
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Široki 6th9th12th13th11th11th12th10th9th5th10th14th2D2D2D2D2D2D125th
Flag of Bulgaria.svg Levski Sofia 14thRestricted114th
Flag of Croatia.svg Cedevita Junior 7th7th2nd6th2nd2ndSF2ndSFSF2D2D102nd
Flag of Croatia.svg Cibona SF5th2ndRQFQFSFQF2nd2ndR12th7th11th1st11th8th7th11th7thCn.9th8th11th12thTBD241st
Flag of Croatia.svg Split 8th10th9th15th14th10th10th14th2D2D2D13th13th10th9thTBD138th
Flag of Croatia.svg Šibenik 11thDefunct111th
Flag of Croatia.svg Triglav Osiguranje 10thDefunct110th
Flag of Croatia.svg Zadar 7th1st8thQFQF7thSF5th8th14th12th13th8th6th12th6th11thCn.10th12thQFQFTBD231st
Flag of Croatia.svg Zagreb 6th11th12th13th12th11th13th6th5th9th-Defunct105th
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Nymburk 8thRestricted18th
Flag of Hungary.svg Szolnoki Olaj 13th12th7thRestricted37th
Flag of Israel.svg Maccabi Tel Aviv 2nd1stRRestricted21st
Flag of Montenegro.svg Budućnost 9th5th14th5thQF6th5thSFSF5th5thSFSFRSF1st2ndCn.2ndSFSFSFTBD221st
Flag of Montenegro.svg Lovćen 14th2D2D2D2D2D114th
Flag of Montenegro.svg Mornar 8thSF9thCn.SF9th12th13thTBD9Semi-finals
Flag of Montenegro.svg Studentski centar 2D7thQFQFTBD47th
Flag of Montenegro.svg Sutjeska 13th2D2D2D2D2D2D2D113th
Flag of North Macedonia.svg Karpoš Sokoli 10thSuspended110th
Flag of North Macedonia.svg MZT Skopje 7th9th13th10th13th12th2D2D2D2D14th2D2D77th
Flag of Serbia.svg Borac Čačak 2D2D2D11th11th13th10thTBD510th
Flag of Serbia.svg Crvena zvezda SFRSFSFSF6thQFSF9th13th10th2ndSFR1stR1st1stR2ndR1stRCn.1stR1stR2nd1stRTBD231st
Flag of Serbia.svg FMP 9th8th6thCn.8thQFQF11thTBD9Quarter-finals
Flag of Serbia.svg FMP Železnik 1stSF1st2ndRQF8th12thDefunct71st
Flag of Serbia.svg Mega 8th10th2nd6th9th5thCn.6th10thQFSFTBD122nd
Flag of Serbia.svg Metalac Valjevo 6th11th26th
Flag of Serbia.svg Partizan 2nd2ndR1st1stR1stR1st1stRSF1stSFSF5thSF5thSFCn.7th2nd1stR2ndTBD211st
Flag of Serbia.svg Radnički Kragujevac 11th10th8thSF11thDefunct5Semi-finals
Flag of Serbia.svg Spartak TBD1TBD
Flag of Serbia.svg Vojvodina Srbijagas QF9th14thDefunct3Quarter-finals
Flag of Serbia.svg Vršac 1stRSFSF2ndSFSF6th12th2D2D81st
Flag of Slovenia.svg Cedevita Olimpija UnfoundedCn.5thSFSFQFTBD6Semi-finals
Flag of Slovenia.svg Helios Suns 16th12th8th13th12th14th13th2D2D2D2D2D2D2D78th
Flag of Slovenia.svg Koper Primorska Unfounded2D2DCn.14thDefunct214th
Flag of Slovenia.svg Krka 2nd7th7th11thSF11th9th7th9th12th14th2D10thCn.12th14th2D14thTBD172nd
Flag of Slovenia.svg Olimpija 1stRSFSFQF10th9thSF9thSF2nd6th8th10th5th7th11th7th12thDefunct181st
Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovan 11th10th10th9th13th14th69th
Flag of Slovenia.svg Tajfun 14th114th
Flag of Slovenia.svg Zlatorog Laško SF8th6th9th14th14th6Semi-finals
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Dubai UnfoundedTBD1TBD

Awards

Records

Source: [34]

Players


Clubs

All-time leaders

From the 2001–02 to the 2022–23 season:

Accumulated
Points Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Nemanja Gordić 3,257
Field goals Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Nemanja Gordić1,132
3 Points Flag of Montenegro.svg Suad Šehović 406
Defensive Rebounds Flag of Croatia.svg Marin Rozić 1,043
Offensive Rebounds Flag of Slovenia.svg Alen Omić 434
Total Rebounds Flag of Croatia.svg Marin Rozić1,327
Assists Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Nemanja Gordić1,100
Steals Flag of Slovenia.svg Nebojša Joksimović 401
Blocks Flag of Serbia.svg Uroš Luković 283
Index Ratings Flag of North Macedonia.svg Todor Gečevski 3,212
Games Played Flag of Serbia.svg Branko Lazić 378

Source: ABA League player statistics

Notable players

Well-known basketball players who have played in the Adriatic League include:[ citation needed ]

See also

Notes

  1. Season was canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic

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