Lega Basket Serie A is the highest level club competition in Italian professional basketball where play determines the national champion. The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 30 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. Quarterfinals and semifinals series are best-of-five, and the finals series is best-of-seven. The bottom two clubs are relegated, and replaced by the top team from the regular-season phase and the eight-team playoff round winner of the second-level LegADue. The Italian League is one of the 3 "A" level ranked European domestic leagues in the ULEB League Rankings system.
[edit] History
The national basketball league was first organized for play in Italy in 1920. The first title was won by SEF Costanza Milano, and the team holding the record for title championships is Olimpia Milano, who have won 25 championships. Twenty different teams have won the championship since its inception. In recent years, the league has been dominated by a handful of teams:
- Benetton Treviso, with five scudetti (league titles) since 1992.
- Virtus Bologna, with five scudetti between 1993 and 2001.
- Virtus' crosstown rivals Fortitudo (who have since dropped completely from the professional ranks); although only with two scudetti, they had an 11-year run from 1996 to 2006 in which they appeared in the championship series 10 times.
- Montepaschi Siena, with four scudetti since 2004, and the three-time defending champions.
Until the 2000s, the Italian Championship was the most important national domestic league in Europe, but now the Spanish ACB League is considered to be stronger than Serie A. Nonetheless, the league is still considered to be one of the three premiere European pro national domestic basketball leagues, along with the Spanish ACB and the Greek A1 League.
Through the 2007-08 season, 18 teams competed; however, in September 2008, two clubs, Basket Napoli (not related to the current NSB Napoli, which moved from Rieti to Naples after the 2008–09 season) and Orlandina, were forcibly relegated from the professional ranks for financial irregularities and were not replaced for the 2008-09 season. Today, 16 teams compete in the highest level of play.
[edit] 2009-10 teams
[edit] Champions
[edit] Final Appearances
[edit] Notable players
Well-known basketball players who play, or have played, in the league include: Phill Jones, Radivoj Korac, Bill Bradley, Aldo Ossola, Manuel Raga, Dino Meneghin, Bob Morse, Drazen Dalipagic, Pierluigi Marzorati, Bob McAdoo, Joe "Belly Bean" Bryant, Krešimir Ćosić, Renato Villalta, Dragan Kicanovic, Larry Wright, Roberto Brunamonti, Walter Szczerbiak, George Gervin, Aleksandar Petrovic, Clarence Kea, Antonello Riva, Joe Arlauckas, Roberto Premier, Corny Thompson, Mike D'Antoni, Oscar Schmidt, Joe Barry Carroll, Riccardo Pittis, Dino Radja, Micheal Ray Richardson, Toni Kukoč, Johnny Rogers, Jurij Zdovc, Sasha Djordjević, Vincenzo Esposito, Vinnie Del Negro, Anthony Bowie, Alexander Volkov, Petar Naumoski, Arijan Komazec, Ferdinando Gentile, Predrag Danilović, Stefano Rusconi, Dejan Bodiroga, Tanoka Beard, Zan Tabak, Carlton Myers, Zeljko Rebraca, Henry Williams, Gregor Fučka, Zoran Savic, Orlando Woolridge, Hugo Sconochini, Gianmarco Pozzecco, David Rivers, Antoine Rigaudeau, Dominique Wilkins, Radoslav Nesterovic, Marcelo Nicola, Artūras Karnišovas, Warren Kidd, Zarko Paspalj, Stojko Vrankovic, Christian Welp, Sasa Obradovic, Roberto Chiacig, Saulius Stombergas, Daniel Santiago, Manu Ginóbili, Melvin Booker, Denis Marconato, Eurelijus Zukauskas, Marko Jaric, Louis Bullock, Matjaz Smodis, Nikos Ekonomou, Marcus Brown, David Andersen, Tyus Edney, Mike Batiste, Sasha Vujačić, Anthony Parker, Mindaugas Zukauskas, Jorge Garbajosa, Milan Tomic, Maurice Evans, Carlos Delfino, Alphonso Ford, Bostjan Nachbar, Charles Smith, Vlado Scepanovic, Michalis Kakiouzis, Gianluca Basile, David Vanterpool, Vrbica Stefanov, Beno Udrih, Trajan Langdon, Nikolaos Zisis, Rimantas Kaukenas, Scoonie Penn, Erazem Lorbek, Lynn Greer, Mirsad Turkcan, Travis Best, Milos Vujanic, Bootsy Thornton, Ramunas Siskauskas, Andrew Nicholas, Sani Becirovic, Yakhouba Diawara, Roko Ukic, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Earl Boykins, Andrea Bargnani, Terrell McIntyre, Marco Belinelli, Primoz Brezec, Arriel McDonald, Kšyštof Lavrinovič, Brandon Jennings, Danilo Gallinari and many others.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
