First Federal Basketball League

First Federal Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1945
Ceased	1992
Countries	Yugoslavia
Continent	FIBA Europe (Europe)
Last; champion(s)	Partizan (5th title)
Most titles	Crvena zvezda (12 titles)
Level on pyramid	1st Tier; (Yugoslavia)
Relegation to	1. B Federal Basketball League
Related; competitions	Yugoslav Basketball Cup

The First Federal Basketball League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna košarkaška liga) was the name of the top-tier level professional basketball league that was played in SFR Yugoslavia, from 1945 to 1991–92, and run by Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia. The First Federal League was the top-tier level league in Yugoslavia, and the Second Federal League was the second-tier level league in Yugoslavia. With a total of 16 European-wide trophy winners and 11 finalists, the Yugoslav First Basketball League was one of the strongest European national domestic basketball leagues of all time.

Although all of the former Yugoslavian countries that were founded after the breakup of Yugoslavia, each now have their own national domestic leagues, each of the six nations also now take part in the ABA League (commonly known as the Adriatic League), which was founded in 2001; and which is, the closest basketball league in existence today, that is similar to the former Yugoslav Basketball League.

History

After the end of Second World War in Yugoslavia in 1945, there arose a need for athletic development in the fledgling nation. Post-WW2 Yugoslavia was (with the exception of major cities such as Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Sarajevo) for the most part lacking in competitive opportunities in sports. In response to this, 1945 and 1946 saw an explosion of new clubs and leagues for every sport, the basketball league being part of this phenomenon.

The very first competition under the newly formed Yugoslav Basketball League in 1945, drawing parallel to the Yugoslav First League (of football), was more or less a nationwide affirmation of unity. Instead of individual clubs competing in the usual fashion, there were only eight teams. Six representing each state within Yugoslavia, one representing the province of Vojvodina, and the last representing the Yugoslav People's Army.

Only in the 1970s did the basketball culture of Yugoslavia truly come to enjoy recognition as the top nation in basketball. Breaking away from the dominance of the Soviet Union, the Yugoslav league gave rise to stars that would go on to win multiple Basketball World Championships and European Basketball Championships. After a decade of dominance, the 1980s saw a disappointing slump of talent in the Yugoslav Basketball League.

Once again the world witnessed a sleeping giant come awake in the early 90s as Yugoslavia won two straight European Basketball Championships and a World Basketball Championship. This momentum was swiftly halted by the ethnic strife which broke out in 1991. Clubs from SR Slovenia and SR Croatia withdrew from the league so that the 1991–92 season, the competition's last, was contested without them. The country got divided into five successor republics, each founding their own basketball federations with the exception of Serbia and Montenegro, which retained the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the YUBA League.

Despite all these changes, the joint league of clubs from the former Yugoslavia proved to be a winning league format formula, so on July 3, 2001, the Adriatic League was founded. It features teams from all the former Yugoslav states, and it exists alongside scaled-down versions of the individual national domestic leagues of each of the former Yugoslav states.

Title holders

–451945 Yugoslav Army
–461946 Crvena zvezda
–471947 Crvena zvezda
–481948 Crvena zvezda
–491949 Crvena zvezda
–501950 Crvena zvezda
–511951 Crvena zvezda
–521952 Crvena zvezda
–531953 Crvena zvezda
–541954 Crvena zvezda
–551955 Crvena zvezda
–561956 Proleter Zrenjanin

–571957 AŠK Olimpija
–581958 OKK Beograd
–591959 AŠK Olimpija
–601960 OKK Beograd
–611961 AŠK Olimpija
–621962 AŠK Olimpija
–631963 OKK Beograd
–641964 OKK Beograd
–651965 Zadar
–661966 AŠK Olimpija
–671967 Zadar
1967–68 Zadar

1968–69 Crvena zvezda
1969–70 AŠK Olimpija
1970–71 Jugoplastika
1971–72 Crvena zvezda
1972–73 Radnički Belgrade
1973–74 Zadar
1974–75 Zadar
1975–76 Partizan
1976–77 Jugoplastika
1977–78 Bosna
1978–79 Partizan
1979–80 Bosna

1980–81 Partizan
1981–82 Cibona
1982–83 Bosna ^{[Note 1]}^[2]
1983–84 Cibona
1984–85 Cibona
1985–86 Zadar
1986–87 Partizan
1987–88 Jugoplastika
1988–89 Jugoplastika
1989–90 Jugoplastika
1990–91 Pop 84
1991–92 Partizan

Performance by club

Titles	Club	Years
12	Crvena zvezda	1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1968–69, 1971–72
6	Olimpija	1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1969–70
	Zadar	1965, 1967, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1985–86
	Split	1970–71, 1976–77, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91
5	Partizan	1975–76, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1986–87, 1991–92
4	OKK Beograd	1958, 1960, 1963, 1964
3	Bosna	1977–78, 1979–80, 1982–83
3	Cibona	1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85
1	Yugoslav Army	1945
	Proleter Zrenjanin	1956
	Radnički Belgrade	1972–73

Performance by Republic 1946–1992

Titles	Republic
23	Serbia
15	Croatia
6	Slovenia
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina

Play-off Finals

Playoffs as a way of determining the Yugoslav First Basketball League champion following the regular season got instituted in 1981 ahead of the 1981–82 season.

Season	Home court advantage	Result	Home court disadvantage	1st of Regular Season	Record
1981–82	Partizan	0–2	Cibona	Partizan	18–4
1982–83	Šibenka	1–2	Bosna	Šibenka	16–6
1983–84	Cibona	2–1	Crvena zvezda	Cibona	16–6
1984–85	Cibona	2–1	Crvena zvezda	Cibona	19–3
1985–86	Cibona	1–2	Zadar	Cibona	21–1
1986–87	Partizan	2–0	Crvena zvezda	Cibona	22–0
1987–88	Jugoplastika	2–1	Partizan	Jugoplastika	21–1
1988–89	Partizan	0–2	Jugoplastika	Partizan	16–6
1989–90	Jugoplastika	3–1	Crvena zvezda	Jugoplastika	19–3
1990–91	Pop 84	3–0	Partizan	Pop 84	19–3
1991–92	Partizan	3–0	Crvena zvezda	Partizan	20–2

Source: official website archive^[3]

Yugoslav basketball clubs in European and worldwide competitions

Notable players

Award winners

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

FIBA Hall of Fame

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players

50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors

EuroLeague Final Four MVP

Dino Rađa (1989)
Toni Kukoč (1990, 1991, 1993)
Predrag Danilović (1992)
Žarko Paspalj (1994)
Zoran Savić (1998)
Željko Rebrača (2000)
Dejan Bodiroga (2002, 2003)

EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer

FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer

Zoran Slavnić (1974, 1975)
Srećko Jarić (1977)
Andro Knego (1982)
Dragan Kićanović (1983)
Dražen Petrović (1987, 1989)
Branislav Prelević (1991, 1992, 1996)
Roman Horvat (1994)
Petar Naumoski (1995, 2002)
Predrag Danilović (2000)

FIBA Korać Cup Finals Top Scorer

Nikola Plećaš (1972)
Dražen Dalipagić (1974, 1978)
Željko Jerkov (1977)
Dragan Kićanović (1979)
Dražen Petrović (1988)
Vlade Divac (1989)
Aleksandar Đorđević (1993, 1999)
Teoman Alibegović (1995)
Petar Naumoski (1996)

Euroscar

Dražen Dalipagić (1980)
Dragan Kićanović (1981, 1982)
Dražen Petrović (1986, 1989, 1992, 1993)
Toni Kukoč (1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998)

Mr. Europa

Dražen Dalipagić (1977, 1978)
Dragan Kićanović (1981, 1982)
Dražen Petrović (1986, 1993)
Vlade Divac (1989)
Toni Kukoč (1990, 1991, 1992, 1996)
Aleksandar Đorđević (1994, 1995)

Active Leagues

YUBA League (1992–2006)
A-1 League (1992–present)
Premier A League (1992–present)
Basketball Championship (1993–present)
First League (1992–present)
Basketball League of Montenegro (2006–present)
Basketball League of Serbia (2006–present)
Adriatic League

Notes

^ On Saturday, 9 April 1983 at Baldekin Hall in Šibenik, Šibenka and Bosna played the deciding game 3 of their best-of-three playoff final series. The contest was decided in the very last second: Bosna's Sabit Hadžić got called for a foul on Šibenka's Dražen Petrović who proceeded to score two free throws that won the game. The next morning, after watching video replays of the game's last moments, the presidency of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia (KSJ) established that the foul happened after time had already elapsed. The game was thus voided and a rematch was ordered at a neutral venue in Novi Sad. Unhappy with the decision Šibenka decided to boycott it, refusing to show up for the rematch. The championship got awarded to Bosna.^[1]

References

^ "Režimski poraz iz ´83. bio je pobjeda: "I hrvatski klubovi grozili su se na pomisao da Dražen sa Šibenkom osvoji naslov"" (in Croatian). Index.hr. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
^ "Tri decenije od historijske utakmice Bosne i Šibenke (VIDEO)". sport.ba. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
^ "Tabele državnih prvenstava od sezone 1991/92 (archive copy at the Wayback Machine)". Basketball League of Serbia. 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[2] On Saturday, 9 April 1983 at Baldekin Hall in Šibenik, Šibenka and Bosna played the deciding game 3 of their best-of-three playoff final series. The contest was decided in the very last second: Bosna's Sabit Hadžić got called for a foul on Šibenka's Dražen Petrović who proceeded to score two free throws that won the game. The next morning, after watching video replays of the game's last moments, the presidency of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia (KSJ) established that the foul happened after time had already elapsed. The game was thus voided and a rematch was ordered at a neutral venue in Novi Sad. Unhappy with the decision Šibenka decided to boycott it, refusing to show up for the rematch. The championship got awarded to Bosna.^[1]

[1] "Režimski poraz iz ´83. bio je pobjeda: "I hrvatski klubovi grozili su se na pomisao da Dražen sa Šibenkom osvoji naslov"" (in Croatian). Index.hr. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.

[3] "Tri decenije od historijske utakmice Bosne i Šibenke (VIDEO)". sport.ba. Retrieved 2 March 2015.

[4] "Tabele državnih prvenstava od sezone 1991/92 (archive copy at the Wayback Machine)". Basketball League of Serbia. 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[Note 1]

[2]

[3]

[1]

v t e Yugoslav First Federal Basketball League (1945–1992)
Clubs	Bosna Borac Čačak Budućnost Cibona Crvena zvezda Čelik Dalvin Dinamo Pančevo Eđšeg Igman IMT Industromontaža Ivangrad Jugoplastika Jugoslovenska armija Kvarner Lesonit Lokomotiva Rijeka Makedonija Maribor 66 Metalac Milicionar Mladost MZT Skopje Novi Zagreb OKK Beograd Olimpija Oriolik Partizan Proleter Zrenjanin Rabotnički Radnički Belgrade Slavija Sloboda Tuzla Sloboda Užice Sloga Slovan Spartak Subotica Šibenka Vojvodina Zadar Zastava Kragujevac Zorka Šabac Železničar Belgrade Željezničar Karlovac Željezničar Sarajevo ŽKK Ljubljana ŽKK Maribor
Seasons	1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Statistics	Scoring leaders Annual Career
Associated competitions	Clubs in international competitions First B Federal League