Wikipedia - Lega Basket Serie A

The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier level of the Italian league system. The LBA plays under FIBA rules and currently consists of 16 teams, with the lowest-placed team relegated to the Serie A2 and replaced by the winner of the play-offs of that tier.

A total of 99 teams have competed in the LBA since its inception. Seventeen teams have been crowned champions, with Olimpia Milano having won the title a record 30 times, and Virtus Bologna 16 times. According to FIBA Europe's and Euroleague Basketball's national league coefficients, the LBA was the historically top ranked national domestic league in Europe, for the period 1958 to 2007. Today, the LBA is considered to be one of the top European national basketball leagues. Its clubs have won the most EuroLeague championships (13), the most FIBA Saporta Cups (15), and the most FIBA Korać Cups (10).

History

First years

The first men's basketball championship was held in Italy in 1920, organized by the Royal Italian National Gymnastics Federation and won by S.E.F. Costanza Milano, led by Carlo Andreoli. However, the first championship officially organized by the newly formed Italian Basketball Federation (FIP) was instead disputed in 1922. During the first years, Milan's teams dominated the league: in the initial six seasons, there were five successes for Assi Milano and one for Internazionale Milano. Between 1928 and 1935, Ginnastica Roma and Ginnastica Triestina alternatively won the championship.

In 1936, the championship was won by Olimpia Milano; the title was the first of 28 championships won by Olimpia over the decades. The team, coached by Giannino Valli, won four consecutive championships, only interrupted by Trieste in 1939–1940 and 1940–1941. In 1941–42 and 1942–43, the title was won by Reyer Venezia, however, the following two seasons were never held, due to the break out of World War II on Italian soil.

From 1945 to the 1970s

Bill Bradley with Simmenthal Milano in 1966.

At the end of the war, the league was characterized by the rise of Virtus Bologna, which won four consecutive seasons. Virtus would later become one of the most successful teams in Italy, capable of winning 16 titles through its history. From the 1949–50 season, the domination of Olimpia Milano began. Milan's team was able of winning 14 championships out of the 18 played up to 1966–67. The team, coached by Cesare Rubini, marked an unrepeatable dominance on the Italian league thanks to players like Sandro Gamba, Romeo Romanutti, Enrico Pagani and Bill Bradley. From 1954 to 1956, Virtus won the title again, achieving a so-called back-to-back under the leadership of Vittorio Tracuzzi, while in 1961 and 1964, Pallacanestro Varese was crowned Italian champion.

Bob Morse with Ignis Varese in 1973.

After the victory of Pallacanestro Cantù in 1968, Varese opened a new cycle of successes, winning 7 championships in 10 years, between 1968–69 and 1977–78. The team, led by Aldo Ossola, Dino Meneghin, Bob Morse, Manuel Raga and coached by Aza Nikolić, was widely considered one of the best in the history of Italian basketball, capable of winning five European titles during the same period. Olimpia Milano and Cantù respectively won the championship in 1972 and 1975, while Virtus won the title in 1976, coached by Dan Peterson, and achieved a back-to-back in 1978–79 and 1979–80, thanks to Krešimir Ćosić, one of the best centers in Europe, Renato Villalta, Carlo Caglieris and the captain Gianni Bertolotti.

The Golden Age of 1980s and 1990s

The 1980s and the 1990s are widely considered as the "golden age" of Italian basketball; during these decades, the Italian championship became one of the most competitive in the world, often considered to be the second one after NBA. The 1980s were characterized by a predominance of Olimpia Milano. The so-called "red shoes" were capable of winning five titles between 1981 and 1989, thanks to outstanding players like Mike D'Antoni, Bob McAdoo and Dino Meneghin. Cantù won its third title in 1981, while Virtus Roma won its first and only championship in 1983, under the leadership of the American point guard Larry Wright. In the 1983–84 season, Virtus Bologna won its tenth national title, defeating Olimpia Milano in the finals, while Victoria Libertas Pesaro was crowned Italian champion twice in 1988 and 1990.

Predrag Danilović with Buckler Beer Bologna in 1995.

The 1990s began with the historic success of Nando Gentile and Vincenzo Esposito's Phonola Caserta; as of today, this title is still the only one won by a team from Southern Italy. While the 1991–92 season was won by Toni Kukoč's Benetton Treviso. However, the 1990s were deeply marked by the dominance of Virtus Bologna: the "Black V" was able of winning four titles from 1992 to 1998, thanks to its Serbian star, Predrag Danilović, but also important players like Antoine Rigaudeau, Alessandro Abbio and Zoran Savić. Treviso won the title again in 1997, while Varese won its tenth national championship in 1999, thanks to young and talented players like Andrea Meneghin and Gianmarco Pozzecco.

The league through the 2000s and 2010s

The 1999–2000 championship was won by Carlton Myers's Fortitudo Bologna, winning for the first time after three consecutive lost finals between 1995–96 and 1997–98. In the following season, Virtus Bologna of Manu Ginóbili was crowned national champion once again. Moreover, the Black V was able of winning both the Italian Cup and the EuroLeague, achieving a so-called Triple Crown (known in Italy as Grande Slam). From 2002 to 2006, the Serie A was marked by a harsh rivalry between Benetton Treviso and Fortitudo Bologna: Treviso won the title in 2002, 2003 and 2006, always defeating Fortitudo in the national finals; Bologna's team won the title in 2005 against Olimpia Milano.

Shaun Stonerook with Montepaschi Siena in 2012.

In 2004, Mens Sana Siena won its first title, but it was only three years later, in 2007, that Siena would begun its dominance over the Italian league. From 2007 to 2013, the Tuscan team was able of winning seven consecutive titles, under the leaderships of Terrell McIntyre, Shaun Stonerook and Romain Sato. However, on 7 October 2016, following an investigation for accounting and fiscal fraud, the Court of the Italian Basketball Federation has revoked the championship titles awarded to Siena for the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons, two Italian Cups (2012 and 2013) and the 2013 Supercoppa. Following Siena's relegation, Olimpia Milano, under the new ownership of Giorgio Armani, won the championship again in 2014, 2016 and 2018, while Dinamo Sassari won its first title in 2015, becoming the first team from Sardinia to do so. In 2017 and 2019, Reyer Venezia returned to the top of Italian league after more than seven decades.

Recent seasons

The 2019–20 regular season saw a strong prominence of Virtus Bologna, however, the season was cancelled prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic and, for the first time since 1945, the Italian league did not assigned the title. In the following season, Miloš Teodosić's Virtus Bologna won its 16th title, defeating 4–0 its historic rival Olimpia Milano in the national finals. It was Virtus's first title after twenty years. In the following season, in a rematch of the latest finals, Olimpia Milano defeated Virtus Bologna 4–2.

세리에 A는 이탈리아의 최상위 농구 리그로, 매년 이탈리아에서 개최되는 농구 토너먼트입니다. 이 토너먼트는 이탈리아 농구 연맹에 의해 주최되며, 이탈리아에서 가장 역사와 전통이 깊은 농구 대회 중 하나입니다.

세리에 A는 이탈리아에서 가장 강력한 농구 팀들이 참가하여 경쟁을 펼치는 토너먼트로, 매 시즌 많은 팬들의 관심과 사랑을 받고 있습니다. 이탈리아 농구의 최고 수준을 보여주는 이 토너먼트는 농구 팬들에게는 놓칠 수 없는 행사로 손꼽히고 있습니다.

세리에 A는 매년 10월부터 다음 해 5월까지 진행되며, 총 18개의 팀이 참가합니다. 이 토너먼트에서는 각 팀이 정규 시즌 동안 경기를 치르고, 그 결과에 따라 플레이오프에 진출하게 됩니다. 플레이오프에서는 최종 우승을 결정하는 경기가 펼쳐지며, 이를 통해 이탈리아 농구의 챔피언이 탄생합니다.

세리에 A는 농구 경기의 질과 엔터테인먼트 요소를 모두 갖춘 대회로, 많은 스타 선수들이 참가하여 농구 팬들에게 흥미로운 경기를 선보입니다. 또한, 이탈리아의 다양한 도시에서 경기가 개최되기 때문에, 팬들은 다양한 장소에서 경기를 관람할 수 있습니다.

세리에 A는 이탈리아 농구의 최고봉이자, 유럽 농구의 중요한 대회 중 하나로 인정받고 있습니다. 이 토너먼트는 농구 팬들에게 열정과 스릴 넘치는 경기를 선사하며, 이탈리아 농구의 발전과 성장에 큰 역할을 하고 있습니다.