Yugoslav First Basketball League

Yugoslav Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1945
Ceased	1992
Countries	SFR Yugoslavia
Continent	FIBA Europe (Europe)
Most titles	(12) KK Crvena zvezda
Related competitions	Yugoslav Basketball Cup
Level on pyramid	1st Tier; (SFR Yugoslavia)
Relegation to	Yugoslav 1. B League

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

.....1945 Jugoslovenska Armija
.....1946 Crvena Zvezda
.....1947 Crvena Zvezda
.....1948 Crvena Zvezda
.....1949 Crvena Zvezda
.....1950 Crvena Zvezda
.....1951 Crvena Zvezda
.....1952 Crvena Zvezda
.....1953 Crvena Zvezda
.....1954 Crvena Zvezda
.....1955 Crvena Zvezda
.....1956 Proleter Zrenjanin

.....1957 Olimpija
.....1958 OKK Belgrade
.....1959 Olimpija
.....1960 OKK Belgrade
.....1961 Olimpija
.....1962 Olimpija
.....1963 OKK Belgrade
.....1964 OKK Belgrade
.....1965 Zadar
.....1966 Olimpija
.....1967 Zadar
1967-68 Zadar

1968-69 Crvena Zvezda
1969-70 Olimpija
1970-71 Split (Jugoplastika)
1971-72 Crvena Zvezda
1972-73 Radnički Belgrade
1973-74 Zadar
1974-75 Zadar
1975-76 Partizan
1976-77 Split (Jugoplastika)
1977-78 Bosna
1978-79 Partizan
1979-80 Bosna

1980-81 Partizan
1981-82 Cibona
1982-83 Bosna ^{[Note 1]}^[2]
1983-84 Cibona
1984-85 Cibona
1985-86 Zadar
1986-87 Partizan
1987-88 Split (Jugoplastika)
1988-89 Split (Jugoplastika)
1989-90 Split (Jugoplastika)
1990-91 Split (Pop 84)
1991-92 Partizan

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 Belgrade	1958, 1960, 1963, 1964
3	Bosna	1977-78, 1979–80, 1982–83
3	Cibona	1981-82, 1983–84, 1984–85
1	Jugoslovenska Armija	1945
	Proleter Zrenjanin	1956
	Radnički Belgrade	1972-73

Performance by Republic 1946-1992

Titles	Republic
23	Serbia
15	Croatia
6	Slovenia
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina

Play-off Finals

Season	Home court advantage	Result	Home court disadvantage	1st of Regular Season	Record
1981-82	Partizan	0–2	Cibona	Partizan	18–4
1982-83	Šibenka	1–2	Bosna	Šibenka	16–6
1983-84	Cibona	2–1	Crvena Zvezda	Cibona	16–6
1984-85	Cibona	2–1	Crvena Zvezda	Cibona	19–3
1985-86	Cibona	1–2	Zadar	Cibona	21–1
1986-87	Partizan	2–0	Crvena Zvezda	Cibona	22–0
1987-88	Jugoplastika Split	2–1	Partizan	Jugoplastika Split	21–1
1988-89	Partizan	0–2	Jugoplastika Split	Partizan	16–6
1989-90	Jugoplastika Split	3–1	Crvena Zvezda	Jugoplastika Split	19–3
1990-91	Pop 84 Split	3–0	Partizan	Pop 84 Split	19–3
1991-92	Partizan	3–0	Crvena Zvezda	Partizan	20–2

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 Belgrade			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:

Club	Champions	Finalist	Semifinalist	Quarterfinalist
Cibona	1981-82, 1986-87		1980-81, 1983-84, 1988-89	1969-70
Crvena Zvezda	1973-74	1971-72, 1974-75		1990-91
Split		1972-73		1985-86
Radnički Belgrade		1976-77		1978-79
Olimpija			1968-69, 1982-83	1967-68
Rabotnički			1975-76
Partizan				1966-67, 1989-90
Zadar				1970-71, 1979-80
Kvarner				1977-78
IMT Belgrade				1987-88

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 Belgrade		1972
Zadar			1981-82, 1982-83, 1988-89	1990-91

Notable players

Award winners

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

FIBA Hall of Fame

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players

50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors

Euroleague Final Four MVP

Dino Rađa (1989)
Toni Kukoč (1990, 1991, 1993)
Predrag Danilović (1992)
Žarko Paspalj (1994)
Zoran Savić (1998)
Željko Rebrača (2000)
Dejan Bodiroga (2002, 2003)

Euroleague Finals Top Scorer

FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer

Zoran Slavnić (1974, 1975)
Srećko Jarić (1977)
Andro Knego (1982)
Dragan Kićanović (1983)
Dražen Petrović (1987, 1989)
Branislav Prelević (1991, 1992, 1996)
Roman Horvat (1994)
Petar Naumoski (1995, 2002)
Predrag Danilović (2000)

FIBA Korać Cup Finals Top Scorer

Nikola Plećaš (1972)
Dražen Dalipagić (1974, 1978)
Željko Jerkov (1977)
Dragan Kićanović (1979)
Dražen Petrović (1988)
Vlade Divac (1989)
Aleksandar Đorđević (1993, 1999)
Teoman Alibegović (1995)
Petar Naumoski (1996)

Euroscar

Dražen Dalipagić (1980)
Dragan Kićanović (1981, 1982)
Dražen Petrović (1986, 1989, 1992, 1993)
Toni Kukoč (1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998)

Mr. Europa

Dražen Dalipagić (1977, 1978)
Dragan Kićanović (1981, 1982)
Dražen Petrović (1986, 1993)
Vlade Divac (1989)
Toni Kukoč (1990, 1991, 1992, 1996)
Aleksandar Đorđević (1994, 1995)

Notes

↑ On 9 April 1983, Šibenka and Bosna played the final game that was decided in the last second: Bosna's Hadžić fouled Šibenka's Petrović, who proceeded to score two free throws that won the game. The next morning, and after re-watching video-record of the last moments of the game, and establishing that foul happened after time had already elapsed, the presidency of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia voided the result and ordered a rematch in Novi Sad. Šibenka decided to boycott it, and the title was awarded to Bosna.^[1]

References

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[2] On 9 April 1983, Šibenka and Bosna played the final game that was decided in the last second: Bosna's Hadžić fouled Šibenka's Petrović, who proceeded to score two free throws that won the game. The next morning, and after re-watching video-record of the last moments of the game, and establishing that foul happened after time had already elapsed, the presidency of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia voided the result and ordered a rematch in Novi Sad. Šibenka decided to boycott it, and the title was awarded to Bosna.^[1]

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[Note 1]

[2]

[3]

[1]

v t e Yugoslav First Federal Basketball League (1945–1992)
Clubs	Bosna Borac Čačak Budućnost Cibona Crvena zvezda Čelik Dalvin Dinamo Pančevo Eđšeg Igman IMT Industromontaža Ivangrad Jugoplastika Jugoslovenska armija Kvarner Lesonit Lokomotiva Rijeka Makedonija Maribor 66 Metalac Milicionar Mladost MZT Skopje Novi Zagreb OKK Beograd Olimpija Oriolik Partizan Proleter Zrenjanin Rabotnički Radnički Belgrade Slavija Sloboda Tuzla Sloboda Užice Sloga Slovan Spartak Subotica Šibenka Vojvodina Zadar Zastava Kragujevac Zorka Šabac Železničar Belgrade Željezničar Karlovac Željezničar Sarajevo ŽKK Ljubljana ŽKK Maribor
Seasons	1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Statistics	Scoring leaders Career Annual
Associated competitions	Clubs in international competitions First B Federal League

Yugoslav First Basketball League

Contents

History

Title holders

Performance by club

Performance by Republic 1946-1992

Play-off Finals

Yugoslav basketball clubs in European-wide competitions 1958-1992

FIBA European Champions Cup

FIBA Saporta Cup

FIBA Korać Cup

Notable players

See also

Notes

References

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