PREFACE

Though soccer holds the designation of official sport of Spain , but basketball is equally admired the indigenous of Spain . Basketball is the second customary and also the second most followed game in Spain after soccer. The most important confederation for which the teams of Spain vie for is the ACB League (Basketball Clubs Association). This league was set up in 1983. Not only Spain but also all the domestic countries of Europe compete to be a part of this prestigious league. The criterion to participate in the league is not very complex. There is a regular league in what the Top 8 clubs make it to the playoffs. There are three playoffs rounds with five games in each. In the top level 18 teams struggle to reach the summit.

The ACB is a very professional league, as teams have an average budget of 5,685,574 euros (4,975,000 USD). The league allows two foreigner players (players without citizenship of country's league and coming from countries who don't have any agreement or treaty with the country's league) and there is no curtailing for Bosman-A players (p layers with citizenship of European Community and Economic European Area). The clubs hold eleven franchises each and the 12 th one is kept aside for the fresh player coming from the young teams. The average stipend for the players who compete in the league is around 276,465 euros which is equivalent to US$242,000. The ACB league also attracts number of admirers. The average is about 5,700 people per game. Adecco Estudiantes is one of the hottest teams in European basketball . After a dominant performance in ULEB Cup and a trip to the Spanish League finals, Estudiantes earned its way back to the Euroleague for 2004-05. This team attracts the average attendance of more than 12,000 people. Tau Ceramica and Pamesa Valencia are other clubs that attract more than 7,000 people at each of their games.

The other most important and exciting competition in Spain is the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup). The competition is a huge success. The tickets are without any delay sold out. Even more than 600 journalists come to cover each edition. The top 8 teams of the city compete in the first lap of the league. The second division in the Spanish Basketball also known as LEB consists of the teams that are demoted by the ACB regular league. The playoffs between the LEB-1 and LEB-2 are organized by the Spanish Federation. Both leagues are professional and consist of 16 teams each. The limitations of players are the same as in ACB. The next most important league in the Spain is EBA. It consists of 90 teams divided among 5 conferences.

The Spanish history of basketball has two main leading clubs: Real Madrid and Barcelona . They are the only teams in the ACB owned by a soccer club and have the biggest budgets. DKV Joventut, Manresa , Tau Ceramica, Unicaja Malaga, Pamesa Valencia , Adecco Estudiantes and Caja San Fernando are some of the other leading clubs. The Spanish teams are considered to very commanding in the ACB. But the Spanish National Team is not that successful, as it has never won any European or World Championship. The team is coached by Javier Imbroda and is constantly improving.