The Professional Basketball League (russian: Профессиональная баскетбольная лига (ПБЛ), Professionalʼnaya basketbolʼnaya liga), often abbreviated to the PBL, was the pre-eminent men's professional

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 ...

league in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and the successor to the Russian Super League 1, which is now the second-tier division of the

Russian basketball league system The Russian basketball league system is a hierarchical league system for professional basketball clubs in Russia, with promotion and relegation between different levels of competition. There are currently five levels of competition: the VTB Unite ...

. The PBL was the second version of the

Russian Professional Basketball Championship The Russian Professional Basketball Championship is the top-tier level men's professional club basketball competition in the country of Russia. Over the years, there have been 3 different incarnations of the Russian Basketball Championship. The R ...

History

Established in 2010, the league contained 10 teams in its inaugural 2010–11 season. 9 of those teams participated in the 2009–10 season of Russian Super League 1, and the 10th team was

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. The inaugural 2010–11 season started on October 9, 2010, with a match between

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

and

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

, on Dynamo's home court, the

Krylatskoye Sports Palace Dynamo Palace of Sports in Krylatskoye (russian: Дворец спорта «Динамо» в Крылатском) is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located in Krylatskoye District, Moscow, Russia. The arena has mainly been used to ho ...

. CSKA won by a score of 81 to 63. The 2011–12 season featured 10 teams, like the inaugural season, however, Dynamo Moscow was replaced with the 2011 Russian Super League 1 champions

Spartak Primorye BC Spartak Primorye (russian: БК «Спартак-Приморье») is a Russian professional basketball club that is based in Vladivostok, Russia. It currently plays in the Russian Super League 1. Players Current roster No ...

Merging with VTB United League

In May 2012, all the PBL clubs gathered to decide which format would be used for the next season, and some club's directors raised the possibility of merging with the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus an ...

, to produce greater competition between the Russian basketball clubs. They suggested that the new league would be named the Eastern European Professional Basketball League. In July 2012, the Council of VTB United League gave a definitive decision. It was decided that the PBL league would continue for one more year, with some of the games of the VTB United League that took place between two Russian clubs being counted as PBL games. The first tier Russian clubs then replaced the PBL with the VTB United League as their new national domestic league, starting with the 2013–14 season.

Champions

Awards winners

Most Valuable Player

Maciej Lampe Maciej Bolesław Lampe (born February 5, 1985) is a Polish professional basketball player. Standing at , he plays at the power forward and center positions. Professional career Originally from Łódź, Poland, Lampe grew up in Stockholm, Swede ...

: (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

) *

Davon Jefferson Davon Jefferson (born November 3, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for Real Estelí of the Nicaraguan Liga Superior Baloncesto (LSB). He attended and played college basketball at the University of Southern California. High s ...

: (

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

)

Playoffs MVP

Victor Khryapa Victor Vladimirovich Khryapa (also trans. Viktor; russian: Виктор Владимирович Хряпа; born August 3, 1982) is a Russian former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his career playing for CSKA Moscow of t ...

: (

) *

Alexey Shved Alexey Viktorovich Shved ( Russian: Алексей Викторович Швед; born December 16, 1988) is a Russian professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. Standing at , he plays at the shooting guard position ...

: (

)Wolves Sign Free Agent Alexey Shved.
/ref>

Russian basketball clubs in European and worldwide competitions

References

External links

* * {{Men's professional basketball leagues 2010 establishments in Russia 1 Defunct basketball leagues in Europe Sports leagues established in 2010 2013 disestablishments in Russia