Liga Nacional de Básquetbol

The Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (abbreviated LNB, and literally in English, "National Basketball League"), also commonly referred to as "La Liga de Básquet" ("The Basketball League"), is the top-tier level of the Argentine basketball league system. The league is under the auspices of the Basketball Clubs' Association (in Spanish: Asociación de Clubes de Básquetbol). The LNB's predecessor league is the now defunct Campeonato Argentino de Clubes, which was organized by the Argentine Basketball Confederation.

The league was created through the efforts of basketball coach León Najnudel, and sports journalist Osvaldo Orcasitas, in the 1980s, to make Argentine men's club basketball more competitive, through the merging of the many existing local leagues. It is designed like the NBA, with a regular season, all-star game, and playoffs. However, unlike the NBA, the LNB has a promotion and relegation system, with the La Liga Argentina (LLA), the league level that is immediately below the LNB.

A tribute to Najnudel's vision, is the string of successes of the senior men's Argentine national basketball team, culminating with the team's Summer Olympic Games gold medal won at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and the international careers of many players who started in the league.

History

Creation Before the league was established, the regular tournament was Campeonato Argentino de Clubes where teams from all the provinces took part. The league had a regional format and playoffs.

For the 1984 edition there was 64 teams. The association decided to retire 10 teams, moving them to "Primera Nacional A".Resolución de 1983 para el Campeonato Argentino de Clubes Of those teams, 4 were from city of Buenos Aires, and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Santa Fe were represented by 2 teams each.

As a result, a number of 54 teams played the Argentino de clubes. At the end of the tournament, the six best placed team would promote to Primera A, and the rest of the clubs would be relegated to Primera B (second division).REGLAMENTO PARA LA ETAPA DE TRANSICION COMPETENCIA AÑO 1984

First seasons

The first edition of Liga Nacional was played within 1985, with 16 teams participating although Independiente de Tucumán abandoned the championship for economic reasons. The first game was played on April 26, 1985,"Se cumplen 30 años del primer partido oficial de la LNB", Basquet Plus, 26 Apr 2015 when San Lorenzo de Almagro faced Argentino de Firmat at Estadio Obras Sanitarias.

Ferro Carril Oeste was the first LNB champion after defeating Atenas de Córdoba in 3 games. The next season (1986), Ferro Carril Oeste won its second consecutive title, beating Olimpo de Bahía Blanca in 5 games (3–1 on aggregate). The Verdolaga played its third consecutive final series in 1987, but was finally defeated by Atenas, that won the first of 9 titles, being the most winning LNB team to date.

In 1988 Atenas won a second championship beating River Plate and the next year Ferro won another title, being the only title won by León Najnudel as coach.

Competition format Following a system similar to the European basketball leagues, the Liga Nacional features promotion and relegation. Contested by 20 teams, the top division is divided in two stages: the first one consists of a double round-robin competition, with standings decided by a points system. At the end of the season, teams placed 1st to 16th advance to the playoffs, while the last 2 teams play a series to avoid relegation.

The playoffs stage is divided in four parts, where winning teams qualify to the next stage while defeated teams retire from the tournament. The successive stages are quarter finals, semi-finals and the finals. Quarter and semi-finals are played in a 2-2-1 format (best-of-five) while finals are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, which rounds are best-of-seven series.

Clubs (2026–27 season) Club City Province Arena Capacity Argentino Junín Buenos Aires El Fortín de las Morochas Atenas Córdoba Córdoba Carlos Cerutti Boca Juniors Buenos Aires (autonomous city) Luis Conde Ciclista Olímpico La Banda Santiago del Estero Vicente Rosales Ferro Carril Oeste Buenos Aires (autonomous city) Héctor Etchart Gimnasia y Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia Chubut Socios Fundadores Independiente Oliva Córdoba El Gigante Instituto Córdoba Córdoba Angel Sandrin Lanús Lanús Buenos Aires Microestadio Antonio Rotili Oberá Tenis Club Oberá Misiones Dr. Luis Augusto Derna Peñarol Mar del Plata Buenos Aires Islas Malvinas Platense Florida Buenos Aires Microestadio Vicente López Quimsa Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero Estadio Ciudad Racing Club Chivilcoy Buenos Aires Grilon Arena Regatas Corrientes Corrientes José Jorge Contte San Lorenzo Buenos Aires (autonomous city) Roberto Pando San Martín Corrientes Corrientes Raúl A. Ortiz La Unión Formosa Formosa Cincuentenario Unión Santa Fe Santa Fe Ángel Malvicino

Notes

Champions List of finals Ed. Season Champion Series Runner-up Winning Coach Finals MVP Ferro Carril Oeste Atenas Luis Martínez Sebastián Uranga Ferro Carril Oeste Olimpo Luis Martínez Mike Schlegel Atenas Ferro Carril Oeste Walter Garrone Héctor Campana Atenas River Plate Walter Garrone Carlos Cerutti Ferro Carril Oeste Atenas León Najnudel Jim Thomas Atenas Cañadense Walter Garrone Marcelo Milanesio GEPU Estudiantes (BB) Daniel Rodríguez Héctor Campana Atenas GEPU Rubén Magnano Héctor Campana GEPU Atenas Orlando Ferratto Juan Espil Peñarol (MDP) Independiente (GP) Nestor García Esteban De la Fuente Independiente (GP) Olimpia (VT) Mario Guzmán Esteban De la Fuente Olimpia (VT) Atenas Horacio Seguí Jorge Racca Boca Juniors Independiente (GP) Julio Lamas Byron Wilson Atenas Boca Juniors Rubén Magnano Fabricio Oberto Atenas Independiente (GP) Rubén Magnano Diego Osella Estudiantes (O) Atenas Sergio Hernández Rubén Wolkowyski Estudiantes (O) Libertad Sergio Hernández Byron Wilson Atenas Estudiantes (O)Horacio Seguí Walter Herrmann Atenas Boca Juniors Oscar Sánchez Diego Lo Grippo Boca Juniors Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Sergio Hernández Byron Wilson Ben Hur Boca Juniors Julio Lamas Leonardo Gutiérrez Gimnasia y Esgrima (CR) Libertad Fernando Duró Gabriel Cocha Boca Juniors Peñarol Gabriel Piccato Leonardo Gutiérrez Libertad Quimsa Julio Lamas Laron Profit Atenas Peñarol Rubén Magnano Andre Laws Peñarol (MDP) Atenas Sergio Hernández Leonardo Gutiérrez Peñarol (MDP) Atenas Sergio Hernández Leonardo Gutiérrez Peñarol (MDP) Obras Sanitarias Sergio Hernández Facundo Campazzo Regatas (C) Lanús Nicolás Casalánguida Paolo Quinteros Peñarol (MDP) RegatasFernando RiveroFacundo Campazzo Quimsa Gimnasia y Esgrima (CR) Silvio Santander Robert Battle San Lorenzo La UniónJulio Lamas Walter Herrmann San Lorenzo Regatas Julio Lamas Gabriel Deck San Lorenzo San Martín (C)Gonzalo García Gabriel Deck San Lorenzo Instituto (C)Gonzalo García Dar Tucker San Lorenzo Quimsa Silvio Santander José Vildoza Instituto (C) Quimsa Lucas VictorianoMartín Cuello Quimsa Boca Juniors Leandro Ramella Eric Anderson Boca Juniors Instituto (C)Gonzalo Pérez José Vildoza Boca Juniors Instituto (C) Gonzalo Pérez José Vildoza Gimnasia y Esgrima (CR) Quimsa Pablo Favarel Seba Carrasco

Source: Básquet Plus

Titles by club

Club Titles Years won Atenas 9 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991–92, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2008–09 Peñarol 1993–94, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14 Boca Juniors 1996–97, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2023–24, 2024–25 San Lorenzo 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21 Ferro Carril Oeste 3 1985, 1986, 1989GEPU2 1990–91, 1992–93 Estudiantes (O) 1999–2000, 2000–01 Quimsa 2014–15, 2022–23 Gimnasia y Esgrima (CR) 2005–06, 2025-26Independiente1 1994–95 Olimpia 1995–96 Ben Hur 2004–05 Libertad 2007–08 Regatas Corrientes 2012–13Instituto2021–22

Awards

These are the yearly individual awards are given by the league as a recognition to the most valuable player (in both, regular season and finals) and the top scorer. Leonardo Gutiérrez was chosen finals MVP a record of 4 times, while Joe Bunn is the most times top scorer (5 seasons).

Statistical leaders

Retired numbers , 18 players have their jerseys retired. Atenas was the team which started this practice (in 2002, with legendary Marcelo Milanesio's #9)."Peñarol de Mar del Plata retiró la camiseta de 'Tato' Rodríguez", La Voz, 2011-11-23Milanesio y Campana homenajeados con el retiro de las míticas "9" y "5" Pick and Roll website, 2005-11-05Dorsales retirados que marcaron historia by Mariano Blanco, Diario Epoca, 11 May 2015

N° Club Player Pos. Tenure Ref. Quilmes (MdP) Eduardo Dominé SG 1990, 1991–2001 2009 Atenas Héctor Campana SG 1987–88, 1991–92, 1996–2000, 2002–04 2005 Atenas retira la camiseta de Héctor "Pichi" Campana , Infobae, 2005-07-12 Estudiantes (BB) Hernán Jasen SF 1996–99, 2012–18 2018 Se suma Jasen on Bahía Plus, 2 Sep 2018 Quilmes (MdP) Esteban De la Fuente SG 1991–93, 1995–97, 2004–05 2013 Atenas Bruno Lábaque PG 1994–2003, 2006–09, 2010–17 2017 Se retiró Lábaque con una derrota frente a Instituto, LNB website, 12 May 2017 Gimnasia y Esgrima (CR) Pablo Moldú SG 1994–2006 2019 Pablo Moldú: «Me llena de orgullo, es un reconocimiento enorme el que nos hace Gimnasia» on Meridiano Digital, 13 Feb 2019Básquet: Emotivo homenaje de Gimnasia de Comodoro Rivadavia al tornquistense Pablo Moldú on Noticias Tornquist, 15 Feb 2019 Quimsa Nicolás Aguirre PG 2011–13, 2014–15 2019 El repaso por las camisetas retiradas en la Liga Nacional on Basquet Plus, 14 Ago 2019 Peñarol (MdP) Tato Rodríguez PG 1994–1998, 1999–2003, 2004–2011 2011 "Peñarol retiró la camiseta de 'Tato' Rodríguez", La Voz del Interior, 2011-11-24"La camiseta de Tato dijo hasta siempre", Pickandroll.com.ar, 2011-11-24 (Archive) Quilmes (MdP) Guillermo García Oyaga PG 1970s–80s 2013 Gimnasia y Esgrima (CR) Gabriel Cocha SG 1991–92, 1994–98, 2003–07 2019 Quimsa Fernando Small PG 1998–2004, 2005–08 2019 Fernando Small retorna a Quimsa on Web Basketball, 15 Sep 2020 Atenas Marcelo Milanesio PG 1982–2002 2002 Estudiantes (BB) Juan Espil SG 1988–1992, 2010–12 2013 Espil tuvo su merecido homenaje en Bahía, Clarín, 23 February 2013 (archived) Atenas Diego Osella C 1988–1992, 1993–2001, 2003–2010 2011 Atenas retiró el 11 de Diego Osella, Gualeguaychú a Diario webpageAtenas retirará la camiseta 11 en homenaje a Diego Osella , La Mañana de Cordoba websiteAtenas retira la camiseta 11 de Osella, Día a Día Deportes Quimsa Miguel Cortijo PG 1998–2000 2011 "Siempre trabajé para soportar la presión del puesto", interview to Cortijo on La Nueva, 24 Feb 2004 Regatas Corrientes Paolo Quinteros SG 2011–22 SG Paolo Quinteros, leyenda: Regatas Corrientes retirará la camiseta número 13 on El Entre Ríos. 14 Dec 2022Paolo Quinteros quedó inmortalizado en el olimpo de Regatas on Basquetplus.com. 16 Dec 2022 Estudiantes (BB) Alberto Cabrera PG 1961–84 2004 "La 14 inmortal" Pick and Roll site, 2004-10-04 (Archive)Ordenanza Nº 14604, declarando "Sitio de Interés Cultural e Histórico" al Estadio Osvaldo Casanova 2008-01-08 Quimsa Gabriel Deck SF 2010–16 2019 Notes

Liga Nacional de Básquetbol

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