The Best Basketball Teams in Turkey
You might think that the only sport Turkey is famous for its football. We are all very familiar with the crazy matches between the biggest teams, and the loud atmosphere at the big stadiums, but did you know that basketball is actually extremely popular in Turkey too?
The Turkish Basketball League was founded way back in 1966, and it currently includes 16 teams within it. The best basketball teams in Turkey regularly play the biggest European teams for titles, and matches draw big crowds on a regular basis. If you can get tickets to a basketball match whilst visiting Turkey, this is a must do. You’ll enjoy a real family atmosphere, and you’ll be screaming for your new favourite side before you know it!
Of course, you need to know about the best Turkish basketball teams before you can really pick a side, so let’s concentrate on some of the most successful teams in Turkey over the last few years. You’ll notice that some of them mirror the names of the biggest football teams in Turkey, which can get a little confusing if you’re watching a sports channel and you don’t speak the language too well!
Adadolu Efes
This club is one of the oldest and most successful in Turkey, and it dates back to 1976. The club won its first title in the ’78-79 season and has won the league a huge 13 times, as well as the prestigious Turkish cup 10times too. You want more? They wont the President’ Cup another 10 times. That’s what you call successful!
To keep the success going, Adadolu Efes founded a very intense youth program, which aims to train youngsters to be the best in their game, with some of them going on to play in the American NBA, such as Mirsad Turkcan.
Fenerbahce
Yes, there is a very famous football club by the same name, but for now we’re talking about the basketball team. They are part of the same club, with both Fenerbahce and Galatasaray (more on them shortly) both being multi-sports clubs for athletes. Fenerbahce regularly compete in the glittering EuroLeague, against some of the biggest names in European basketball, reaching the last four on two occasions. In addition, they have won the home Super League seven times.
Istanbul Teknik Universitesi
Istanbul Tenik Universitesi is one of the most famous and successful clubs in the league, having won five times. Dating back to 1953, the club had a golden era of winning the league on back to back occasions, but times took a dip after that, and the team are now no longer in the top league of Turkish basketball. We had to mention them on our top list however, becuase of their history and the age of the club! There are many hopes that the team will win promotion back to the top tier and compete at the highest level once more.
Galatasaray
Just like Fenerbahce, Galatasaray is most famous for its football team, but its basketball team are also pretty successful too! The team have won the national league 5 times, n they won the Eurocup in 2016, beating some of Europe’s best basketball teams.
Whilst football will always be number one in Turkey, there’s no denying that basketball runs a clos second. The finals of cup competitions and the last couple of games of the basketball season are always close run affairs between the biggest teams, and they draw huge excitement and attention amongst fans.
