Polish Basketball League

Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crowned the Polish Champions of that season. It began in 1947–48, with the name of I Liga, and was originally organized by the Polish Basketball Federation. The league changed to its current form, beginning with the 1997–98 season, after the Polska Liga Koszykówki SA, PLK SA (the Polish Basketball League Joint-stock company) took control over the league (the PLK SA was created in 1995).[1] In 2000–01 season the league turned professional.

Energa Basket Liga
Founded1995; 29 years ago (1995)
First season1995–96
CountryPoland
FederationPZKosz
ConfederationFIBA Europe
Number of teams16
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toI Liga
Domestic cup(s)Polish Cup
SupercupPolish Supercup
International cup(s)Eurocup Basketball
Champions League
FIBA Europe Cup
Current championsTrefl Sopot (1st title)
(2023–24)
Most championshipsŚląsk Wrocław (18 titles)
All-time top scorerEugeniusz Kijewski (10,185)
TV partnersPolsat Sport
Websitewww.plk.pl
2024–25 PLK season

The PLK, which is played under FIBA rules, currently consists of 16 teams. A PLK season is split into a league stage and a playoffs stage (since 1984–85 season). At the end of the league stage, the top eight teams qualify for the playoff stage.

The competition Polish basketball men's championships has existed since the year 1928. Śląsk Wrocław is the record holder for most titles, with 18.

King Szczecin are the defending champions.

Naming and logos

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Due to sponsorship reasons, the league has known several names:

  • 1997–1999: Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK)
  • 1999–2001: Lech Basket Liga (LBL)
  • 2001–2003: Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK)
  • 2003–2005: Era Basket Liga (EBL)
  • 2005–2006: Dominet Basket Liga (DBL)
  • 2006–2008: Dominet Bank Ekstraliga (DBE)
  • 2008–2010: Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK)
  • 2010–2016: Tauron Basket Liga (TBL)
  • 2016–2018: Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK)
  • 2018–2023: Energa Basket Liga[2]
  • 2023–present: Orlen Basket Liga (OBL)

Teams

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Team Location Arena Capacity
Anwil Włocławek Włocławek Hala Mistrzów 4,200
Arka Gdynia Gdynia Gdynia Sports Arena 5,500
WKS Śląsk Wrocław Wrocław Hala Orbita 3,000
Arged BM Slam Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski Ostrów Wielkopolski Arena Ostrów 5,000
GTK Gliwice Gliwice Centrum Sportowo-Kulturalne Łabędź / Gliwice Arena 400 / 15,000
Górnik Wałbrzych Wałbrzych Aqua Zdrój 1,200
Legia Warsaw Warsaw OSiR Bemowo 1,000
Enea Astoria Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz Sisu Arena 1,470
MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza Centrum Hall 2,944
Czarni Słupsk Słupsk Hala Gryfia 2,500
Twarde Pierniki Toruń Toruń Arena Toruń 6,248
Enea Zastal BC Zielona Góra Zielona Góra CRS Hall Zielona Góra 6,080
Pszczółka Start Lublin Lublin Globus Hall 5,000
PGE Spójnia Stargard Stargard Hala Miejska 2,500
Trefl Sopot Sopot Ergo Arena / Hala Stulecia Sopot 15,000 / 1,000
KING Szczecin Szczecin Netto Arena 7,403

Medalists

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The official PLK medals
Season Champion Runner-up Score Third place
1997–98 Śląsk Wrocław (13) Pruszków 4–3 Bobry Bytom
1998–99 Śląsk Wrocław (14) Włocławek 4–3 Bobry Bytom
1999–00 Śląsk Wrocław (15) Włocławek 4–1 Pruszków
2000–01 Śląsk Wrocław (16) Anwil Włocławek 4–1 Trefl Sopot
2001–02 Śląsk Wrocław (17) Trefl Sopot 4–1 Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski
2002–03 Włocławek (1) Trefl Sopot 4–2 Śląsk Wrocław
2003–04 Trefl Sopot (1) Śląsk Wrocław 4–1 Polonia Warszawa
2004–05 Trefl Sopot (2) Włocławek 4–2 Polonia Warszawa
2005–06 Trefl Sopot (3) Włocławek 4–1 Czarni Słupsk
2006–07 Trefl Sopot (4) Turów Zgorzelec 4–1 Śląsk Wrocław
2007–08 Trefl Sopot (5) Turów Zgorzelec 4–3 Śląsk Wrocław
2008–09 Trefl Sopot (6) Turów Zgorzelec 4–1 Włocławek
2009–10 Gdynia (7) Włocławek 4–0 Starogard Gdański
2010–11 Gdynia (8) Turów Zgorzelec 4–3 Czarni Słupsk
2011–12 Gdynia (9) Trefl Sopot 4–3 Zielona Góra
2012–13 Zielona Góra (1) Turów Zgorzelec 4–0 AZS Koszalin
2013–14 Turów Zgorzelec (1) Zielona Góra 4–2 Trefl Sopot
2014–15 Zielona Góra (2) Turów Zgorzelec 4–2 Czarni Słupsk
2015–16 Zielona Góra (3) Rosa Radom 4–0 Czarni Słupsk
2016–17 Zielona Góra (4) Toruń 4–1 Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski
2017–18 Włocławek (2) Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski 4–2 Toruń
2018–19 Włocławek (3) Toruń 4–3 Arka Gdynia
2019–20[a] Zielona Góra (5) Start Lublin Włocławek
2020–21 Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski (1) Zastal Zielona Góra 4–2 WKS Śląsk Wrocław
2021–22 Śląsk Wrocław (18) Legia Warszawa 4–1 Anwil Włocławek
2022–23 King Szczecin (1) Śląsk Wrocław 4–2 Anwil Włocławek
2023–24 Trefl Sopot (1) King Szczecin 4–3 WKS Śląsk Wrocław

Records and statistics

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Individual records

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The all-time scoring leaders of Poland's top-tier level men's pro club basketball competition, since the year 1947, when the competition began. From 1947 to 1975, official records of individual player statistics were not kept. The Polish Basketball Association officially began to keep the records of individual player statistics in 1976.

All-time scoring leaders (1947–present)

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Pos Player Total Points Scored
1. Edward Jurkiewicz 23,126

All-time scoring leaders (1976–present)

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The all-time scoring leaders of Poland's top-tier level men's pro club basketball competition, since the year 1976, when the Polish Basketball Association officially began to keep the records of individual player statistics.

Pos Player Total Points Scored Games Played
1. Eugeniusz Kijewski 10,185 395
2. Adam Wójcik 10,097 651
3. Edward Jurkiewicz 9,832 306
4. Jerzy Bińkowski 9,204 586
5. Mieczysław Młynarski 9,026 357
6. Mariusz Bacik 8,706 627
7. Maciej Zieliński 8,650 579
8. Andrzej Pluta 8,512 591
9. Henryk Wardach 8,163 557
10. Dominik Tomczyk 8,008 556
11. Jarosław Jechorek 7,681 489
12. Dariusz Zelig 7,481 420
13. Eugeniusz Durejko 7,048 365
14. Jarosław Marcinkowski 6,979 499
15. Jarosław Zyskowski 6,774 484

Single game scoring highs

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  1.   Mieczysław Młynarski: 90 points (1982–83 season: Górnik Wałbrzych versus Pogoń Szczecin: 10 December 1982)
  2.   Edward Jurkiewicz: 84 points (1969–70 season: Wybrzeże Gdańsk versus Baildon Katowice: March 15 March 1970)
  3.   Mieczysław Łopatka: 77 points (1962–63 season: Śląsk Wrocław versus AZS Gdańsk)
  4.   Leszek Doliński: 74 points (1988–89 season: Gwardia Wrocław versus AZS Koszalin)
  5.   Edward Jurkiewicz: 67 points (1974–75 season: Górnik Wałbrzych versus Wybrzeże Gdańsk: 9 October 1974)
  6.   Mieczysław Młynarski: 63 points (1982–83 season: Górnik Wałbrzych versus Pogoń Szczecin)

Team records

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  • Highest attendance in a single game:
10,152Trefl Sopot vs Asseco Prokom Gdynia, at Ergo Arena on 14 April 2012

Individual awards

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After the end of each season, individual honors are given to the best performing players of a season. A select group of press members vote for the winners of individual awards.

List of Polish basketball champions

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Titles by club

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Club Champions Winning years
Śląsk Wrocław
18
1965, 1970, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2022
Lech Poznań
11
1935, 1939, 1946, 1949, 1951, 1955, 1958, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990
Arka Gdynia
9
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Legia Warsaw
7
1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1969
Wisła Kraków
6
1954, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1974, 1976
Zastal Zielona Góra
5
2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020
AZS Poznań
4
1930, 1931, 1932, 1937
Wybrzeże Gdańsk
4
1971, 1972, 1973, 1978
KK Włocławek
3
2003, 2018, 2019
YMCA Kraków
2
1933, 1934
Cracovia
2
1929, 1938
Społem Łódź
2
1950, 1952
AZS Warsaw
2
1947, 1967
Zagłębie Sosnowiec
2
1985, 1986
Górnik Wałbrzych
2
1982, 1988
MKS Znicz Basket Pruszków
2
1995, 1997
Czarna Trzynastka Poznań
1
1928
YMCA Łódź
1
1948
ŁKS Łódź
1
1953
Polonia Warsaw
1
1959
Resovia
1
1975
Turów Zgorzelec
1
2014
Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski
1
2021
Wilki Morskie Szczecin
1
2023
Trefl Sopot
1
2024

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The 2019–20 PLK season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Standings at the time were declared final results.

References

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  1. ^ "uleb.com". Archived from the original on 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  2. ^ "Energa sponsorem polskiej koszykówki" (in Polish). Onet.pl. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
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