A1 Ethniki

The A1 Ethniki (often referred to as Greek League or Greek Championship) is the highest professional basketball competition among pro clubs in Greece. The first Greek Championship was held in 1928 by the Greek Basketball Federation which organized all the championships until 1992.

History

There are three different Championship periods. The first one lasted from 1928 to 1963, when there wasn't a national championship and the champions of every district played at a later stage to define the Greek Champion. The second era started in the 1963-64 season when the Greek First Division (A Ethniki) was founded. Since the 1986-87 season, the A1 division (with regular season and playoffs) and the A2 division (called the A2 Ethniki or Greek A2 League) have existed.

The Greek League has been one of the most competitive basketball leagues in Europe through the years, and it currently ranks among the best national domestic leagues in the world (excluding the NBA), such as the Spanish League, the Italian League and the Russian League. The league has several great powers which belong to the most traditional European basketball clubs, especially the Euroleague giants Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. Other teams that have made significant success throughout the long history of Greek basketball are Aris and AEK Athens. These teams along with PAOK are considered the most successful Greek teams.

Despite the championship being contested 67 times, only nine teams have won so far. The dominating team of the league has been Panathinaikos, having earned the championship 28 times. Only three teams have participated in every championship since the foundation of the first division in 1964: Panathinaikos, AEK Athens and Aris.

Promotion and relegation

A Ethniki, in its current form, has been organized since the 1992-93 season by the Greek Basketball Clubs Association (HEBA, in English, "Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association"). 32 pro Greek basketball teams are split into two different divisions. The first division championship, which is called the "A1", in which 14 teams compete for the Greek National Championship and the second level championship, which is called the "A2", in which 18 teams compete for the second division crown. The bottom two place finishing teams each year in the A1 division standings are relegated to the A2 Ethniki due to poor performance, while the top 2 teams each year from the A2 division are promoted to the A1 Ethniki due to good performance.

Teams

The clubs for the 2008-09 season are:

Club	Position 2007-08	Arena Location	Seating Capacity
AEK Athens	7th	Sporting Sports Arena Patissia, Athens	2,200
AEL 1964 GS Larissa	10th	Larissa Neapolis Arena Larissa	4,000
Aris Thessaloniki	5th	Alexandrio Melathron Saloniki	5,200
Egaleo AO Athens	9th	Egaleo Indoor Hall Egaleo, Athens	1,200
Kavala-Panorama	2nd Greek A2 League	Kalamitsa Sports Center Kavala	1,700
AO Kolossos Rhodes	11th	Venetoklio Indoor Hall Rhodes	1,242
Maroussi Costa Coffee Athens	4th	Maroussi Indoor Hall Maroussi, Athens	1,350
Olympia Athienitis Larissa	8th	Larissa Neapolis Arena Larissa	4,000
Olympiacos Piraeus	2nd	Peace and Friendship Stadium (SEF) Faliro, Athens	12,171-14,776
Panathinaikos AO Athens	1st	Olympic Indoor Hall Maroussi, Athens	18,900-20,000+
Panellinios GS Athens	6th	Panellinios Indoor Hall Kypseli, Athens	1,100
Panionios On Telecoms Athens	3rd	Helliniko Indoor Arena Ellinikon, Athens	15,000
PAOK Thessaloniki	12th	PAOK Sports Arena Saloniki	8,650
AS Trikala 2000	1st Greek A2 League	Trikala Indoor Hall Trikala	2,000

Champions

• 1927-28 to 1962-63: Panhellenic Championship
• 1963-64 to 1985-86: A Ethniki
• 1986-87 to present: A1 Ethniki

Season Team 1927-28 Iraklis 1928-29 Panellinios 1929-30 Aris 1930-31 not held 1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 1934-35 Iraklis 1935-36 Near East 1936-37 Athens University 1937-38 not held 1938-39 Panellinios 1939-40 Panellinios 1940-41 not held due to World War II 1941-42 1942-43 1943-44 1944-45 1945-46 Panathinaikos 1946-47 Panathinaikos 1947-48 not held 1948-49 Olympiacos Piraeus 1949-50 Panathinaikos 1950-51 Panathinaikos 1951-52 not held 1952-53 Panellinios 1953-54 Panathinaikos

Season Team 1954-55 Panellinios 1955-56 not held 1956-57 Panellinios 1957-58 AEK Athens 1958-59 PAOK 1959-60 Olympiacos Piraeus 1960-61 Panathinaikos 1961-62 Panathinaikos 1962-63 AEK Athens 1963-64 AEK Athens 1964-65 AEK Athens 1965-66 AEK Athens 1966-67 Panathinaikos 1967-68 AEK Athens 1968-69 Panathinaikos 1969-70 AEK Athens 1970-71 Panathinaikos 1971-72 Panathinaikos 1972-73 Panathinaikos 1973-74 Panathinaikos 1974-75 Panathinaikos 1975-76 Olympiacos Piraeus 1976-77 Panathinaikos 1977-78 Olympiacos Piraeus 1978-79 Aris 1979-80 Panathinaikos 1980-81 Panathinaikos

Season Team 1981-82 Panathinaikos 1982-83 Aris 1983-84 Panathinaikos 1984-85 Aris 1985-86 Aris 1986-87 Aris 1987-88 Aris 1988-89 Aris 1989-90 Aris 1990-91 Aris 1991-92 PAOK 1992-93 Olympiacos Piraeus 1993-94 Olympiacos Piraeus 1994-95 Olympiacos Piraeus 1995-96 Olympiacos Piraeus 1996-97 Olympiacos Piraeus 1997-98 Panathinaikos 1998-99 Panathinaikos 1999-00 Panathinaikos 2000-01 Panathinaikos 2001-02 AEK Athens 2002-03 Panathinaikos 2003-04 Panathinaikos 2004-05 Panathinaikos 2005-06 Panathinaikos 2006-07 Panathinaikos 2007-08 Panathinaikos

Performance By Club

Team	Winners	Years Won
Panathinaikos	29	1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Aris	10	1930, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991
Olympiacos Piraeus	9	1949, 1960, 1976, 1978, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
AEK Athens	8	1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 2002
Panellinios	6	1929, 1939, 1940, 1953, 1955, 1957
Iraklis	2	1928, 1935
PAOK	2	1959, 1992
Near East	1	1936
Athens University	1	1937

A1 Finals

Season	Home advantage	Challenger	Result	1st of Regular Season	Record
1992-93	Panathinaikos	Olympiacos Piraeus	1-3	PAOK	22-4
1993-94	Olympiacos Piraeus	PAOK	3-2	Olympiacos Piraeus	22-4
1994-95	Olympiacos Piraeus	Panathinaikos	3-2	Olympiacos Piraeus	24-2
1995-96	Olympiacos Piraeus	Panathinaikos	3-2	Olympiacos Piraeus	24-2
1996-97	Olympiacos Piraeus	AEK Athens	3-1	Olympiacos Piraeus	21-5
1997-98	Panathinaikos	PAOK	3-2	Panathinaikos	21-5
1998-99	Olympiacos Piraeus	Panathinaikos	2-3	Olympiacos Piraeus	21-5
1999-00	Panathinaikos	PAOK	3-0	Olympiacos Piraeus	21-5
2000-01	Panathinaikos	Olympiacos Piraeus	3-2	Panathinaikos	22-4
2001-02	AEK Athens	Olympiacos Piraeus	3-2	AEK Athens	23-3
2002-03	Panathinaikos	AEK Athens	3-1	Panathinaikos	21-5
2003-04	Panathinaikos	Maroussi	3-0	Panathinaikos	22-4
2004-05	Panathinaikos	AEK Athens	3-1	Panathinaikos	22-4
2005-06	Panathinaikos	Olympiacos Piraeus	3-0	Panathinaikos	24-2
2006-07	Panathinaikos	Olympiacos Piraeus	3-2	Panathinaikos	24-2
2007-08	Panathinaikos	Olympiacos Piraeus	3-2	Panathinaikos	23-3

By Club

Club	W	L	Total
Panathinaikos	10	3	13
Olympiacos Piraeus	5	6	11
AEK Athens	1	3	4
PAOK	0	3	3
Maroussi	0	1	1

Greek League MVP Awards

Season	Regular Season MVP (Team)	Playoff MVP (Team)
1986-87	Panagiotis Giannakis (Aris Thessaloniki)	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)
1987-88	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)
1988-89	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)
1989-90	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)
1990-91	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)	Nikos Galis (Aris Thessaloniki)
1991-92	Žarko Paspalj (Olympiacos Piraeus)	Panagiotis Fasoulas (PAOK)
1992-93	Walter Berry (Olympiacos Piraeus)	Žarko Paspalj (Olympiacos Piraeus)
1993-94	Walter Berry (PAOK)	Žarko Paspalj (Olympiacos Piraeus)
1994-95	Walter Berry (Iraklis)	Eddie Johnson (Olympiacos Piraeus)
1995-96	Giorgos Sigalas (Olympiacos Piraeus)	Giorgos Sigalas (Olympiacos Piraeus)
1996-97	David Rivers (Olympiacos Piraeus)	David Rivers (Olympiacos Piraeus)
1997-98	Predrag Stojaković (PAOK)	Byron Scott (Panathinaikos)
1998-99	Dejan Bodiroga (Panathinaikos)	Dino Rađa (Panathinaikos)
1999-00	Dejan Bodiroga (Panathinaikos)	Željko Rebrača (Panathinaikos)
2000-01	Alphonso Ford (Peristeri)	Željko Rebrača (Panathinaikos)
2001-02	Dimosthenis Dikoudis (AEK Athens)	Dimosthenis Dikoudis (AEK Athens)
2002-03	Larry Ayuso (Ionikos N.F.)	Fragiskos Alvertis (Panathinaikos)
2003-04	Dimitris Diamantidis (Iraklis)	Nikos Hatzivrettas (Panathinaikos)
2004-05	Jaka Lakovič (Panathinaikos)	Jaka Lakovič (Panathinaikos)
2005-06	Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos)	Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos)
2006-07	Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos)	Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos)
2007-08	Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos)	Dimitris Diamantidis (Panathinaikos)

Best Young Player

2006-07: Giorgos Printezis (Olympia Larissas BC)

2007-08: Ian Vouyoukas (Rethymno BC)

Coach of the Year

2006-07: Zeljko Obradovic (Panathinaikos BC)

2007-08: Soulis Markopoulos (Maroussi BC)

Other Competitions

• Greek Basketball Cup
• Greek A2 League

External links

• Official HEBA Site
• Official Hellenic Basketball Federation Site
• A1 League at Sportime magazine (Greek)
• Galanis Sports Data