Turkey - BSL

Basketball league

Turkey BSL

Player list | Team list | Schedule | Standings | Leaders

Although a high school physical teacher by the name of Ahmet Robenson introduced basketball to Turkey in the early 1900, it was not untill 1966 that a national championship was officially organized in the country. Since then, the sport has grown immensely as major companies have invested large amounts of money into the League.

Beer producer Efes Pilsen, has given its name to a team in Istanbul in 1976 and remains the most decorated squad in the BSL with 14 titles. It also became the first Turkish club to win a European competition in any team sport bringing home the Korac Cup in 1996.

Other sponsors like Ülker, Tofas or Dogus followed, giving the opportunity to teams to sign some of the best players on the Continent.

The league is made up of 16 teams, 8 of them from Istanbul, including some historical clubs like Galatasaray, Besiktas or Fenerbahçe who shine not only in basketball but in other sports and whose rivaliries are legendaries.

Location: Europe

Country info: Turkey has 82 835 090 citizens (18th largest country in the world). Spoken language is Turkish. The country's largest city is Istanbul.

Regular-season schedule: September to April

Last 5 Turkey BSL Champions

Pinar Karsiyaka (2015), Fenerhabçe Istanbul (2016, 2017, 2018), Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2019)

All-Time Best Turkey BSL Basketball Players

Erman Kunter, Tamer Oyguc, Harun Erdenay, Ufuk Sarica, Orhun Ene, Petar Naumoski, Huseyin Besok, Kerem Tunceri, Emir Preldzic

From Turkey BSL to the NBA

Mirsad Turkcan, Mehmet Okur, Ibrahim Kutluay, Hidayet Turkoglu, Ersan Ilyasova, Omer Asik, Semih Erden, Enes Kanter, Furkan Aldemir, Furkan Korkmaz, Cedi Osman