Liga Profesional de Baloncesto

Liga Profesional de Baloncesto (LPB)

Sport	Basketball
Founded	1974
No. of teams	10
Country	Venezuela
Continent	FIBA Americas
Most recent champion(s)	Cocodrilos de Caracas (6th title)
Most titles	Marinos de Anzoátegui (11 titles)
Official website	www.lpb.com.ve

The Liga Profesional de Baloncesto (LPB) is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. The league is considered one of the best in South-America. Marinos de Anzoátegui (11 titles) and Cocodrilos de Caracas (6 titles) are the current elite teams in the league – each season since 2008 one of the two teams won the championship.

History

The league was founded in 1974, as it started with four teams in the competition. Each team was allowed to have two foreign players. In 1992 the league expanded to 8 teams and was named "LPB".

Format and rules

The competition consists of 10 teams divided in two conferences (West and East) who play each other twice at home and twice away in the regular season, for a total of 36 games. After that, the top four teams of each conference advance to the Playoffs. Every round (1st round, conference finals and league finals) are played in a best-of-seven format.

The regular season starts in February of each year and ends in May. Also, like the NBA, a All-Star Game is held at the middle of the season.

The rule that only two foreign players can play per team still stands.

Current Teams

• Cocodrilos de Caracas
• Guaiqueríes de Margarita
• Trotamundos de Carabobo
• Panteras de Miranda
• Marinos de Anzoátegui
• Gaiteros del Zulia
• Guaros de Lara
• Toros de Aragua
• Gigantes de Guayana
• Bucaneros de La Guaira

Seasons

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1974	Ahorristas de Caracas	Colosos de Carabobo	3-2
1975	Colosos de Carabobo	Panteras de Táchira	3-2
1976	Panteras de Táchira	Ahorristas de Caracas	3-0
1977	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	Ahorristas de Caracas	3-1
1978	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	Panteras Táchira	4-0
1979	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	Legisladores de Carabobo	4-0
1980	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	Retadores de Caracas	4-3
1981	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	Telefonistas de Caracas	4-2
1982	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	Panteras de Lara	4-2
1983	Panteras de Lara	Gaiteros del Zulia	4-2
1984	Gaiteros del Zulia	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	4-2
1985	Gaiteros del Zulia	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	4-3
1986	Trotamundos de Carabobo	Panteras de Miranda	4-1
1987	Trotamundos de Carabobo	Panteras de Miranda	4-1
1988	Trotamundos de Carabobo	Bravos de Portuguesa	4-2
1989	Trotamundos de Carabobo	Gaiteros del Zulia	4-0
1990	Bravos de Portuguesa	Marinos de Oriente	4-3
1991	Marinos de Oriente	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	4-2
1992	Cocodrilos de Caracas	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4-2
1993	Marinos de Oriente	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4-3
1994	Trotamundos de Carabobo	Cocodrilos de Caracas	4-1
1995	Panteras de Miranda	Marinos de Oriente	4-3
1996	Gaiteros del Zulia	Marinos de Oriente	4-3
1997	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	Cocodrilos de Caracas	4-3
1998	Marinos de Oriente	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4-2
1999	Trotamundos de Carabobo	Panteras de Miranda	4-2
2000	Cocodrilos de Caracas	Gaiteros del Zulia	4-3
2001	Gaiteros del Zulia	Bravos de Portuguesa	4-1
2002	Trotamundos de Carabobo	Panteras de Miranda	4-3
2003	Marinos de Oriente	Gaiteros del Zulia	4-3
2004	Marinos de Oriente	Gaiteros del Zulia	4-3
2005	Marinos de Anzoátegui	Guaros de Lara	4-1
2006	Trotamundos de Carabobo	Guaros de Lara	4-2
2007	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	Cocodrilos de Caracas	4-3
2008	Cocodrilos de Caracas	Gaiteros del Zulia	4-2
2009	Marinos de Anzoátegui	Cocodrilos de Caracas	4-3
2010	Cocodrilos de Caracas	Marinos de Anzoátegui	4-2
2011	Marinos de Anzoátegui	Cocodrilos de Caracas	4-1
2012	Marinos de Anzoátegui	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4-2
2013	Cocodrilos de Caracas	Marinos de Anzoátegui	4-3
2014	Marinos de Anzoátegui	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4-3
2015	Marinos de Anzoátegui	Guaros de Lara	4–1
2015-2016	Cocodrilos de Caracas	Bucaneros de La Guaira	4–3

External links

• Official site (Spanish)
• Venezuelan league on Latinbasket.com (English)