The Liga ACB (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈliɣa aθβ], acronym of Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto, English: Association of Basketball Clubs) is the professional men's basketball league in Spain, and it is considered to be one of the top leagues in European basketball. It is also called Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons. It consists of 18 teams, with the two lowest placed teams relegated to the LEB Oro and replaced by the winner of that competition.
The league plays all home games on Friday nights. The eighteen teams play each other twice during the regular season in a double round-robin format. At the end of the regular season, the eight best-ranked teams play in a playoff series where six games are played and whoever wins four or more games qualifies for the next round or playoffs; this series is called "La Copa Del Rey" (The King's Cup), where they compete against "La Copa
History of the Liga ACB
During the 1990s and 2000s, ACB grew as a competition with a good balance between economic powerhouses and smaller clubs.
The Spanish League became the best international competitor outside the NBA in Europe.
In 2001, FIBA made drastic changes to its traditional European competitions, turning the Top 16 EuroLeague into a closed event for true Euroleague teams only and establishing the EuroCup. In 2009, Euroleague Basketball announced that they would be creating the ACB International Division: a new tier of competition created exclusively for Liga ACB clubs to make them an equal to Euroleague Basketball's EuroLeague level.
Teams in the Liga ACB
Currently, there are 18 teams in the Liga ACB.
The league's most successful clubs include Real Madrid, which won nine European Cups and 32 league titles, as well as Barcelona with 29 league titles, and Atlético Madrid with 17 league titles.
These three clubs are also the only ones to have never been relegated from the top division since its inception in 1929.
The best teams of this competition in Europe were Real Madrid (9), FC Barcelona (6), and CSKA Moscow (2).
Players in the Liga ACB
The players in the Liga ACB are among the best in Europe. These include Ricky Rubio, Pau Gasol, Sergio Llull, Serge Ibaka, and Nikola Mirotic.
Spanish basketball has been popular for many years, and that is due to the great players on this league. It's no surprise these players are often drafted into other leagues as well because of their talent and success over the years. The Liga ACB is a strong league with talented players that can produce professional basketball for many years to come.
Basketball culture in Spain
Spain is a country with an extensive culture of basketball.
There are many factors that contribute to this, including the geography of the country. Spain is a very mountainous nation, and it's difficult to find space for fields to play other sports like soccer or football.
Moreover, basketball has been popular in Spain since the early 20th century. It was introduced by physical education instructors who used basketball as a way to keep students physically active during the Spanish Civil War. The first professional Spanish team was established in 1944, and this helped make basketball into one of the most popular sports in Spain by the 1950s.
The best Spanish players
The best Spanish players in the ACB are Nikola Mirotic and Pau Gasol.
Nikola Mirotic (born October 20, 1989) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player who last played for Real Madrid of the Liga ACB. Mirotic has won four NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and he was named EuroLeague MVP in 2011.
Pau Gasol (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpau̯ ɣaˈsol]; born January 6, 1980) is a Spanish professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls. He is a six-time NBA All-Star.
Conclusion
The Liga ACB is the top tier professional basketball league in Spain. It was founded in the year 1929 and since then, there has been a total of 105 teams that have played in the league. It is currently composed of 16 teams who are divided into two conferences of 8 teams each. The teams in the league are: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, Joventut Badalona, Baloncesto Málaga, Real Madrid Castilla, Estudiantes Madrid, Gipuzkoa Basket, Bilbao Basket, Herbalife Gran Canaria, Unicaja Málaga, Gran Canaria 2014, Fuenlabrada and UCAM Murcia.
The Liga ACB is currently composed of 18 teams who are divided into two conferences.
The best Spanish players are Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol. Pau Gasol has won three NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and two Olympic gold medals with the Spanish National Team. He has also been named to the All-NBA First Team six
The conclusion is Spain has absorbed basketball into its culture, and is now one of its biggest sports.