Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

is one of the most popular sports in Lebanon. The

Lebanese Basketball Federation The Lebanese Basketball Federation, known in French as the Fédération Libanaise de Basketball (FLB or FLBB), is the governing body of basketball in Lebanon. The federation founded in 1947, represents basketball with public authorities as well a ...

FLB is a member of the Asian federation

FIBA Asia FIBA Asia is a zone within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) which contains all 44 Asian FIBA federations. Member associations Tournaments Organized by FIBA Asia National teams * FIBA Asia Cup – since 2017, also include ...

and international federation

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

and also a member of the Arab Basketball Federation

History

The first time basketball was played was in the mid of 1920's.The

Lebanon national basketball team Lebanon national basketball team can refer to: * Lebanon men's national basketball team ** Lebanon men's national under-19 basketball team ** Lebanon men's national under-17 basketball team * Lebanon women's national basketball team ** Lebanon wome ...

has qualified three consecutive times to the FIBA World Championship in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and 2023. The Lebanese national basketball team won the

2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 2010 FIBA Asia Stanković Cup was the 3rd FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup. The basketball tournament of FIBA Asia was held in Beirut, Lebanon from 7 August to 15 August 2010, in Ghazir Club Court involving 10 national teams from Asia. The 3rd FIBA Asia ...

on its home court. They are ranked 24th in the world. The women national team is ranked 61st in the world and currently plays Level I in the

FIBA Asia Championship for Women The FIBA Women's Asia Cup is an international basketball tournament which takes place every two years for women's national teams from FIBA Asia, and since 2017 FIBA Oceania. It was known as the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship u ...

. The Lebanese u-19 national team participated in the

2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Serbian: Светско првенство до 19 година ФИБА до 19 година) was the 8th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship. It was held in Novi Sad, Serbia from 12 to 22 July 2 ...

where they placed 14th.

Lebanese Basketball League

Lebanon's basketball league is the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB). Currently, the leagu ...

and there is also a cup competition. The most successful Lebanese basketball clubs are

Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut Al Riyadi Club Beirut ( ar, نادي الرياضي بيروت, lit=Sporting Club Beirut) is a multi-sports club based in Manara, a district in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded in 1934, the basketball team competes in the Lebanese Basketball League. T ...

and

Sagesse ''Sagesse'' (literal trans. "Wisdom") is a volume of France, French poetry by Paul Verlaine. First published in 1881 (see 1881 in poetry, 1880), it was important in the symbolism (arts), symbolist and modernism, modernist movements. The subject m ...

for men, having both won the most championships in the

, also the

Arab Club Championship The Arab Club Champions Cup ( ar, كأس العرب للأندية الأبطال, french: Ligue des Champions Arabe) is an annual regional club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by elit ...

WABA Champions Cup The WABA Champions Cup, between 2011 and 2012 known as the West Asian Basketball League (WABL), was the West Asian club championship for basketball organized by West Asia Basketball Association, and took place every year, It also served as a quali ...

and

FIBA Asia Champions Cup The FIBA Asia Champions Cup, previously known as the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Champions Cup until 2002, is the Asian club championship for professional basketball. It is organised by FIBA Asia, and takes place once a year (since 199 ...

and

Antranik SC The Antranik Youth Association (AYA) ( ar, جمعية شباب الأنترانيك; ), or simply Antranik (; ), is a Lebanese-Armenian multi-sports and cultural club based in Antelias, Matn District, Lebanon. Established in Beirut, Lebanon i ...

for women, having won the

Arab Women's Club Basketball Championship The Arab Women's Club Championship is an annual basketball tournament for Arab teams for women.Arab Wom ...

and the

Famous Lebanese Basketball Players

Fadi El Khatib Fadi El Khatib ( ar, فادي الخطيب; born January 1, 1979), nicknamed "the Lebanese Tiger", is a Lebanese professional basketball player who plays in the Lebanese Basketball League for Sagesse. El Khatib played for several teams in the L ...

Rony Seikaly Rony is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ronielson da Silva Barbosa, Brazilian footballer better known as Rony *Rony Ahonen (born 1987), Finnish ice hockey defenceman *Rony Bakale (born 1987), Olympic swimmer from the Republ ...

Joe Vogel Joseph Vogel (; born September 15, 1973) is an American-Lebanese basketball player. Vogel attended Colorado State. Upon graduation, he was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 He played as a professional in Taiwan, Turkey, Japan, Sa ...

Jean Abdelnour Jean Abdel-Nour ( ar, جان عبد النور, born 29 November 1983) is a Lebanese basketball player. He had a successful 2002–03 season with Ghazir which led him to be signed by the Bluestars for the 2003–04 season. He stayed with the ...

Ali Mahmoud Ali Mahmoud ( ar, علي محمود) is Lebanese-Canadian basketball player. Career Mahmoud was born on May 28, 1983, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to Toufic and Gina Mahmoud, who had immigrated to Canada. He played with St. Patrick's High Scho ...

Tony Harb Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

Chantelle Anderson Chantelle Denise Anderson ( ; born January 22, 1981) is a retired Lebanese-American collegiate and professional basketball player who has played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and overseas. Personal Chantelle Anderson was b ...

(woman) *

Brian Beshara Brian Anthony Beshara (Feghali) (born 30 December 1977) is a former Lebanese basketball player. Beshara was also a member of the Lebanese national basketball team. At 6'8", he was Lebanon's starting forward and played an important role on both th ...

Rony Fahed Rony Fahed (born November 6, 1981 in Achrafieh, Lebanon) is a Lebanese professional basketball player currently a free agent in the Lebanese Basketball League. He was also a member of the Lebanon national basketball team that participated in th ...

Matt Freije Matthew Wayne Freije (born October 2, 1981) is a Lebanese/ American former professional basketball player. Freije attended Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park, Kansas before attending Vanderbilt University where he was an All-SEC p ...

Elie Mechantaf Elie Mechantaf ( ar, إيلي مشنتف; born in Beirut, Lebanon on October 5, 1970) is a retired Lebanese professional basketball player. He started his basketball career in the Cypriot Basketball League, before becoming the captain of the Le ...

Jackson Vroman Jackson Brett Vroman (June 6, 1981 – June 29, 2015) was an American-born Lebanese professional basketball player. He was naturalized as a Lebanese citizen to play for the Lebanon national basketball team, replacing the other naturalized American ...

Ghaleb Rida Ghaleb Rida or Ghaleb Reda ( ar, غالب رضا); (born July 10, 1981 in Nabatieh, Lebanon) is a professional Lebanese basketball player for sagesse Club and a member of Lebanon national basketball team as a shooting guard. He is tall. His ...

Omar El Turk Omar El Turk (in Arabic عمر الترك) (born September 30, 1981 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a retired Lebanese Canadian basketball player and member of the Lebanon national basketball team. Immigrating to Canada, he played with Montreal, Qu ...

Roy Samaha Roy Nicolas Samaha (born 12 September 1984 in Zahlé) is a retired (from the 1st division) Lebanese professional basketball player. He was a key player in the Lebanon national basketball team and participated lately in the 2006 FIBA World Champ ...

Sabah Khoury Sabah Khoury (born November 10, 1982) is a former Lebanese basketball player who plays as a shooting guard for Sagesse Club in the Lebanese Basketball League (LBL). He formerly played for Champville Club, Amchit Club and Al Mouttahed Tripoli i ...

Elie Rustom Elie Rustom (; born 2 May 1987) is a Lebanese basketball player currently playing for Homenetmen in the Lebanese Basketball League. He is also a member of the Lebanon national basketball team. He previously played with Blue Stars. Basketball car ...

Daniel Faris Daniel Faris (born 2 May 1987) is a Lebanese-American basketball player who plays for Champville SC and . He is a tall power forward-center. College career Faris played four years of NCAA Division I basketball at the University of New Mexico. In ...

* Rodrigue Akl *

Julian Khazzouh Julian Khazzouh (born 23 February 1986) is a Lebanese-Australian former professional basketball player. He played in Australia, the Netherlands, Israel, and Lebanon. Early life and career Born in Melbourne, Khazzouh moved to Sydney as a child an ...

* Ahmad Ibrahim

Famous Lebanese Basketball Coaches

Ghassan Sarkis Ghassan Sarkis ( ar, غسان سركيس, born in Bikfaya in 1957) is a Lebanese-French basketball coach who has worked in the Lebanese Basketball League. He became especially famous during his time coaching the Lebanese team Sagesse in its golde ...

* Fouad Abou Shacra * Joe Nebhan Moujaes

FIBA ASIA Champions Cup

Sagesse have won a record of 3 FIBA Asia Champions Cup. In addition, their rivals, Al Riyadi have won 2 FIBA Asia Champions Cups making a total of 5 cups for Lebanon.

References