North European Basketball League

The North European Basketball League, or Northern European Basketball League (NEBL), was a short-lived regional professional basketball league. It was founded in 1998, by Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Dmitry Buriak. The league was the first commercial project of a regional league in Europe, and initially intended for participation of the best basketball teams from five countries - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, and Finland.

"NEBL" redirects here. For the gene, see NEBL (gene).
The official basketball ball of the North European Basketball League (NEBL).

History

In 1999, the first North European Basketball League competition took place, involving eight teams, from the aforementioned countries. Eventually, the tournament started to lose its regional characteristics, as it began involving more clubs from Central (Germany, Poland, Czech Republic), Western (Belgium, the Netherlands), and Eastern (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania) Europe; then, from Southern Europe (Macedonia, FR Yugoslavia), and even from Israel and Turkey. There were 31 teams, from 19 countries (from Israel to the United Kingdom), participating in the 2001–02 season's tournament. The Final Four of the NEBL, was always played in Vilnius, Lithuania.

By 2002, top clubs like CSKA Moscow, Žalgiris, and Maccabi, had lost their interest in the competition, in favor of the newly organized, and much more commercially attractive, EuroLeague. In the season 2002–03 season, a body (group stage) of the tournament was not held – the four best teams of the Northern Conference FIBA Champions Cup played for the last NEBL title in a Final Four.

The NEBL would later be transformed (since 2004) into Baltic Basketball League (BBL), with basketball teams from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia participating in it.

Seasons
SeasonWinnerFinal scoreFinalistTotal teamsTotal countries
1999 (Promo)Lithuania Žalgiris Kaunas83–81Latvia ASK/Brocēni/LMT Riga85
2000Russia CSKA Moscow95–77Lithuania Lietuvos rytas Vilnius149
2000–01Russia Ural Great Perm88–81Lithuania Žalgiris Kaunas1612
2001–02Lithuania Lietuvos rytas Vilnius79–74Russia Ural Great Perm3119
2002–03Russia UNICS Kazan93–90Lithuania Lietuvos rytas Vilnius43

See also
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