North European Basketball League

"NEBL" redirects here. For the gene, see NEBL (gene).

Not to be confused with the current European North Basketball League.

File:NEBL-Spalding-basket-ball.png

The first official basketball ball of the North European Basketball League (NEBL).

The North European Basketball League, or Northern European Basketball League (NEBL), was a short-lived regional professional basketball league. It was founded in 1998, by Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Dmitry Buriak. The league was the first commercial project of a regional league in Europe, and initially intended for participation of the best basketball teams from five countries - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, and Finland.

History

In 1999, the first North European Basketball League competition took place, involving eight teams, from the aforementioned countries. Eventually, the tournament started to lose its regional characteristics, as it began involving more clubs from Central (Germany, Poland, Czech Republic), Western (Belgium, the Netherlands), and Eastern (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania) Europe; then, from Southern Europe (Macedonia, FR Yugoslavia), and even from Israel and Turkey. There were 31 teams, from 19 countries (from Israel to the United Kingdom), participating in the 2001–02 season's tournament. The Final Four of the NEBL, was always played in Vilnius, Lithuania.

By 2002, top clubs like CSKA Moscow, Žalgiris, and Maccabi, had lost their interest in the competition, in favor of the newly organized, and much more commercially attractive, EuroLeague. In the season 2002–03 season, a body (group stage) of the tournament was not held – the four best teams of the Northern Conference FIBA Champions Cup played for the last NEBL title in a Final Four.

The NEBL would later be transformed (since 2004) into Baltic Basketball League (BBL), with basketball teams from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia participating in it.

Results

Season	Winner	Final score	Finalist	Total teams	Total countries
1999 (Promo)	Žalgiris Kaunas	83–81	ASK/Brocēni/LMT Riga	8	5
2000	CSKA Moscow	95–77	Lietuvos rytas Vilnius	14	9
2000–01	Ural Great Perm	88–81	Žalgiris Kaunas	16	12
2001–02	Lietuvos rytas Vilnius	79–74	Ural Great Perm	31	19
2002–03	UNICS Kazan	93–90	Lietuvos rytas Vilnius	4	3

See also

• European North Basketball League

External links

• NEBL slogan: Break the ice! 20 April 2000 The Baltic Times.
• NEBL 1999 Cup