Liga Sudamericana de Baloncesto
The Liga Sudamericana de Baloncesto, or FIBA Liga Sudamericana de Baloncesto, also commonly known as FIBA South American League, is the [South American professional sports club|club basketball system|second-tier] level South American professional basketball competition at the club level, with the first-tier level now considered the panamerican competition of the Champions League. The competition is organized by the South American Basketball Association, which operates as a regional sub-zone of FIBA Americas, following the dissolution of the South American Basketball Confederation. The winner of each year's competition gets a place at the upcoming edition of the Basketball Champions League Americas.
The league usually includes some national domestic champions, and some runners-up, from the best national leagues and basketball countries on the South American continent. Depending on the country, places may be awarded on the basis of performance in the previous season's national domestic league, or over the previous two or three national domestic seasons. The tournament has been played since 1996, aside from 2003, 2020 and 2021.
History
The South American Championship of Champions Clubs, which was founded in 1946, was the first international club tournament played between basketball clubs from South America, and it was the first-tier and most important club competition in South America. In 1993, the Pan American Club Championship was launched including also Central American teams and was held annually until 2000.The FIBA South American League was founded in 1996 and became the top South American competition, with the historical South American Basketball Championship becoming now the second tier. The champions of the FIBA South American League would automatically earn a spot to the biennial World club competition of the McDonald's Championship which was supported by FIBA. Atenas in 1997 and Vasco da Gama in 1999 were the only two teams that represented South America in the competition which also included NBA champions. Atenas also represented South America as champions in the 1996 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
With the emergence of the new panamerican competition called the FIBA Americas League, in December 2007, the FIBA South American League became the second-tier international club championship in South America, beginning with the 2008 edition of the competition. The winner was also allocated a spot in the following year's FIBA Americas League.
On 24 September 2019, FIBA launched the competition, which derives its name and branding from the European Basketball Champions League. The competition replaced the FIBA Americas League as premier league in the Americas. The competition will consist of twelve teams, which have to qualify through their domestic leagues. The inaugural season is expected to start in October 2019.
The 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the league returned.
FIBA South American League levels on the South American pyramid
- 1st-tier:
- 2nd-tier:
Names of the top-tier level South American / Latin American competition
CONSUBASQUET era:- * Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes Campeones de Básquetbol :
- * Campeonato Panamericano de Clubes de Básquetbol :
- * Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol : FIBA Americas era:
- * FIBA Americas League:
- * Basketball Champions League Americas:
Title holders
- 1996 Olimpia
- 1997 Atenas
- 1998 Atenas
- 1999 Vasco da Gama
- 2000 Vasco da Gama
- 2001 Estudiantes
- 2002 Libertad
- 2003 Not held
- 2004 Atenas
- 2005 Unitri Uberlândia
- 2006 Ben Hur
- 2007 Libertad
- 2008 Regatas Corrientes
- 2009 Flamengo
- 2009 Quimsa
- 2010 Brasília
- 2011 Obras Sanitarias
- 2012 Regatas Corrientes
- 2013 Brasília
- 2014 Bauru
- 2015 Brasília
- 2016 Mogi das Cruzes
- 2017 Guaros de Lara
- 2018 Franca
- 2019 Botafogo
- 2022 Bauru
- 2023 Instituto
- 2024 Nacional
- 2025 Ferro Carril Oeste
Statistical leaders per season
The season usually started in February and ended in May until 2009. Then after the South American Champions Cup folded, it to moved to October until November.Top scorers
Since the beginning of the 1996 season :- 2007 Cleotis Brown III : 17.4
- 2008 Leandro García Morales : 23.5
- 2009 Marcelinho Machado : 24.9
- 2009 Guilherme Giovannoni : 23.7
- 2010 Marcelinho Machado : 25.6
- 2011 Marcelinho Machado : 18.8
- 2012 Paulinho Boracini : 22.3
- 2013 Leandro García Morales : 25.9
- 2014 Guilherme Giovannoni : 22
- 2015 Jeremiah Wood : 18.5
- 2016 Leandro García Morales : 23.3
- 2017 Heissler Guillent : 16.8
- 2018 Marquinhos Vieira : 22
- 2019 Samuel Yeager : 26.9
- 2022 Charles Mitchell : 18.1
- 2023 Emilio Cappare Guzmán : 20.7
- 2024 Derrick Woods : '''20.5'''
Most rebounds
Since the beginning of the 1996 season :- 2007 Robert Battle : 10.9
- 2008 Shilton dos Santos : 8.6
- 2009 Roberto Sebastian Lopez : 8.2
- 2009 Murilo Becker : 9.8
- 2010 Ricardo Luis Probst : 9.8
- 2011 Federico Kammerichs : 11.6
- 2012 Juan Pedro Gutiérrez : 9.3
- 2013 Murilo Becker : 10
- 2014 Bruno Fiorotto : 9.5
- 2015 Mathías Calfani : 8.5
- 2016 Justin Douglas Williams : 13
- 2017 Néstor Colmenares : 8.8
- 2018 Pablo Espinoza : 8.6
- 2019 Erik Thomas : 7.4
- 2022 Eloy Vargas : 11.6
- 2023 Eloy Vargas : 11
- 2024 Derrick Woods : '''10.8'''
Most assists
Since the beginning of the 1996 season :- 2007 Helio Rubens Garcia Filho : 5.9
- 2008 Facundo Sucatzky : 5.8
- 2009 Valtinho da Silva : 5
- 2009 Valtinho da Silva : 8
- 2010 Nezinho dos Santos : 5.3
- 2011 Nezinho dos Santos : 5.3
- 2012 Nezinho dos Santos : 6.5
- 2013 Nezinho dos Santos : 6
- 2014 Fúlvio de Assis : 7.5
- 2015 Diego Ciorciari : 5
- 2016 Maximiliano Stanic : 8
- 2017 Leandro Vildoza : 4
- 2018 Gegê Chaia : 7.2
- 2019 Cordero Bennett : 5
- 2022 Jhornan Zamora : 6.3
- 2023 Joshua Webster : 5.6
- 2024 Lucas Perez : '''8.8'''
Index rating
- 2007 Robert Battle : 21.5
- 2008 Marcelinho Machado : 25.8
- 2009 Marcelinho Machado : 25.5
- 2009 Murilo Becker : 27
- 2010 Marcelinho Machado : 21.9
- 2011 Federico Kammerichs : 24.6
- 2012 Juan Pedro Gutiérrez : 21.8
- 2013 Alex Garcia : 23.3
- 2014 Guilherme Giovannoni : 24.5
- 2015 Jeremiah Wood : 24.3
- 2016 Leandro García Morales : '''22.2'''
Awards
Liga Sudamericana Series Finals Top Scorers
The competition was held in a play-off format of at least 2 games, before it shifted to a single final.| Season | Top scorer | Club | Total points Scored | References |
| 1996 | ![]() |
