2023–24 Basketball Champions League

The 2023–24 Basketball Champions League was the 8th season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), the premier^{[citation needed]} European professional basketball competition for clubs launched by FIBA. The season began on 17 October 2023 and ended with the championship game on 28 April 2024.^[1]

Basketball Champions League
The Štark Arena in Belgrade hosted the Final Four
Season	2023–24
Dates	Qualifying: 24 September – 1 October 2023 Competition proper: 17 October 2023 – 28 April 2024
Teams	Competition proper: 32 Total: 53 (from 28 countries)
Regular season
Season MVP	Marcelo Huertas (Tenerife)
Finals
Champions	Unicaja (1st title)
Runners-up	Lenovo Tenerife
Third place	UCAM Murcia
Fourth place	Peristeri
Final Four MVP	Kendrick Perry (Unicaja)
Awards
Best Coach	Vassilis Spanoulis (Peristeri)
Best Young Player	Tidjane Salaün (Cholet)
Statistical leaders
Points Kyle Guy (Tenerife) 21.5 Rebounds Austin Wiley (Tofaş) 8.9 Assists Joe Ragland (Peristeri) 8.9
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Telekom Baskets Bonn were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Peristeri in the quarter-finals. The Štark Arena in Belgrade hosted the Final Four and the championship game, the second time the competition had a neutral venue for its conclusion.^[1] Unicaja won its first Champions League title following their win over Lenovo Tenerife in the final.^[2] As champions, Unicaja also qualified for the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

Team allocation

Country rankings

The BCL Country Ranking is used to define the number of clubs each country is entitled to enter into the various stages of the BCL.

The results are based on the results of the past three seasons (the 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons).^[3]

Rank Association Average points Teams 1  Spain 104.75 5 2  Germany 69.00 4 3  France 63.77 4  Turkey 63.20 5 5  Israel 63.00 3 6  Bosnia and Herzegovina 63.00 1 7  Czech Republic 56.00 8  Hungary 49.00 9  Greece 43.25 4 10  Italy 41.33 11  Romania 41.00 1 12  Russia (suspended) 40.50 0 13  Latvia 38.00 1 14  Belgium 34.50 2 15  Lithuania 34.50 16  Ukraine 26.00 0 17  Denmark 24.00 1 18  Portugal 21.00

Rank Association Average points Teams 19  Poland 19.00 2 20  Belarus 15.00 0 21  Estonia 12.00 1 22  Cyprus 8.00 23  Switzerland 7.00 24  Netherlands 4.00 25  Slovakia 4.00 26  Serbia 4.00 27  Finland 3.00 28  Great Britain 3.00 29  Austria 3.00 0 30  Croatia 2.00 31  Montenegro 2.00 32  Bulgaria 2.00 33  Sweden 1.00 1 34  North Macedonia 1.00 0 35  Kosovo 1.00 1

Teams

A total of 54 teams from 29 countries participated in the 2023–24 Basketball Champions League.^[4] 15 of them were domestic champions in the previous season. Two teams were invited as a wild card entries.^[5]

If one or more clubs do not exercise their right to participate in the BCL, the FIBA may decide to allocate the respective place(s) to other clubs of the same or other National Federation(s).^[6]

League positions after playoffs of the previous season shown in parentheses. The Basketball Champions League rankings are taken into consideration.

• TH: Champions League title holders
• WC: Wild card.
• AV: Allocation vacant.^NOTE

NOTE: According to BCL rankings, National Federations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia and Hungary should had two berths in Regular season, as well as one berth for the champion of Romania (U-BT Cluj Napoca decided to play Eurocup), and one berth for the Russian representative (banned from competition). Their places were allocated to the teams from Turkey (3), Spain (1) and Poland (1).^{[citation needed]}

Qualified teams for 2023–24 Basketball Champions League (by entry round)

Regular season
Pınar Karşıyaka (2nd)	AEK (6th)WC	JDA Dijon (5th)	Opava (1st)
Bursaspor İnfo Yatırım (5th)	Unicaja (3rd)	Le Mans Sarthe (6th)	Falco Szombathely (1st)
Darüşşafaka Lassa (6th)AV	Lenovo Tenerife (6th)	Hapoel Jerusalem (3th)	VEF Rīga (1st)
Tofaş (7th)AV	UCAM Murcia (9th)	Hapoel Holon (4th)	Rytas (2nd)
Galatasaray Nef (8th)AV	Río Breogán (10th)AV	Bertram Derthona (3rd)	King Szczecin (1st)AV
Peristeri bwin (3rd)	Telekom Baskets Bonn (2nd)TH	Dinamo Sassari (4th)
PAOK (4th)	MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (4th)	Filou Oostende (1st)
Promitheas (5th)WC	EWE Baskets Oldenburg (6th)	Igokea (1st)
Qualifying rounds
Cholet (7th)	Kalev/Cramo (1st)	CBet Jonava (4th)	Patrioti Levice (1st)
SIG Strasbourg (8th)WC	Karhu (2nd)	Mornar Barsko zlato (3rd)	Monbus Obradoiro (11th)
Happy Casa Brindisi (7th)	TSU Tbilisi (1st)	Heroes Den Bosch (3rd)[Note NED]	Norrköping Dolphins (1st)
Openjobmetis Varese (13th)WC	Göttingen (7th)	Legia Warsaw (4th)WC	Fribourg Olympic (1st)
Telenet Giants Antwerp (2nd)	Caledonia Gladiators (4th)	Benfica (1st)
AEK Larnaca (1st)	Ironi Ness Ziona (6th)	CSM Oradea (2nd)
Bakken Bears (1st)	Peja (1st)	FMP Meridian (2nd)

Notes

1. ^
   Netherlands (NED): ZZ Leiden would have qualified as the winners of the 2022-23 BNXT Dutch Playoffs, but withdrew from applying because their arena did not meet FIBA Europe's capacity standards.^[7] As a result, the spot was given to Heroes Den Bosch, third in the national league.

Qualifying rounds

Draw

The draw for the qualifying rounds will be made on 5 July 2023. The 25 teams were divided into six pots. The top eight national champions from the unrepresented nations were placed into Pots 1 and 2, and the remaining clubs into Pots 3–6. Pots are arranged based on the competition's club ranking and, for clubs that have not yet participated in the competition, on the country ranking.^[8]

The three winners of the finals will then qualify for the regular season and join the 29 directly qualified teams in the main draw. The rest of the teams will be demoted, if they apply, to the FIBA Europe Cup.^[8]

Venue

On July 27, 2023, it was announced that Antalya Sports Hall in Antalya, Turkey, has been selected as the host city for the Qualification Rounds which was scheduled to take place from 24 September to 1 October.^[9]

Champions Path

Pot 1 Team Pts Bakken Bears 24 Benfica 18 Kalev/Cramo 11 Patrioti Levice 4

Pot 2 Team Pts Norrköping Dolphins 1 AEK Larnaca 1 Peja 1.00† TSU Tbilisi 0.00†

Main Path

Pot 3 Team Pts SIG Strasbourg 100 Happy Casa Brindisi 35 Cholet 11 Legia Warszaw 8

Pot 6 Team Pts CSM Oradea 41.00† CBet Jonava 36.50† Telenet Giants Antwerp 34.50† Winner of the Preliminary round

Preliminary Pot Team Pts Caledonia Gladiators 3.00† Fribourg Olympic 7

Pot 4 Team Pts FMP Meridian 4 Heroes Den Bosch 2 Karhu 2 Mornar Bar 2

Pot 5 Team Pts Monbus Obradoiro 102.25† Göttingen 67.75† Ironi Ness Ziona 62.00† Openjobmetis Varese 41.33†

Notes

^† Indicates teams with no club points, therefore using the country points as a tiebreaker.

Pre-qualifier

The pre-qualifier round match consists of a one leg match that is expected to take place at a neutral venue.

The winner of the pre-qualifiers round match will be drawn to Pot 6 and advanced to the main qualifying rounds. The losers of the pre-qualifiers is transferred (if they apply) to the FIBA Europe Cup

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Fribourg Olympic	57–51	Caledonia Gladiators

Qualification Group I

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	25 September
	Bakken Bears	103
					27 September
	Peja	79
					Bakken Bears	68
	25 September
					Norrköping Dolphins	78
	Kalev	78
									29 September
	Norrköping Dolphins	82
									Norrköping Dolphins	73
	25 September
									Benfica	83
	Benfica	122
					27 September
	TSU Tbilisi	62
					Benfica	87
	25 September
					AEK Larnaca	59
	Patrioti Levice	66
	AEK Larnaca	74

Qualification Group II

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	27 September
	Cholet	76
					29 September
	Antwerp Giants	72
					Cholet	96
	27 September
					Varese	88
	FMP	71
									1 October
	Varese	73
									Cholet	80
	27 September
									Brindisi	69
	Brindisi	77
					29 September
	Oradea	74
					Brindisi	78
	27 September
					Heroes Den Bosch	63
	Heroes Den Bosch	96
	Göttingen	84

Qualification Group III

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	26 September
	SIG Strasbourg	83
					28 September
	Jonava	78
					SIG Strasbourg	79
	26 September
					Ironi Ness Ziona	74
	Karhu	56
									30 September
	Ironi Ness Ziona	92
									SIG Strasbourg	82
	26 September
									Obradoiro	78
	Legia Warsaw	70
					28 September
	Fribourg Olympic	59
					Legia Warsaw	66
	26 September
					Obradoiro	74
	Mornar Bar	56
	Obradoiro	90

Regular season

Draw

The 29 teams that entered in the regular season directly were divided into four pots based firstly on the club ranking and, for clubs that have not yet participated in the competition, on the country ranking. The country protection rule will apply for the stage of the draw. Clubs cannot be drawn in groups with other clubs from the same country.^[8]

Pot 1 Team Pts Lenovo Tenerife 135 Hapoel Holon 98 Hapoel Jerusalem 78 Unicaja 75 Pınar Karşıyaka 71 Tofaş 69 AEK 67 JDA Dijon 65

Pot 2 Team Pts MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 64 Rytas 62 Galatasaray Nef 61 Telekom Baskets Bonn 56 Igokea 56 Falco Szombathely 52 Darüşşafaka Lassa 52 Filou Oostende 49

Pot 3 Team Pts Dinamo Sassari 40 VEF Rīga 38 UCAM Murcia 33 Peristeri bwin 30 PAOK 26 EWE Baskets Oldenburg 8 Bursaspor İnfo Yatırım 63.60† Promitheas 44.25†

Pot 4 Team Pts Opava 4 Le Mans Sarthe 2 Río Breogán 1 Bertram Derthona 41.33† King Szczecin 19.00† Benfica (Winner QF–T1) Cholet (Winner QF–T2) SIG Strasbourg (Winner QF–T3)

Notes

^† Indicates teams with no club points, therefore using the country points as a tiebreaker.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		UNI	LMS	PER	FAL
1	Unicaja	6	4	2	490	442	+48	10	Advance to round of 16		—	83–74	81–64	88–65
2	Le Mans Sarthe	6	3	3	477	463	+14	9	Advance to play-ins		85–78	—	96–68	63–81
3	Peristeri bwin	6	3	3	463	493	−30	9			76–73	78–86	—	87–70
4	Falco Szombathely	6	2	4	456	488	−32	8			78–87	75–73	87–90	—

Source: Groups standings

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		DIJ	RYT	PRO	OPA
1	JDA Dijon	6	5	1	526	441	+85	11	Advance to round of 16		—	87–83	88–80	99–64
2	Rytas	6	4	2	509	455	+54	10	Advance to play-ins		79–77	—	77–75	99–63
3	Promitheas	6	3	3	516	475	+41	9			68–71	78–76	—	115–66
4	Opava	6	0	6	432	612	−180	6			67–104	75–95	97–100	—

Source: Groups standings

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		TFE	CHO	DAR	VEF
1	Lenovo Tenerife	6	4	2	490	443	+47	10	Advance to round of 16		—	95–75	72–63	76–55
2	Cholet	6	3	3	485	495	−10	9	Advance to play-ins		85–91	—	97–86	74–73
3	Darüşşafaka Lassa	6	3	3	488	500	−12	9			88–84	80–91	—	87–81
4	VEF Rīga	6	2	4	431	456	−25	8			77–72	70–63	75–84	—

Source: Groups standings

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		AEK	LUD	DIN	SZC
1	AEK	6	5	1	528	461	+67	11	Advance to round of 16		—	84–79	110–79	86–64
2	MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	6	3	3	480	490	−10	9	Advance to play-ins		83–79	—	79–89	82–78
3	Dinamo Sassari	6	2	4	509	543	−34	8			79–83	80–97	—	97–81
4	King Szczecin	6	2	4	473	496	−23	8			77–86	80–60	93–85	—

Source: Groups standings

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		SIG	KAR	OOS	OLD
1	SIG Strasbourg	6	4	2	487	467	+20	10	Advance to round of 16		—	80–65	81–68	85–77
2	Pınar Karşıyaka	6	3	3	495	487	+8	9	Advance to play-ins		87–72	—	94–77	85–83
3	Filou Oostende	6	3	3	462	499	−37	9			87–84	78–76	—	88–83
4	EWE Baskets Oldenburg	6	2	4	504	495	+9	8			83–85	97–88	81–64	—

Source: Groups standings

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		BON	HOL	BRE	BUR
1	Telekom Baskets Bonn	6	3	3	497	473	+24	9	Advance to round of 16		—	74–75	86–71	82–92
2	Hapoel Holon	6	3	3	463	456	+7	9	Advance to play-ins		65–72	—	84–79	74–75
3	Rio Breogan	6	3	3	462	459	+3	9			97–92	82–72	—	68–48
4	Bursaspor İnfo Yatırım	6	3	3	439	473	−34	9			73–91	74–93	77–65	—

Source: Groups standings

Group G

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		JER	PAO	GAL	BEN
1	Hapoel Jerusalem	6	5	1	513	440	+73	11	Advance to round of 16		—	71–61	99–96	97–68
2	PAOK	6	3	3	455	478	−23	9	Advance to play-ins		79–77	—	79–85	76–74
3	Galatasaray Ekmas	6	3	3	513	492	+21	9			70–85	77–88	—	98–78
4	Benfica	6	1	5	443	514	−71	7			66–84	94–72	63–87	—

Source: Groups standings

Group H

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		UCM	DER	TOF	IGO
1	UCAM Murcia	6	5	1	517	427	+90	11	Advance to round of 16		—	87–75	115–89	72–47
2	Bertram Derthona	6	5	1	500	484	+16	11	Advance to play-ins		78–74	—	91–85	91–84
3	Tofaş	6	2	4	532	551	−19	8			75–90	80–88	—	99–65
4	Igokea	6	0	6	435	522	−87	6			63–79	74–77	102–104	—

Source: Groups standings

Play-ins

The Play-ins took place from 2 to 17 January 2024. The teams classified in second and third place in their respective groups of Basketball Champions League, went to the Play-ins. Winners advanced to the round of 16. The first legs were played on 2–3 January, the second legs on 9–10 January. Eventual third legs were played on 16–17 January.

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Le Mans Sarthe	0–2	Promitheas	68–78	78–91	—
Rytas	0–2	Peristeri bwin	92–110	80–83	—
Cholet	2–1	Dinamo Sassari	72–93	95–91	93–77
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	2–1	Darüşşafaka Lassa	82–63	72–83	99–73
Pınar Karşıyaka	2–1	Río Breogán	89–85	73–80	86–76
Hapoel Holon	2–1	Filou Oostende	80–70	61–71	78–72
PAOK	1–2	Tofaş	63–95	88–87 (OT)	71–84
Basket Derthona	0–2	Galatasaray Ekmas	70–71	89–95	—

Round of 16

The Round of 16 will take place from January 24 until March 22, 2024. The groups will be formed by the winners of each Regular Season Group and by eight Play-Ins winners. The 16 teams were divided in 4 groups, 4 teams each. The first two of each groups advanced to the quarter-finals.

Group I

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		UNI	TOF	SIG	CHO
1	Unicaja	6	6	0	510	422	+88	12	Advance to quarter-finals		—	89–70	91–62	85–70
2	Tofaş	6	2	4	462	466	−4	8			76–80	—	93–71	84–71
3	SIG Strasbourg	6	2	4	470	510	−40	8			70–79	78–65	—	96–84
4	Cholet	6	2	4	474	518	−44	8			74–86	77–74	98–93	—

Source: Round of 16 Standings

Group J

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		BON	LUD	DIJ	GAL
1	Telekom Baskets Bonn	6	5	1	500	466	+34	11	Advance to quarter-finals		—	80–75	89–74	89–76
2	MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	6	3	3	507	479	+28	9			81–85	—	71–59	100–80
3	JDA Dijon	6	2	4	458	490	−32	8			62–72	82–89	—	85–76
4	Galatasaray Ekmas	6	2	4	516	546	−30	8			95–85	93–91	93–96	—

Source: Round of 16 Standings

Group K

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		TFE	PER	JER	KAR
1	Lenovo Tenerife	6	4	2	521	511	+10	10	Advance to quarter-finals		—	89–68	95–92	88–79
2	Peristeri	6	3	3	473	475	−2	9			90–82	—	75–77	76–73
3	Hapoel Jerusalem	6	3	3	485	479	+6	9			85–61	61–76	—	83–74
4	Pınar Karşıyaka	6	2	4	514	528	−14	8			97–106	93–88	98–87	—

Source: Round of 16 Standings

Group L

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		UCM	PRO	HOL	AEK
1	UCAM Murcia	6	4	2	490	453	+37	10	Advance to quarter-finals		—	90–81	78–61	100–89
2	Promitheas	6	4	2	485	472	+13	10			79–78	—	92–93	80–79
3	Hapoel Holon	6	4	2	474	480	−6	10			64–60	65–74	—	79–68
4	AEK	6	0	6	490	534	−44	6			79–84	67–79	108–112	—

Source: Round of 16 Standings

Playoffs

Main article: 2023–24 Basketball Champions League playoffs

The playoffs will begin on 3 April 2024 and ends with the 2024 Basketball Champions League Final Four, which will be hosted in the Štark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.^[1]

	Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Final
	Lenovo Tenerife	83	81	78
							26 April
	Tofaş	77	90	55
							Lenovo Tenerife			97
							Peristeri			93
	Telekom Baskets Bonn	89	62	77
													28 April
	Peristeri	78	90	89
													Lenovo Tenerife			75
													Unicaja			80
	UCAM Murcia	98	85	—
							26 April
	MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	72	72	—
							UCAM Murcia			74
							Unicaja			80			Third place
	Unicaja	67	90	—
													28 April
	Promitheas	54	83	—
													Peristeri			84
													UCAM Murcia			87

Final Four

Main article: 2024 Basketball Champions League Final Four

Semifinals

The semifinals were played on 26 April 2024.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Lenovo Tenerife	97–93	Peristeri
UCAM Murcia	74–80	Unicaja

Third place game

The third place game was played on 28 April 2024.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Peristeri	84–87	UCAM Murcia

Final

The final was played on 28 April 2024.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Lenovo Tenerife	75–80	Unicaja

Individual awards

Season awards

The annual season awards were announced on 27 April.

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Marcelo Huertas	Lenovo Tenerife
Final Four MVP	Kendrick Perry	Unicaja
Best Defensive Player	Howard Sant-Roos	UCAM Murcia
Best Young Player	Tidjane Salaün	Cholet
Best Coach	Vassilis Spanoulis	Peristeri

Star Lineup

First Team		Second Team
Player	Team	Player	Team
Joe Ragland	Peristeri	Dylan Ennis	UCAM Murcia
Marcelinho Huertas	Lenovo Tenerife	Hunter Hale	Promitheas Patras
Kendrick Perry	Unicaja	Levi Randolph	Hapoel Jerusalem
David Kravish	Unicaja	Dylan Osetkowski	Unicaja
Austin Wiley	Tofaş	Vernon Carey Jr.	Pınar Karşıyaka

MVP of the Month

Month	Player	Club	Ref.
2023
October	Vernon Carey Jr.	Pınar Karşıyaka	[10]
November	Justin Tillman	AEK	[11]
December	Levi Randolph	Hapoel Jerusalem	[12]
2024
January	Hunter Hale	Promitheas Patras	[13]
March	Joe Ragland	Peristeri	[14]

Team of the Month

Year	Month	Player	Team	Ref.
2023	October	Chris Dowe	Derthona Basket	[15]
		Justin Tillman	AEK
		Gregor Hrovat	JDA Dijon
		David McCormack	Darüşşafaka Lassa
		Vernon Carey Jr.	Pınar Karşıyaka
	November	Marcelinho Huertas	Lenovo Tenerife	[16]
		David Holston	JDA Dijon
		Kendall Smith	PAOK
		Levi Randolph	Hapoel Jerusalem
		Justin Tillman	AEK
	December	Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman	Darüşşafaka Lassa	[17]
		Levi Randolph (x2)	Hapoel Jerusalem
		Pierre-Antoine Gillet	Filou Oostende
		Gytis Radzevičius	Rytas Vilnius
		David McCormack (x2)	Galatasaray Ekmas
2024	January	Marcelinho Huertas	Lenovo Tenerife	[18]
		Hunter Hale	Promitheas Patras
		Craig Randall II	Cholet Basket
		Justin Smith	Hapoel Holon
		Austin Wiley	Tofaş
	March	Joe Ragland	Peristeri	[19]
		Marcelinho Huertas (x2)	Lenovo Tenerife
		Jayvon Graves	Riesen Ludwigsburg
		Dustin Sleva	UCAM Murcia
		Jaime Echenique	Promitheas Patras

See also

• 2023–24 EuroLeague
• 2023–24 EuroCup Basketball
• 2023–24 FIBA Europe Cup