The EuroLeague, officially the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier men's league in Europe. The league consists of 18 teams, of which 16 are given long-term licences and wild cards, making the league a semi-closed league. The league was first organized by FIBA in 1958, subsequently by ULEB in 2000 and then solely the Euroleague Basketball.
The 2000–01 FIBA SuproLeague was FIBA Europe's professional club basketball tournament for the 2000–01 season. Up until that season, there was one cup, the FIBA European Champions' Cup, though in this season of 2000–01, the leading European teams split into two competitions: the FIBA SuproLeague and Euroleague Basketball Company's Euroleague 2000–01.
Dimitrios 'Dimitris' Diamantidis is a retired Greek professional basketball player, who spent the last twelve seasons of his EuroLeague career with Panathinaikos. Widely regarded as one of the greatest European players ever to grace the game, he marked his era by being the most versatile player in the EuroLeague, serving as an inspiration to a whole generation of young European stars. Diamantidis is the only Greek player who is a member of both the EuroLeague 2000–2010 All-Decade Team and the EuroLeague 2010–2020 All-Decade Team.
FIBA EuroChallenge was the 3rd-tier continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run by FIBA Europe. It is not to be confused with the FIBA EuroCup Challenge – the defunct 4th-tier competition, which was also organized and run by FIBA Europe, played between 2002–03 and 2006–07. In 2015, FIBA dissolved the EuroChallenge, in order to start the Basketball Champions League (BCL) and FIBA Europe Cup (FEC), in order to extend opportunities outside the competitions organized by the Euroleague Basketball.
The 2000–01 Euroleague was the inaugural basketball season of the EuroLeague, under ULEB and its newly formed Euroleague Basketball Company authority. Overall it was the 44th season of the premier competition for European men's professional basketball clubs overall. Initially it was not recognised or sanctioned by FIBA and considered a breakaway competition. It started on October 16, 2000, with a regular season game between hosts Real Madrid Teka and Olympiacos, which was held at the Raimundo Saporta Pavilion, in Madrid, Spain, and it ended with the last championship finals game on May 10, 2001, which was held at the PalaMalaguti arena, in Bologna, Italy.
The EuroLeague Final Four Most Valuable Player Award is presented and awarded to the basketball player who has exhibited the most exceptional play during the EuroLeague Final Four. The award often goes to the best player on the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague's best team. It is generally considered to be the most prestigious individual award in European professional club basketball.
The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, following the 2001 FIBA SuproLeague Final Four, which was the last final four held by FIBA Europe. In the original FIBA Europe competition, as seen below, the final four was used for the first time at the 1966 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four. The final four format was used again the next year, with the 1967 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four, but was then abandoned.
The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe.
EuroLeague Awards were established in the 1987–88 season, when the EuroLeague's modern era and the EuroLeague Final Four first began. More awards were created starting with the 2000–01 basketball season, when Euroleague Basketball Company essentially took over the management of the premier level European competition from FIBA Europe.
The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honored first by being a part of the FIBA Festival, and later by being selected to the FIBA EuroStars. Under FIBA, the EuroLeague also originally featured a EuroLeague Final Four Team selection, which was a forerunner of the All-EuroLeague Team award, and which consisted of the five best players of the EuroLeague Final Four.
Professional men's basketball clubs in Europe can compete in a number of different competitions, including national leagues, regional (multi-national) leagues, and continental competitions. It is therefore possible for clubs from some countries to take part in several levels of competition in the same season. Clubs usually qualify for European competitions through performance in their national or regional leagues, with the exception of wild cards.
Euroleague Basketball run by ECA is a private company that runs and operates the top continental-wide basketball men's professional sports club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has been organizing the EuroLeague competition since the 2000–01 season backed by ULEB. Euroleague also oversees the European national basketball league rankings since 2008, and the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament. It is headquartered in Barcelona.
The EuroLeague individual highs for players in single games played. These are the lists of the individual statistical single game highs of the EuroLeague, which is the top-tier level European-wide professional club basketball league. The individual stats single game highs are broken down by sections of time, based on who organized the league and when certain statistics were officially counted.
The 2000 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four was the FIBA EuroLeague Final Four tournament of the 1999–2000 season. It was the second to last edition of the FIBA EuroLeague Final Fours that were organized by FIBA Europe. For the next edition of the tournament, it would be replaced by the FIBA SuproLeague's 2001 FIBA SuproLeague Final Four, and the new Euroleague Basketball competition's 2001 Finals series, which was organized by the Euroleague Basketball Company.
The EuroLeague is the highest level tier and most important professional club competition between basketball teams in Europe, with teams from up to 18 countries, from members of FIBA Europe, mostly consisting of teams from ULEB member national domestic leagues. The EuroLeague's records for individual players, coaches, and teams have been set over two different eras of the competition. The league's first era, when the competition was organized by FIBA, and the league's second era, organized by EuroLeague Basketball.
EuroLeague Legend or EuroLeague Legends, is an award for the sport of basketball, that is given by the EuroLeague Commercial Assets (ECA), which is the organizing and governing body of the EuroLeague, which is the top-tier level professional basketball competition in Europe. It is a Hall of Fame award, that is awarded only to a very distinct and small group of the greatest of all-time EuroLeague players, head coaches, and executives, who are honored from time-to-time, for their outstanding playing, coaching, and front-office careers in the league. To which, the EuroLeague's organizing body, the ECA, sees fit to officially designate them as "EuroLeague Legends".
The EuroLeague All-Final Four Team, or FIBA SuproLeague All-Final Four Team, was an award given by Europe's premier level league, the FIBA Euroleague, to the top five basketball players of each season's EuroLeague Final Four competition. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP, was selected among the five players of the EuroLeague All-Final Four Team. The award existed during the era in which the EuroLeague was organized by FIBA Europe. It was given for the last time by the FIBA SuproLeague, during the 2000–01 season's FIBA SuproLeague Final Four. After the Euroleague Basketball Company took over control of the EuroLeague, the award was no longer given out, and was replaced by the All-EuroLeague Team award, which was an award for the competition's whole season, up until the EuroLeague Final Four stage.
The FIBA SuproLeague Awards were the awards given out by the FIBA SuproLeague professional basketball competition, during the 2000–01 season. The league was run by FIBA Europe, which also handed out the awards.
The FIBA–EuroLeague Basketball controversy is a historical dispute between FIBA Europe and EuroLeague Basketball over control of the European-wide club basketball competitions.
The EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer is the individual award for the player that gained the highest points in the EuroLeague Finals, the championship finals of the European-wide top-tier level professional club basketball competition, the EuroLeague.
