Latvian–Estonian Basketball League

Paf Latvian-Estonian Basketball League

Founded	2018;6 years ago (2018)
First season	2018–19
Countries	Estonia (8 teams) Latvia (7 teams)
Other club(s) from	Ukraine (1 team)
Confederation	FIBA Europe
Number of teams	16
Current champions	BC Prometey (2nd title)
Most championships	BC Prometey (2 titles)
TV partners	Delfi TV, Inspira, LTV7, TV4
Website	estlatbl.com
2023–24 season

The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, known as Paf Latvian-Estonian Basketball League for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier men's basketball league in Latvia and Estonia. The competition was introduced in 2018 and is organised by the Latvian Basketball Association and the Estonian Basketball Association.

History

Following the demise of the Baltic Basketball League, the LEBL was established in 2018 when the Latvijas Basketbola līga (LBL) and the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML) largely merged. In its inaugural season, 15 teams participated in the league. ^[1] After a Final Four is played to determine the winner of the league, there are playoffs to decide the national champions of Latvia and Estonia. The first game was played on 28 September 2018, with Estonian champions BC Kalev/Cramo hosting a game against the Latvian champions BK Ventspils. On 9 April 2019, BK Ventspils won the first league championship. ^[2] On 19 November 2021, representatives of the Latvian Basketball Association and the Estonian Basketball Association agreed to continue the development of a joint league for the next three years. Both parties acknowledged that the league promotes the development of players and coaches, attracts basketball fans and inspires young people to focus on basketball. ^[3]

In June 2022, Ukrainian club BC Prometey joined the league as the Ukrainian SuperLeague was suspended due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The team plays its home games in Riga. ^[4]

Title sponsorships

Since inaugural season, the League has had title sponsorship rights sold to two companies, most recently to the Paf betting company.

Period	Sponsor	Name
2018–2019	Olympic Entertainment Group	OlyBet Latvian-Estonian Basketball League
2019–2024	Paf	Paf Latvian-Estonian Basketball League

Competition format

The competition follows a double round-robin format. During the course of a season each club plays each other club twice (once at home and once away). Teams' rankings at season end are determined by winning percentage. At season end, the eight top teams play-off, pitting the first place standings team against the 8th place team, and so on. The play-off format initially was supposed to be Quarterfinals and Final Four, but since the inaugural season it has changed every season.

For the 2023-24 season play-off format changed. Quarterfinals and semifinals are to be played in best-of-three series, while bronze and gold medals are to be played out in one game with hosts being a team that finished regular season higher in the standings.

Home Grown Player Rule

A foreign player (not Latvian or Estonian) who has been registered and played in the Latvian National Championship or the Estonian National Championship for three consecutive seasons between the ages of 12 and 19 is considered to be a local player. ^[5]

Current teams

Kalev/Cramo
Tallinn Kalev
TalTech

Pärnu

Rapla

Tartu

Ventspils

Prometey
Latvijas Universitāte
Rīgas Zeļļi
VEF Rīga

Liepāja

Ogre

Valmiera

Keila

Viimsi

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Location of teams in 2023–24 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	Rapla	Sadolin Sports Hall	958 [6]
BC Kalev/Cramo	Tallinn	Unibet Arena	7,200 [7]
		Kalev Sports Hall	1,700 [8]
BC Prometey	Riga	Arena Riga	11,200
		Rimi Olympic Sports Center	830
BK Liepāja	Liepāja	Liepāja Olympic Center	2,542
BK Ogre	Ogre	Sports Arena Ogre	1,700
BK Ventspils	Ventspils	Ventspils Olympic Center	3,085
Keila Coolbet	Keila	Keila Health Center	800 [9]
Latvijas Universitāte	Riga	Rimi Olympic Sports Center	830
Pärnu Sadam	Pärnu	Pärnu Sports Hall	1,820 [10]
Rīgas Zeļļi	Riga	Arena Riga	11,200
		Daugava Sports Hall	400
Tallinn Kalev	Tallinn	TalTech Sports Hall	1,000 [11]
		Nord Cramo Sports Hall	980 [12]
TalTech/OPTIBET		TalTech Sports Hall	1,000 [11]
Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits	Tartu	University of Tartu Sports Hall	2,600 [13]
Valmiera GLASS VIA	Valmiera	Vidzeme Olympic Center	1,500
VEF Rīga	Riga	Rimi Olympic Sports Center	830
Viimsi	Haabneeme	Forus Sports Center	500 [14]

Results

Season		Final				Third and fourth place
		Winners	Score	Second place		Third place	Score	Fourth place
2018–19 Details		BK Ventspils	102–80	VEF Rīga		BC Kalev/Cramo	87–85	BK Ogre
2019–20 Details		Curtailed and voided due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Details		BC Kalev/Cramo	86–75	VEF Rīga		BK Ogre	75–73	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
2021–22 Details		VEF Rīga	95–64	KK Viimsi/Sportland		Pärnu Sadam	84–77	BK Ogre
2022–23 Details		BC Prometey	77–62	VEF Rīga		Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits	63–60	BC Kalev/Cramo
2023–24 Details		BC Prometey	91-83	Kalev/Cramo		VEF Rīga	84–76	BK Ventspils

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Years won	Years runner-up
BC Prometey	2	0	2023, 2024	–
VEF Rīga	1	3	2022	2019, 2021, 2023
BC Kalev/Cramo	1	1	2021	2024
BK Ventspils	1	0	2019	–
Viimsi	0	1	–	2022

All-Final Four Team

The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League All-Final Four Team is an award for the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, that is given to the league's top five basketball players for each season.

Team by season

Season	Ref.	Pos.	Player	Team
2020–21	[15]	PG	Kyle Allman Jr.	VEF Riga
		PG	Brandon Childress	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
		SF	Janari Jõesaar	BC Kalev/Cramo
		SF	Rihards Kuksiks	BK Ogre
		PF	Maurice Kemp	BC Kalev/Cramo
2021–22	[16]	PG	Jalen Riley	VEF Riga
		PG	Vitaliy Zotov	VEF Riga
		SG	Robert Valge	Pärnu Sadam
		C	Alexander Madsen	VEF Riga
		C	Tyler Roberson	KK Viimsi/Sportland
2022–23	[17]	PG	Gian Clavell	BC Prometey
		PG	Ty Gordon	Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits
		PG	Oleksandr Kovliar	BC Kalev/Cramo
		PG	Kristers Zoriks	VEF Riga
		C	Ondřej Balvín	BC Prometey
2023–24		G/F	Ronald March	BC Prometey
		PG	Ben Shungu	BC Kalev/Cramo
		PF	Kregor Hermet	BC Kalev/Cramo
		C	Arnaldo Toro	VEF Riga
		C	Ondřej Balvín	BC Prometey

League records

The following records include games played in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League since its establishement in 2018. These records do not include any games played in local championship playoffs, Latvian Basketball League and Estonian Basketball League respectively.

• Most points scored in a game

• 41 by Roberts Blūms ( VEF Rīga), against Kalev/SNABB on January 21, 2024
• 41 by Matej Radunić ( Keila KK), against Valmiera Glass VIA on March 17, 2023
• 41 by Jalen Riley ( VEF Rīga), against BK Liepāja on February 5, 2022

• Most total rebounds in a game

• 21 by Arnaldo Toro ( VEF Rīga), against BK Liepāja on November 14, 2023
• 21 by Klāvs Dubults ( Valmiera Glass VIA), against Rakvere Tarvas on March 6, 2022

• Most assists in a game

• 17 by Tony Wroten ( Kalev/Cramo), against Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv on January 24, 2019

• Most steals in a game

• 10 by Kevin Anthony Johnson ( Keila KK), against KK Viimsi on September 24, 2023
• 10 by Alterique Gilbert ( Pärnu Sadam), against BK Liepāja on March 5, 2022

• Most blocked shots in a game

• 7 by Tomas Pavelka ( Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits), against Pärnu Sadam on December 7, 2022
• 7 by Klāvs Čavars ( VEF Rīga), against Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv on February 9, 2019

• Most 3-point field goals made in a game

• 11 by Jalen Riley ( VEF Rīga), against BK Liepāja on February 5, 2022

• Highest PIR in a game

• 60 by Matej Radunić ( Keila KK), against Valmiera Glass VIA on March 17, 2023

See also

• Korvpalli Meistriliiga
• Latvijas Basketbola līga

References

1. "News – 15 teams participating in OlyBet Latvian-Estonian Basketball League". www.estlatbl.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
2. "News – Ventspils won the first ever OlyBet Latvian-Estonian basketball league trophy (Lomažs was named MVP)". www.estlatbl.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
3. "Tweet from official League account". www.twitter.com. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
4. "Ukrainian club Prometey to play in a Latvian-Estonian League". basketnews.com. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
5. "Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Regulations" (PDF). www.basket.lv. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
6. "Sadolin Spordihoone". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
7. "Unibet Arena" . Retrieved 16 April 2024.
8. "Kalevi Spordihall". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
9. "Keila Tervisekeskus". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
10. "Pärnu Spordihall". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
11. "Tallinna Tehnikaülikooli spordihoone". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
12. "Nord Cramo spordihoone". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
13. "Tartu Ülikooli Spordihoone". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
14. "FORUS Spordikeskus Viimsi". spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
15. "BC Kalev/Cramo defeated VEF in Paf League final, Ogre brought home the bronze". www.estlatbl.com. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
16. "Riia VEF pani Paf liiga finaalis oma klassi maksma, debütant KK Viimsi sai kaela väga magusa hõbemedali" (in Estonian). Estonian Basketball Association. 10 April 2022.
17. "Külalised Ukrainast võitsid hõredate rivide kiuste Eesti-Läti liiga". Postimees Sport (in Estonian). 8 April 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.

External links

• Official website