The Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (abbreviated LNB, and literally in English, "National Basketball League"), also commonly referred to as "La Liga de Básquet" ("The Basketball League"), is the top-tier level of the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

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 (appro ...

league system. The league is under the auspices of the Basketball Clubs' Association (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Asociación de Clubes de Básquetbol''). The LNB's predecessor league is the now defunct Campeonato Argentino de Clubes, which was organized by the Argentine Basketball Confederation. The league was created through the efforts of

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

León Najnudel León David Najnudel (14 July 1941 – 22 April 1998) was an Argentina, Argentine professional basketball player and basketball coach, and the main driving force in the creation of the Liga Nacional de Básquet, the first nationwide yearly profess ...

, and

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

Osvaldo Orcasitas, in the 1980s, to make Argentine men's club basketball more competitive, through the merging of the many existing local leagues. It is designed like the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, with a regular season,

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

, and

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. However, unlike the NBA, the LNB has a

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

system, with the La Liga Argentina (LLA), the league level that is immediately below the LNB. A tribute to Najnudel's vision, is the string of successes of the senior men's

Argentine national basketball team The Argentina men's national basketball team () represents Argentina in men's international basketball officially nicknamed ''The Argentine Soul'' (), and it is controlled by the Argentine Basketball Federation. Argentina's national basketbal ...

, culminating with the team's

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

gold medal won at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, and the international careers of many players who started in the league.

History

Creation

Before the league was established, the regular tournament was Campeonato Argentino de Clubes where teams from all the provinces took part. The league had a regional format and playoffs. For the 1984 edition there was 64 teams. The association decided to retire 10 teams, moving them to "Primera Nacional A". Of those teams, 4 were from city of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, and the provinces of

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

and Santa Fe were represented by 2 teams each. As a result, a number of 54 teams played the Argentino de clubes. At the end of the tournament, the six best placed team would promote to Primera A, and the rest of the clubs would be relegated to Primera B (second division).

First seasons

The first edition of Liga Nacional was played within 1985, with 16 teams participating although Independiente de Tucumán abandoned the championship for economic reasons. The first game was played on April 26, 1985, when

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...

faced Argentino de Firmat at

Estadio Obras Sanitarias Estadio Obras Sanitarias is an indoor arena that is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The arena, home venue of club Obras Sanitarias, is mainly used to host basketball games and concerts. It has a capacity of 3,100 people for basketball games, a ...

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its assoc ...

was the first LNB champion after defeating

Atenas de Córdoba Atenas () is a district of the Atenas canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Its urban area is referred as Atenas city. Toponymy Its name means Athens ''(Αθήνα)'', the capital of Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republ ...

in 3 games. The next season (1986), Ferro Carril Oeste won its second consecutive title, beating

Olimpo de Bahía Blanca Club Olimpo, usually referred to as Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The club was founded October 15th, 1910. Its primary activity is soccer. The club is recognized in ...

in 5 games (3-1 on aggregate). The ''Verdolaga'' played its third consecutive final series in 1987, but was finally defeated by Atenas, that won the first of 9 titles, being the most winning LNB team to date. In 1988 Atenas won a second championship beating River Plate and the next year Ferro won another title, being the only title won by

as coach.

Competition format

Following a system similar to the European basketball leagues, the Liga Nacional features

. Contested by 20 teams, the top division is divided in two stages: the first one consists of a double round-robin competition, with standings decided by a points system. At the end of the season, teams placed 1st to 16th advance to the

, while the last 2 teams play a series to avoid relegation. The playoffs stage is divided in four parts, where winning teams qualify to the next stage while defeated teams retire from the tournament. The successive stages are quarter finals, semi-finals and the finals. Quarter and semi-finals are played in a 2-2-1 format (

best-of-five There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

) while finals are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, which rounds are

best-of-seven There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

series.

Current clubs (2024–25 season)

;References

Champions

List of finals

Source: LNB website.

Titles by club

Awards

These are the yearly individual awards are given by the league as a recognition to the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

(in both, regular season and finals) and the top scorer.

Leonardo Gutiérrez Leonardo "Leo" Martín Gutiérrez (born May 16, 1978) is an Argentine former professional basketball coach and former player. He played as a power forward.

was chosen finals MVP a record of 4 times, while Joe Bunn is the most times top scorer (5 seasons).

Statistical leaders

Retired numbers

As of September 2019, 17 players have their jerseys retired. Atenas was the team which started this practice (in 2002, with legendary

Marcelo Milanesio Marcelo Gustavo Milanesio (born February 11, 1965, in Hernando, Córdoba) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. A significant figure in Argentine basketball, he defended Argentina for 2 titles, and Atenas for 14 club titles. He ...

's #9)."Peñarol de Mar del Plata retiró la camiseta de 'Tato' Rodríguez"
La Voz, 2011-11-23Milanesio y Campana homenajeados con el retiro de las míticas "9" y "5"
Pick and Roll website, 2005-11-05Dorsales retirados que marcaron historia
by Mariano Blanco, Diario Epoca, 11 May 2015 ;Notes

References

External links

*
Pick and Roll (news, info & statistics)

Argentinian league on Latinabasket.com

(news, info & statistics)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liga Nacional de Basquet 1985 establishments in Argentina

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Professional sports leagues in Argentina Sports leagues established in 1985