Euroleague

The Euroleague is the highest European basketball league, pitting the top 24 teams from national European leagues against each other to determine the Euroleague champion. Following two group phases, a best-of-three quarterfinal round leads up to the Final Four, which - akin to the NCAA tournament format - is played out in single games over the course of weekend.

The most successful Euroleague team - as in football - is Real Madrid with eight titles, followed by Maccabi Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow and Pallacanestro Varese with five titles each. The reigning Euroleague champion is Panathinaikos Athens.

Many future NBA stars started their career with dominant performances in the Euroleague, including Toni Kukoc, Arvydas Sabonis and Manu Ginobili. Conversely, aging NBA stars found success on the other side of the Atlantic, most notably Bob McAdoo and Dominique Wilkins.

Created by: Ole