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Basketball league From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League (Latvian: Latvijas—Igaunijas Basketbola līga, Estonian: Eesti-Läti Korvpalliliiga); known as Optibet 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 Estonian Basketball Association and the Latvian Basketball Association.
| |
| Founded | 2018 |
|---|---|
| First season | 2018–19 |
| Countries |  Estonia (8 teams) Latvia (7 teams) |
| Confederation | FIBA Europe |
| Number of teams | 15 |
| Current champions |  BC Prometey(2nd title) |
| Most championships | BC Prometey (2 titles) |
| TV partners | Delfi TV, Inspira, LTV7, TV4 |
| Website | estlatbl.com |
 2024–25 season | |
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 played its home games in Riga.[4]
Since inaugural season, the League has had title sponsorship rights sold to two companies, most recently to the Optibet betting company.
| Period | Sponsor | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 2018–2019 | Olympic Entertainment Group | OlyBet Latvian-Estonian Basketball League |
| 2019–2024 | Paf | Paf Latvian-Estonian Basketball League |
| 2024–present | Optibet | Optibet Latvian-Estonian Basketball League |
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.
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]
| Team | Home city | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC Kalev/Cramo |
Tallinn | Kalev Sports Hall | 1,700[6] |
| BK Liepāja |
Liepāja | Liepāja Olympic Center | 2,542 |
| BK Ogre |
Ogre | Arēna Ogre | 1,700 |
| BK Ventspils |
Ventspils | Ventspils Olympic Center | 3,085 |
| Keila Coolbet |
Keila | Keila Health Center | 800[7] |
| Keila KK | |||
| Latvijas Universitāte |
Riga | Rimi Olympic Sports Center | 830 |
| Pärnu Sadam |
Pärnu | Pärnu Sports Hall | 1,820[8] |
| Rīgas Zeļļi |
Riga | Arena Riga | 11,200 |
| Daugava Sports Hall | |||
| TalTech/ALEXELA |
Tallinn | TalTech Sports Hall | 1,000[9] |
| Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits |
Tartu | University of Tartu Sports Hall | 2,600[10] |
| Utilitas Rapla |
Rapla | Sadolin Sports Hall | 958[11] |
| Valmiera GLASS VIA |
Valmiera | Valmiera Olympic Center | 1,500 |
| VEF Rīga |
Riga | Rimi Olympic Sports Center | 830 |
| Viimsi |
Haabneeme | Forus Sports Center | 500[12] |
| 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 | BC Kalev/Cramo |
VEF Rīga |
84–76 | BK Ventspils | ||
| 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 |
The following records include games played since the league was established in 2018. These records do not include any games played in local championship playoffs, Latvian Basketball League and Estonian Basketball League respectively.
Matej Radunić ( Keila KK), against Valmiera Glass VIA on 17 March 2023
Jalen Riley ( VEF Rīga), against BK Liepāja on 5 February 2022 Matej Radunić ( Keila KK), against Valmiera Glass VIA on 17 March 2023 Roberts Blūms ( VEF Rīga), against Tallinn Kalev/SNABB on 21 January 2024 Klāvs Dubults ( Valmiera Glass VIA), against Rakvere Tarvas on 6 March 2022
Arnaldo Toro ( VEF Rīga), against BK Liepāja on 14 November 2023 Tony Wroten ( BC Kalev/Cramo), against Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv on 24 January 2019 Alterique Gilbert ( Pärnu Sadam), against BK Liepāja on 5 March 2022 Kevin Johnson ( Keila KK), against Viimsi on 24 September 2023 Klāvs Čavars ( VEF Rīga), against Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv on 9 February 2019
Tomáš Pavelka ( Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits), against Pärnu Sadam on 7 December 2022 Jalen Riley ( VEF Rīga), against BK Liepāja on 5 February 2022 BC Kalev/Cramo in the 2023–24 season BC Kalev/Cramo against BC Prometey at Unibet Arena on 6 January 2024Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
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