Latvijas Basketbola līga

The Latvian Basketball League (LBL; Latvian: Latvijas Basketbola līga) also known as the Pafbet LBL for sponsorship reasons,^[1] is the national basketball championship in Latvia; composed of 6 teams. It is considered the biggest basketball league in Latvia. The LBL is a part of Latvian Basketball Association, which is the national governing body of basketball in Latvia.

Latvian Basketball League
Latvijas Basketbola līga (LBL)

Sport	Basketball
Founded	1992
No. of teams	6
Country	Latvia
Continent	FIBA Europe
Most recent champion(s)	VEF Riga (10th title)
Most titles	Ventspils VEF Riga (10 each)
TV partner(s)	Latvia: LTV7, TV4
Level on pyramid	1st tier
Official website	basket.lv

Its 6 teams are located in 5 cities; two in Riga, and one in Ventspils, Liepāja, Valmiera, and Ogre. The LBL season usually runs from September to April. The league was founded in 1992, and its first season was played in the same year.

History

Early years

The first LBL season was played in 1992. From 1992 to 1999 all championships were won by BK Brocēni, however, from 2000 to 2006 BK Ventspils were the champions. In 2007, ASK Rīga stopped BK Ventspils winning streak. BK Ventspils won again in 2009, beating Barons/LMT in a thriller 4–3. Barons would return to the final the following year, this time against VEF Rīga, and win by the same 4–3 margin. The 2011 final again went to 7 games, with VEF Rīga defeating Ventspils.

From 2012 to 2015, the league was known as Aldaris Latvijas Basketbola līga due to the AS Aldaris brewery becoming the general sponsor of the Latvian Basketball Association.^[2] In 2016, they were succeeded by betting brand Olybet and later Pafbet.

Teams

 

 

Ventspils

 

VEF Rīga

 

LU

 

Liepāja

 

Ogre

 

Valmiera GLASS VIA

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Location of teams in 2020–21 Latvian Basketball League

Team	Home city	Arena
Liepāja	Liepāja	Liepāja Olympic Center
Latvijas Universitāte	Rīga	OSC
Ogre	Ogre	Ogre's Secondary School No.1
Valmiera	Valmiera	Vidzeme Olympic Center
VEF Rīga	Rīga	OSC
Ventspils	Ventspils	Ventspils Olympic Center

Title holders

• 1992 Brocēni Parair
• 1992–93 Brocēni
• 1993–94 SWH Brocēni
• 1994–95 SWH Brocēni
• 1995–96 ASK Brocēni
• 1996–97 ASK Brocēni LMT
• 1997–98 ASK Brocēni LMT
• 1998–99 Brocēni LMT
• 1999–00 Ventspils
• 2000–01 Ventspils
• 2001–02 Ventspils
• 2002–03 Ventspils
• 2003–04 Ventspils
• 2004–05 Ventspils
• 2005–06 Ventspils
• 2006–07 ASK Riga
• 2007–08 Barons LMT
• 2008–09 Ventspils
• 2009–10 Barons LMT
• 2010–11 VEF Rīga
• 2011–12 VEF Rīga
• 2012–13 VEF Rīga
• 2013–14 Ventspils
• 2014–15 VEF Rīga
• 2015–16 Valmiera Ordo
• 2016–17 VEF Rīga
• 2017–18 Ventspils
• 2018–19 VEF Rīga
• 2019–20 VEF Rīga
• 2020–21 VEF Rīga
• 2021–22 VEF Rīga
• 2022–23 VEF Rīga

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years
Ventspils	10	12	2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014, 2018
VEF Rīga	10	4	2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Brocēni	8	2	1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Barons	2	3	2008, 2010
ASK Riga	1	1	2007
Valmiera	1	0	2016
Bonus	0	4
Skonto	0	3
Ogre	0	1
Metropole	0	1
Liepāja	0	1

The finals

Year Winner Runner-up Score Finals MVP 1992 Brocēni Parair Bonus 2–0 1993 Brocēni Bonus 3–0 1994 SWH Brocēni Bonus 3–0 1995 SWH Brocēni Bonus 4–3 1996 ASK Brocēni Metropole 4–2 1997 ASK Brocēni LMT Liepājas Baltika 4–0 1998 ASK Brocēni LMT Ventspils 4–1 Ainārs Bagatskis 1999 Brocēni LMT Ventspils 4–2 Edgars Šneps 2000 Ventspils Brocēni LMT 4–3 Aigars Vītols 2001 Ventspils BK LMT 4–1 2002 Ventspils Skonto 4–0 Kristaps Purnis 2003 Ventspils Skonto 4–1 2004 Ventspils Skonto 4–0 Kestutis Sestokas 2005 Ventspils Barons 4–0 Justin Love 2006 Ventspils Barons 4–0 Marijonas Petravičius 2007 ASK Riga Ventspils 4–2 Sandis Valters 2008 Barons LMT ASK Riga 4–1 Armands Šķēle 2009 Ventspils Barons LMT 4–3 Mareks Jurevičus 2010 Barons LMT VEF Rīga 4–3 Oritseweyinmi Efejuku

Year Winner Runner-up Score Finals MVP 2011 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–3 Sandis Valters 2012 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–1 Kristaps Janičenoks 2013 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–1 Earl Rowland 2014 Ventspils VEF Rīga 4–1 Jānis Timma 2015 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–2 Mareks Mejeris 2016 Valmiera Ordo VEF Rīga 4–3 Artūrs Bērziņš 2017 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–0 Mareks Mejeris 2018 Ventspils VEF Rīga 4–2 Aigars Šķēle 2019 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–1 Jabril Durham 2020 VEF Rīga Ogre Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 2021 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–0 Kyle Allman Jr. 2022 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–1 Kristers Zoriks 2023 VEF Rīga Ventspils 4–1 Nysier Brooks

References

1. "Pafbet LBL".
2. ""Aldaris" kļuvis par LBL ģenerālsponsoru" [Aldaris becomes LBL general sponsor]. Apollo (in Latvian). 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2023-08-31.

External links

• Official Website (in Latvian)
• Eurobasket.com League Page