History
ULEB was founded in June 1991, by the top professional basketball leagues of France (LNB), Italy (LEGA), and Spain (ACB), which were then joined in 1996, by HEBA (Greece). In 1999, the BLB (Belgium), BBL (United Kingdom), and LNBA (Switzerland) were added.
The group then expanded with the BBL of Germany, DBL (Netherlands; then known by the Dutch initialism FEB), and PLK (Poland) in 2001. The ABA (Adriatic League) was added in February 2002, while October 2002 brought in the ABL (Austria). Following that, in June 2003, came the membership of the LKL (Lithuania), then the 2004 membership of the NBL (Czech Republic), and in July 2005, the BSL of Israel joined the ULEB. In 2011, the PBL of Russia also became a member.
In 2000, ULEB decided to break away from FIBA Europe and begin the new Euroleague competition with the Euroleague 2000-01 season. That first season of the Euroleague featured a five-game series final (instead of the traditional one-game final), but that was dropped after one year. FIBA, that same year, also formed its own league, called the SuproLeague, but after just one year it was dissolved, as the new ULEB Euroleague became the accepted new top tournament in Europe. The Korać Cup and Saporta Cup tournaments were also dissolved and joined into a new ULEB tournament, originally called the ULEB Cup, and now known as the Eurocup.
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