Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional competition in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i club

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, making it Israel's primary basketball competition. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL (Basketball Super League) or ISBL (Israeli Basketball Super League). For sponsorship reasons, the league is also referred to as Ligat Winner Sal ( he, ליגת ווינר סל), lit. ''Winner Basket League'', with "Winner" being the name of a game operated by the league's primary sponsor, Toto Winner. The league is run by the Israeli Basketball Super League Administration Ltd.

Overview

Ligat HaAl comprises the top 12 basketball clubs in Israel, and was founded in 1954. The league itself is most known in Europe, due to the success of the Israeli teams in European-wide competitions, such as the EuroLeague, EuroCup (formerly called the ULEB Cup), and FIBA's EuroChallenge (formerly called the FIBA EuroCup). Many non-drafted and free agent players from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and the NBA play in the Israeli league, as an alternative to NBA competition. The league is the first division in Israeli basketball: the team that finishes last in a season is relegated to the Second Division, while the Second Division's top 8 teams compete in a play-off system right after the end of the regular season, with the team that reaches the finals series being promoted to the Premier League for the following season.

Format

There are 12 teams in the league, and they play against each other thrice. The top eight teams advance to the five-game series Quarter-finals. The winners of the Quarter-finals advance to the Final Four.

Links with the NBA

During the 1980s and the early 1990s there were many basketball games between the Israeli League stars and NBA teams such as the Phoenix Suns, the

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, the Orlando Magic, and the Los Angeles Lakers, all of which were played in Israel. In October 2005, Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated the Toronto Raptors 105–103 in an exhibition game that was played in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

; this was the first victory for any European or Israeli team over an NBA team at its home court. Over the years, the league has exported many of its foreign players to the NBA. In 2009, Omri Casspi became the first Israeli-born NBA player with the Sacramento Kings. Prior to that, three players had been drafted:

Doron Sheffer Doron Sheffer ( he, דורון שפר; born 12 March 1972), is an Israeli retired professional basketball player. He spent most of his club career playing with Maccabi Tel Aviv. During his playing career he played at the point guard and shooting ...

(who played U.S. college basketball at

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Yotam Halperin Yotam Halperin ( he, יותם הלפרין; born January 24, 1984) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He is currently the sporting director for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Premier League and the Champions League. He is ...

and Lior Eliyahu. Oded Kattash agreed to play with the New York Knicks, but he never actually played in the NBA because of the 1998–99 NBA lockout that started on July 1, 1998. In the 2009 NBA Draft, Omri Casspi was selected 23rd overall by the Sacramento Kings, and Gal Mekel followed in 2013 by signing with Dallas Mavericks. In 2016, Dragan Bender became the highest selection from the Israeli Basketball Premier League to be selected in an NBA draft with the Phoenix Suns taking him at 4th overall. Other players who have moved from the league to the NBA include: Will Bynum,

Anthony Parker Anthony Michael Parker (born June 19, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as in Italy and Israel. He is one of the most beloved and successful players in Ma ...

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, Roger Mason Jr., P. J. Tucker, Eugene "Pooh" Jeter, Elijah Bryant, Carlos Arroyo, and Nate Robinson. In 2016, Amar'e Stoudemire retired from the NBA, however on August 1, 2016, he signed a two-year deal with Hapoel Jerusalem, a team he co-owns. On October 1, 2016, he helped Hapoel Jerusalem win the

2016 Israeli Basketball League Cup The 2016 Israeli Basketball League Cup, for sponsorships reasons the Winner League Cup, was the 11th edition of the pre-season tournament of the Israeli Basketball Super League. Hapoel Jerusalem won the title for the fourth time after beating Macc ...

. He also played for Maccabi Tel Aviv during the 2019-20 season, helping them win the

2019–20 Israeli Basketball Premier League The 2019–20 Israeli Basketball Premier League, for sponsorship reasons Ligat Winner, was the 66th season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. On 13 March 2020, the league was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The league resumed ...

championship. He was named MVP of the championship game. In 2020 two players declared for the NBA draft. The first being

Deni Avdija Deni Avdija ( he, דֶנִי אָבְדִיָה, sr-cyr, Дени Авдија; born 3 January 2001) is an Israeli-Serbian professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the sma ...

from Maccabi Tel Aviv and the second being Yam Madar from Hapeol Tel Aviv. Avdija was selected in the first round, 9th overall, by the Washington Wizards, and Madar was taken in the second round with the 47th pick of the draft by the Boston Celtics.

High-profile American Jewish recruits

In 2011, the league imposed a limit of four non-Israelis per team. Jews are immediately eligible for Israeli citizenship, under Israel's Law of Return. Consequently, non-Israeli Jewish basketball players are able to join a team in the league without using up one of the few roster spots available for non-Israeli players. Examples of Jewish Americans joining teams in the league include Jon Scheyer, Jordan Farmar, Sylven Landesberg, David Blu, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Dan Grunfeld.

Current clubs

Titles by team

Title holders

* 1953–54 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1954–55 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1955–56 ''Not held due to Suez Crisis * 1956–57 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1957–58 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1958–59 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1959–60

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

* 1960–61

* 1961–62 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1962–63 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1963–64 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1964–65

* 1965–66

* 1966–67 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1967–68 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 1968–69

Maccabi Rishon LeZion Maccabi Rishon LeZion is a sport club in Rishon LeZion, Israel. The professional teams associated with it include: *Maccabi Rishon LeZion (basketball) *Maccabi Rishon LeZion (handball) * Maccabi Rishon LeZion (badminton) There was also a footb ...

* 2016–17 Hapoel Jerusalem * 2017–18 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 2018–19 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 2019–20 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 2020–21 Maccabi Tel Aviv * 2021–22 Hapoel Holon