The Liga ACB (English: ACB League), known as the Liga Endesa (English: Endesa League) for sponsorship reasons, is the first tier level men's professional basketball league in Spain. It began in 1957, with the name of Liga Nacional, and was originally organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. The league changed to its current form, beginning with the 1983–84 season, after the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB) took control over the league. The league is rated as one of the top three European national domestic/regional leagues in the European national basketball league rankings system.
The ACB League, which is played under FIBA rules, currently consists of 18 teams, including Real Madrid, FC Barcelona Regal, Cajasol Banca Cívica, Asefa Estudiantes, Gran Canaria 2014, Caja Laboral Baskonia, Valencia Basket, and Unicaja Málaga.
Other competitions [edit]
Liga championship rules [edit]
Each team has to play all the other teams in its division twice, once at home and once away. This means that in Liga ACB the league's regular season ends after all teams play 34 matches.
Like many other national domestic leagues in continental Europe, the Liga ACB takes a winter break once each team has played half of its scheduled games. One feature of the league that may be unusual to North American observers, is that the two halves of the season are played in the same order — that is, the order of each team's first-half fixtures is repeated in the second half of the season. This is normal in Spanish sports; it is also used by La Liga in association football.
At the end of the league, the eight best teams in the standings start a play-off, pitting the first place team in the standings versus the 8th place team in the standings, and so on. There are three playoff rounds, each consisting of five game series, and the winner of the finals round becomes the champion of the Liga ACB. This is similar to the NBA playoffs system, but shorter.
Arena standards [edit]
Currently, Liga ACB clubs must have home arenas that seat at least 5,000 people.
Liga Nacional (1957–1983) [edit]
Titles [edit]
ACB Finals (1983–84 season – Present) [edit]
Finals appearances [edit]
Total league championships (Liga Nacional + ACB) [edit]
| Team |
Winners |
Runners-up |
Winning years |
| Real Madrid |
30 |
12 |
1957, 1958, 1960–66, 1968–77, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984–86, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2007 |
| FC Barcelona |
17 |
17 |
1959, 1981, 1983, 1987–90, 1995–97, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012 |
| Joventut Badalona |
4 |
10 |
1967, 1978, 1991, 1992 |
| Baskonia |
3 |
4 |
2002, 2008, 2010 |
| CB Málaga |
1 |
2 |
2006 |
| Bàsquet Manresa |
1 |
0 |
1998 |
| Picadero JC |
0 |
4 |
|
| Estudiantes |
0 |
4 |
|
| CB Sevilla |
0 |
2 |
|
| Orillo Verde |
0 |
1 |
|
| Valencia BC |
0 |
1 |
|
| Bilbao Basket |
0 |
1 |
|
Current clubs [edit]
| Team |
Home city |
Stadium |
Capacity |
Last season |
Head coach |
Season |
| Asefa Estudiantes |
Madrid |
Palacio de los Deportes |
13,500 |
17th |
 Txus Vidorreta |
1st |
| Blancos de Rueda Valladolid |
Valladolid |
Polideportivo Pisuerga |
6,800 |
18th |
Roberto González |
2nd |
| Blu:sens Monbús |
Santiago de Compostela |
Multiusos Fontes do Sar |
6,050 |
13th |
Moncho Fernández |
3nd |
| CAI Zaragoza |
Zaragoza |
Príncipe Felipe Arena |
12,000 |
10th |
José Luis Abós |
4rd |
| Cajasol |
Sevilla |
Palacio San Pablo |
10,200 |
7th |
Aíto García Reneses |
1st |
| CB Canarias |
San Cristóbal de La Laguna |
Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín |
5,100 |
1st (LEB Oro) |
Alejandro Martínez |
7th |
| FC Barcelona Regal |
Barcelona |
Palau Blaugrana |
8,250 |
1st |
Xavi Pascual |
6th |
| FIATC Mutua Joventut |
Badalona |
Palau Municipal d'Esports |
12,500 |
11th |
Salva Maldonado |
2nd |
| Herbalife Gran Canaria |
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria |
Centro Insular de Deportes |
5,200 |
14th |
Pedro Martínez |
7th (4rd) |
| La Bruixa d'Or |
Manresa |
Nou Congost |
5,000 |
12th |
Jaume Ponsarnau |
7th |
| Laboral Kutxa |
Vitoria-Gasteiz |
Fernando Buesa Arena |
15,504 |
3rd |
 Žan Tabak |
1st |
| Lagun Aro GBC |
San Sebastián |
San Sebastián Arena |
11,000 |
5th |
Sito Alonso |
2nd |
| Mad-Croc Fuenlabrada |
Fuenlabrada |
Fernando Martin |
5,700 |
16th |
Trifón Poch |
1st |
| Real Madrid |
Madrid |
Palacio de los Deportes |
13,500 |
2nd |
Pablo Laso |
2nd |
| UCAM Murcia |
Murcia |
Palacio de Deportes de Murcia |
7,454 |
15th |
Óscar Quintana |
2nd |
| Unicaja |
Málaga |
Martín Carpena |
10,500 |
9th |
Jasmin Repeša |
1st |
| Uxúe Bilbao Basket |
Bilbao |
Bilbao Arena |
10,014 |
6th |
 Fotis Katsikaris |
4th |
| Valencia Basket |
Valencia |
Fuente San Luis |
9,000 |
4th |
Velimir Perasović |
2nd |
Awards [edit]
ACB records [edit]
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- Most Field Goals Made in a Game
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- Most Three Point Field Goals Made in a Game
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- Most Free Throws Made in a Game
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- 147 – FC Barcelona defeated Cajabilbao 147–106 on 31 January 1987
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- Largest Margin of Victory in a Game
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- Victory with fewest points
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External links [edit]
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Liga ACB
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Intercontinental Tournament(s)
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Intercontinental League(s)
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Subregional Tournament(s)
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Intercontinental Tournaments
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Subregional Leagues
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Intercontinental Tournaments
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Subregional Leagues
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2012–13 ACB season
Spain
FIBA Europe (Europe)
