While many are completely soaked in watching the NBA on television, others also watch international basketball leagues outside the NBA. They might not be as intense as the NBA, but these basketball leagues will guarantee you a level of competency in the kind of basketball that you want. Here is the list of the top 5 best basketball leagues besides the NBA.
1. Euro League
If soccer has a Champions League, basketball has a Euroliga or the Euro League. The top European teams compete in this league. It might sound like a lesser 'NBA' version, but this league has gone far already in honing several talents to the NBA. In the EuroCup that the Euro League handled, each team has a chance to compete at the national level given that they have good bearings in their respective minor leagues.
Total teams: 18
Defending champion: CSKA Moscow
Notable NBA Players who played/is now playing: Luke Doncic, Nikola Mirotic, Jonas Jerebko, Greg Monroe, Milos Teodosic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Omri Casspi, Rudy Fernandez, Timofey Mozgov, Kosta Koufos
2. Spain's Liga ACB
Spain's ACB (Asociacion de Clubs de Baloncesto) had a two-team dynasty involving Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Not surprising as their dominance yield a total of 51 titles. This league from Spain is a home-grown sanctuary of the finest talents like in the Euro League, and they keep on improving each year.
Total teams: 18
Defending champion: Saski Basconia
Notable NBA Players who played/is now playing: Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Serge Ibaka, Pau Gasol, Lucas Nogueira, Victor Claver, Juancho Hernangomez, Sergio Llull, Jose Calderon
3. Turkish Basketball Super League
Founded in 1966, the Turkish league is catching up with the Spanish league in terms of players, games quality, and salaries. It will still take a long time before anyone knows that the existing Turkish league has a lot of room to improve. As of now, Anadolu Efes of Istanbul is the king of the league. Fenerbahce aims to best Efes in no time.
Teams in the current season: 16
Defending champion: Anadolu Efes
Notable NBA Players who played/is now playing: Hedo Turkoglu, Omer Asik, Enes Kanter, Ersan Ilyasova, Shane Larkin, Memet Okur, Cedi Osman, Furkan Korkmaz, Furkan Aldemir
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4. Russia's VTB United League
Russia is one of the rising leagues in the world. It might be a slow development for this league, but Russia could take on a different level of playing, following the elite Russian countries that serve as the training grounds for the NBA aspirants in the region.
Teams in the current season: 13
Defending champion: CSKA Moscow
Notable NBA Players who played/is now playing: Alexey Shved, Andrei Kirilenko, Sergey Karasev, Sasha Kaun, Serguei Bazarevitch, Joel Bolomboy, Alexander Volkov, Timofey Mozgov, Yaroslav Korolev, Sergio Monia
5. Germany's Basketball Bundesliga
It might be unnoticeable for a typical fan to witness the coming of German players in the NBA. Possibly, you could only see Dirk Nowitzki as an epitome of one of the greatest German basketball players in the world. Germany targets to be in the top 5 European leagues, and it could be a jumpstart for the country to conquer basketball.
Teams in the current season: 18
Defending champion: Alba Berlin
Notable NBA Players who played/is now playing: Dirk Nowitzki, Dennis Schroder, Isaac Bonga, Daniel Theis, Paul Zipser, Chris Kaman, Detlef Schrempf, Shawn Bradley, Maxi Kleber
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