The Yugoslav First Basketball League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna košarkaška liga) was the name of the top level basketball league played in SFR Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1991-92. The First Federal League was the top-tier league in Yugoslavia, and the Second Federal League was the second-tier league in Yugoslavia. With a total of 16 European trophy winners and 11 finalist, the Yugoslav First Basketball League, was one of the strongest basketball leagues of all times.
Although all countries founded after the breakup of Yugoslavia each now have their own national domestic leagues, each of the six nations now take part in the Adriatic League, which was founded in 2001; and which is today the closest league in existence similar to the former Yugoslav Basketball League.
History
After the end of Second World War in Yugoslavia in 1945, there arose a need for athletic development in the fledgling nation. Post-WW2 Yugoslavia was (with the exception of major cities such as Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Sarajevo) for the most part lacking in competitive opportunities in sports. In response to this, 1945 and 1946 saw an explosion of new clubs and leagues for every sport, the basketball league being part of this phenomenon.
The very first competition under the newly formed Yugoslav Basketball League in 1945, drawing parallel to the Yugoslav First League (of football), was more or less a nationwide affirmation of unity. Instead of individual clubs competing in the usual fashion, there were only eight teams. Six representing each state within Yugoslavia, one representing the province of Vojvodina, and the last representing the Yugoslav People's Army.
Only in the 1970s did the basketball culture of Yugoslavia truly come to enjoy recognition as the top nation in basketball. Breaking away from the dominance of the Soviet Union, the Yugoslav league gave rise to stars that would go on to win multiple Basketball World Championships and European Basketball Championships. After a decade of dominance, the 1980s saw a disappointing slump of talent in the Yugoslav Basketball League.
Once again the world witnessed a sleeping giant come awake in the early 90s as Yugoslavia won two straight European Basketball Championships and a World Basketball Championship. This momentum was swiftly halted by the ethnic strife which broke out in 1991. Clubs from SR Slovenia and SR Croatia withdrew from the league so that the 1991-92 season, the competition's last, was contested without them. The country got divided into five successor republics, each founding their own basketball federations with the exception of Serbia and Montenegro, which retained the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the YUBA League.
Despite all these changes, the joint league of clubs from the former Yugoslavia proved to be a winning league format formula, so on July 3, 2001, the Adriatic League was founded. It features teams from all the former Yugoslav states, and it exists alongside scaled-down versions of the individual national domestic leagues of each of the former Yugoslav states.
Title holders
Performance by club
| Titles | Club | Years |
| 12 |  Crvena zvezda | 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1968–69, 1971–72 |
| 6 |  Olimpija | 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1969–70 |
 Zadar | 1965, 1967, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1985–86 |
| Split | 1970-71, 1976–77, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91 |
| 5 | Partizan | 1975-76, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1986-87, 1991-92 |
| 4 | OKK Beograd | 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964 |
| 3 |  Bosna | 1977-78, 1979–80, 1982–83 |
| Cibona | 1981-82, 1983–84, 1984–85 |
| 1 |  Jugoslovenska Armija | 1945 |
| Proleter Zrenjanin | 1956 |
| Radnički Belgrade | 1972-73 |
Performance by Republic 1946-1992
Play-off Finals
Playoffs as a way of determining the Yugoslav First Basketball League champion following the regular season got instituted in 1981 ahead of the 1981-82 season.
Source: official website archive[3]
Yugoslav basketball clubs in European-wide competitions 1958-1992
FIBA European Champions Cup
Split has made 3 Euroleague Final Four appearances (with 3 top 4 place finishes), has played in the Euroleague Final 4 times, and has won the Euroleague championship 3 times. Cibona has played in the Euroleague Final 2 times, and has won the Euroleague championship two times. Bosna has played in the Euroleague Final 1 time, and has won the Euroleague championship once. Partizan has made 2 Euroleague Final Four appearances, has played in the Euroleague Final once, and has won the Euroleague championship 1 time.
| Club |
Champions |
Finalist |
Semifinalist |
Quarterfinalist |
| Split |
1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91 |
1971-72 |
|
1977-78* |
| Cibona |
1984-85, 1985-86 |
|
|
1982-83* |
| Partizan |
1991-92 |
|
1987-88 |
1979-80*, 1981-82* |
| Bosna |
1978-79 |
|
|
1979-80*, 1980-81*, 1983-84* |
| OKK Beograd |
|
|
1958-59, 1963-64, 1964-65 |
|
| Olimpija |
|
|
1961-62, 1966-67 |
1959-60, 1962-63, 1970-71 |
| Zadar |
|
|
1967-68, 1974-75 |
1965-66, 1968-69, 1986-87* |
| Crvena Zvezda |
|
|
1972-73 |
1969-70 |
| Radnički Belgrade |
|
|
1973-74 |
|
* Top 6 (semifinal group stage)
FIBA Saporta Cup
- Yugoslav clubs that finished in the top 2 places of the now defunct Saporta Cup (1966-67 to 2001-02), which was the second-tier European-wide continental competition:
FIBA Korać Cup
- Yugoslav clubs that finished in the top 2 places of the now defunct Korać Cup (1971-72 to 2001-02), which was the third-tier European-wide continental competition:
| Club |
Champions |
Finalist |
Semifinalist |
Quarterfinalist |
| Partizan |
1977-78, 1978-79, 1988-89 |
1973-74 |
1974-75 |
|
| Split |
1975-76, 1976-77 |
|
1978-79, 1979-80 |
|
| Cibona |
1972 |
1979-80, 1987-88 |
|
1990-91 |
| Šibenka |
|
1981-82, 1982-83 |
|
|
| Crvena Zvezda |
|
1983-84 |
1980–81, 1981-82, 1984-85, 1987-88 |
|
| Bosna |
|
1977-78 |
1989-90 |
|
| OKK Beograd |
|
1972 |
|
|
| Zadar |
|
|
1981-82, 1982-83, 1988-89 |
1990-91 |
Notable players
See also
Notes
- ↑ On Saturday, 9 April 1983 at Baldekin Hall in Šibenik, Šibenka and Bosna played the deciding game 3 of their best-of-three playoff final series. The contest was decided in the very last second: Bosna's Sabit Hadžić got called for a foul on Šibenka's Dražen Petrović who proceeded to score two free throws that won the game. The next morning, after watching video replays of the game's last moments, the presidency of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia (KSJ) established that the foul happened after time had already elapsed. The game was thus voided and a rematch was ordered at a neutral venue in Novi Sad. Unhappy with the decision Šibenka decided to boycott it, refusing to show up for the rematch. The championship got awarded to Bosna.[1]
References
Basketball in Yugoslavia |
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| | | | National teams | | Men |
- Yugoslavia
- U20 & U21
- U18 & U19
- U16 & U17
- University
|
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| | Women |
- Yugoslavia
- U20 & U21
- U18 & U19
- U16 & U17
- University
|
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|
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| | League competitions | |
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| | Cup competitions | |
|---|
|
Rabotnički
