Greek Basketball League

The Greek Basketball League (GBL), also known as Stoiximan GBL for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the Hellenic Basketball Association (abbreviated as HEBA; ), under the legal authority of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (abbreviated as HBF; ).

The GBL follows FIBA rules, runs from October to June, and currently consists of 14 teams, each playing 26 games during the regular season, with the top 8 teams then competing in playoffs to determine the champion. The lowest-ranked team of the regular season is relegated to the Greek Elite League and replaced by the top team in that division, while a second team is promoted through playoffs.

The first official Greek basketball championship was held in the 1927–28 season, while its nationwide format was introduced in the 1963–64 season and the playoff round in the 1986–87 season. The league allowed foreign (non-Greek) players to participate for the first time in the 1988–89 season and became a fully professional competition in the 1992–93 season. Historically, the GBL has been ranked as one of the top 3 domestic leagues in European basketball.

History

The first official regional club basketball tournament in Greece took place in 1924, while the first edition of the Greek basketball championship was held in 1927–28. There have been four official championship eras. The first was the Panhellenic Championship (Πανελλήνιο Πρωτάθλημα), organized by the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS) and lasting from the 1927–28 to the 1962–63 season, where the champions of the regional tournaments played each other to determine the Greek Champion.

The second era started in the 1963–64 season, when the A' National Category (Α' Εθνική Κατηγορία) or Alpha National Category was established. In 1969, the Hellenic Basketball Federation took over the supervision of the competition from SEGAS.

The third era took place between the 1986–87 and 1991–92 seasons. The A' National Category was divided into the first-tier A1 National Category (Α1 Εθνική Κατηγορία) and the second-tier A2 National Category (Α2 Εθνική Κατηγορία), while playoffs were introduced for the first time after the regular season. The 1988–89 season marked the first time that league teams were allowed to have foreign players on their rosters.

The fourth era began in the 1992–93 season, when the Hellenic Basketball Association (HEBA) took over the competition and renamed the A1 National Category to HEBA A1 (ΕΣΑΚΕ Α1). In the 2012–13 season, HEBA A1 was renamed to Basket League and in the 2024-25 season to Greek Basketball League (GBL).

The GBL emerged during the 1990s as the most competitive European basketball league and after a relative decline in the following decades, it is currently ranked among the best domestic leagues in Europe and the world. It is also ranked as one of the top 3 European domestic leagues of all time along with the Spanish Liga ACB and the Italian Lega Basket Serie A.

The league features two of the top European basketball clubs, Panathinaikos (7 EuroLeague titles) and Olympiacos (4 EuroLeague titles), as well as other successful clubs in European competitions, such as AEK (2 FIBA Saporta Cup titles, 1 FIBA Champions League title), Aris (1 FIBA Saporta Cup title, 1 FIBA Korać Cup title, 1 FIBA EuroCup Challenge title), PAOK (1 FIBA Saporta Cup title, 1 FIBA Korać Cup title) and Maroussi (1 FIBA Saporta Cup title). The first five clubs are also the most widely supported in Greece.

Although the championship has been held 86 times, only nine clubs have won it to date. The dominant one is Panathinaikos, having celebrated 40 titles. The "Greens" were the most successful club in the 1970s, 2000s and 2010s, AEK in the 1960s and Olympiacos in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Aris, led by Nikos Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis, was the best Greek club and one of the strongest in Europe, and is credited with boosting the interest of the Greek public in the sport. Other clubs that have won the championship are Panellinios, PAOK, Iraklis, Near East and University of Athens. Since the establishment of the A' National Category in the 1963–64 season, only two clubs have participated in every season of the competition, Panathinaikos and Aris.

Brand

Name

Amateur era (1927–28 to 1991–92): 1927–28 to 1960–61:  Panhellenic Championship 1961–62 to 1962–63:  Panhellenic First Category Championship (1st) (A) 1963–64 to 1985–86:  Alpha (A) National Category 1986–87 to 1991–92:  Alpha Ena (A1) National Category Professional era (1992–93 to present): 1992–93 to 2011–12:  HEBA Alpha Ena (A1) 2012–13 to 2023–24:  Basket League 2024–25 to present:  Greek Basketball League (GBL)

Logo

Regulations

The championship, in its current form, has been organized since the 1992–93 season by the Hellenic Basketball Association (HEBA), under the authority of the Hellenic Basketball Federation. The fully professional Greek basketball clubs compete in the first division championship, which is often colloquially called the "A1", in which 12 teams compete for the Greek National Championship. There is also a professional level second division championship that is run entirely by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, which is called the "A2", in which 16 teams compete for the second division crown. The bottom one place finishing team each year in the A1 division standings is relegated to the A2 division, due to poor performance. While conversely, the top one teams each year from the A2 division is promoted to the A1 division, due to good performance.

Club and arena standards

In order to compete in the Greek Basketball League, clubs must invest a minimum of €1 million on club operations per season. The minimum club budget per season is €800,000, and each club must also invest €200,000 into a league-wide fund that insures players get their full salaries. Most of the league's clubs invest more than the minimum requirements in each season.

Currently, Greek Basketball League clubs must play their home games in arenas with a seating capacity of at least 2,000 people, in order to play Greek domestic league games. Some Greek clubs have two arenas that they primarily use. One for domestic Greek League games, and one for European-wide games.

Greek clubs that play in European-wide competitions, such as the EuroLeague, the EuroCup, or the FIBA Champions League, must play their home games in those leagues in arenas that fit the arena standards of those leagues. Which are currently, a 5,000 seat minimum for the EuroLeague, and a 3,000 seat minimum for the EuroCup and FIBA Champions League.

Foreign players

Greek Basketball League teams were first allowed to have foreign (non-Greek) players on their rosters in the 1988–89 season. Under the league's current foreign player rules, Greek Basketball League teams must have at least 6 players with Greek citizenship on their active 12-man game rosters. Each team is allowed to have up to 6 foreign (non-Greek) players on their active 12-man game roster.

Starting with the 2022–23 season, each team can have a total of up to 7 foreign players registered on its active league roster. However, every team is obliged to select only 6 of them for the 12 man game rosters, right before each game is started. Originally, that rotation of 6 of the 7 foreign players was not allowed to take place during the league's playoffs. However, it was ultimately decided that starting with the 2023–24 season, the aforementioned rotation of 6 out of the 7 foreign players on each team's roster, is also allowed in the league's playoffs.

However, there are no restrictions on the number of foreign players allowed by country of origin, or on the overall total number of foreign players allowed to be signed to a team's roster. Meaning that for example, any team in the league can sign any number of American players, Canadian players, or players from European countries, etc., that it wants to, and that any team in the league can sign as many foreign players overall to its roster as it wants to, but that they can only register 7 of them at a time to the active roster, and that they can only play 6 of them in any one game.

Champions

1927–28: Iraklis 1928–29: Panellinios 1929–30: Aris 1930–34: Not held 1934–35: Iraklis 1935–36: Near East 1936–37: University of Athens 1937–38: Not held 1938–39: Panellinios 1939–40: Panellinios 1940–45: Not held 1945–46: Panathinaikos 1946–47: Panathinaikos 1947–48: Not held 1948–49: Olympiacos 1949–50: Panathinaikos 1950–51: Panathinaikos 1951–52: Not held 1952–53: Panellinios 1953–54: Panathinaikos 1954–55: Panellinios 1955–56: Not held 1956–57: Panellinios 1957–58: AEK 1958–59: PAOK 1959–60: Olympiacos 1960–61: Panathinaikos 1961–62: Panathinaikos 1962–63: AEK 1963–64: AEK 1964–65: AEK 1965–66: AEK 1966–67: Panathinaikos 1967–68: AEK 1968–69: Panathinaikos 1969–70: AEK 1970–71: Panathinaikos 1971–72: Panathinaikos 1972–73: Panathinaikos 1973–74: Panathinaikos 1974–75: Panathinaikos 1975–76: Olympiacos 1976–77: Panathinaikos 1977–78: Olympiacos 1978–79: Aris 1979–80: Panathinaikos 1980–81: Panathinaikos 1981–82: Panathinaikos 1982–83: Aris 1983–84: Panathinaikos 1984–85: Aris 1985–86: Aris 1986–87: Aris 1987–88: Aris 1988–89: Aris 1989–90: Aris 1990–91: Aris 1991–92: PAOK 1992–93: Olympiacos 1993–94: Olympiacos 1994–95: Olympiacos 1995–96: Olympiacos 1996–97: Olympiacos 1997–98: Panathinaikos 1998–99: Panathinaikos 1999–00: Panathinaikos 2000–01: Panathinaikos 2001–02: AEK 2002–03: Panathinaikos 2003–04: Panathinaikos 2004–05: Panathinaikos 2005–06: Panathinaikos 2006–07: Panathinaikos 2007–08: Panathinaikos 2008–09: Panathinaikos 2009–10: Panathinaikos 2010–11: Panathinaikos 2011–12: Olympiacos 2012–13: Panathinaikos 2013–14: Panathinaikos 2014–15: Olympiacos 2015–16: Olympiacos 2016–17: Panathinaikos 2017–18: Panathinaikos 2018–19: Panathinaikos 2019–20: Panathinaikos 2020–21: Panathinaikos 2021–22: Olympiacos 2022–23: Olympiacos 2023–24: Panathinaikos 2024–25: Olympiacos 2025–26: Olympiacos Source:

Club Titles Seasons Panathinaikos Athens 40 1945–46, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1953–54, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2023–24 Olympiacos Piraeus 161948–49, 1959–60, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2024–25, 2025–26 Aris Thessaloniki 101929–30, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91 AEK Athens 81957–58, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1969–70, 2001–02 Panellinios Athens 6 1928–29, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1956–57 Iraklis Thessaloniki 2 1927–28, 1934–35 PAOK Thessaloniki 2 1958–59, 1991–92 Near East Athens 1 1935–36 University of Athens 1 1936–37

Clubs

2026–27 season participants

ClubLocationArena AEK Athens SUNEL Arena Aris Thessaloniki Alexandreio Melathron Doxa Lefkada Lefkada Indoor Hall   Iraklis Thessaloniki Ivanofeio Indoor Hall   Karditsa Karditsa Giannis Bourousis Indoor Hall   Kolossos Rhodes Kallithea Indoor Hall   Maroussi Athens Agios Thomas Indoor Hall Mykonos Mykonos Panagiotis Chaniotis Indoor Hall Olympiacos Athens SUNEL Arena Panathinaikos Athens Telekom Center Athens PAOK Thessaloniki PAOK Sports Arena Peristeri Athens Andreas Papandreou Indoor Hall Promitheas Patras Dimitris Tofalos Indoor Hall Vikos Ioannina Sideris Karadimas Indoor Hall

Number of seasons in the top-tier level Greek Basket League in total (1928 to 2026–27)

The total number of times that each club has played in the top-tier level Greek Basket League, through all of its different league formats.