LNB Pro B

Pro B
Organising body	Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB)
Founded	1932; 92 years ago
First season	1932–33
Country	France
Confederation	FIBA Europe
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	Level 2
Promotion to	Pro A
Relegation to	Nationale Masculine 1
Domestic cup(s)	French Cup (Federation Cup); Pro B Leaders Cup (League Cup)
Current champions	Saint-Quentin ; (2022–23)
Most championships	JA Vichy (3 titles)
TV partners	Sport en France
Website	lnb.fr/pro-b

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The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the 2nd-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular season champion and the winner of the promotion playoffs from each Pro B season are promoted to the top-tier level LNB Pro A, replaced by the bottom two teams in Pro A. The two last placed teams are relegated to the third level, which is the NM1.

History

Names of the league

Honneur Ligue (1932–1949)
Excellence Ligue (1950–1963)
Nationale 2 (1964–1987)
Nationale 1B (1987–1992)
Nationale A2 (1992–1993)
Pro B (1993–present)

Format

All eighteen competing teams play each other twice during the regular season. The team that ends in first place in the table is named league champion and promotes to the LNB Pro A. The top eight regular season teams, with exception for the league champion, qualify for the promotion playoffs. During the competition, the Leaders Cup tournament is played. The champion of the Leaders Cup automatically qualifies for the playoffs. The winner of the promotion playoffs, which is played with best-of-three playoff series, promotes to the ProA. The bottom two regular season teams are meanwhile relegated to the third tier Nationale Masculine 1 (NM1) league.

Current teams

These are the current teams:

Club	City	Arena	Capacity
AMSB	Aix-les-Bains	Halle Marlioz	1,500
Antibes Sharks	Antibes	Azur Arena Antibes	5,249
Boulazac	Boulazac	Le Palio	5,200
Élan Chalon	Chalon-sur-Saône	Le Colisée	4,948
Denain Voltaire	Denain	Salle Jean Degros	2,500
ALM Évreux	Évreux	Salle Jean Fourré	2,500
Alliance Sport Alsace^[a]	Gries & Souffelweyersheim	Espace Sport La Foret Salle des Sept Arpents	1,450 1,500
Lille Métropole	Lille	Palais des Sports Saint-Sauveur	1,835
SLUC Nancy	Nancy	Palais des Sports Jean-Weille	6,027
Hermine Nantes	Nantes	La Trocardière	4,185
Béliers de Kemper	Quimper	Salle Omnisports Michel-Gloaguen	2,230
Rouen Métropole	Rouen	Kindarena	5,789
Saint-Chamond	Saint-Chamond	Halle André Boullohce	1,200
Saint-Quentin	Saint-Quentin	Palais des Sports Pierre Ratte	3,800
Saint-Vallier	Saint-Vallier	Rives Sports Complex	2,132
Stade Rochelais	La Rochelle	Salle Gaston-Neveur	1,994
Tours Métropole	Tours	Halle Monconseil	1,500
JA Vichy	Vichy	Palais des sports Pierre Coulon	3,200

^ Formed by the merger of five clubs after the 2020–21 season—BC Gries-Oberhoffen and BC Souffelweyersheim, both of which played in the 2020–21 Pro B season, plus BC Nord Alsace, Weyersheim BB and Walbourg-Eschbach Basket.

Champions

1932–1987

Honneur (Honor)

1932 Saint-Charles Alfortville
1933 SS Nilvange
1934 CS Plaisance
1935 Métro
1936 Racing Paris
1937 Championnet
1938 AS Cherbourg
1939–46 Not held due to WWII
1947 Marseille
1948 AS Roanne
1949 Championnet

Excellence

Nationale 2 (National 2)

1964 Denain-Voltaire
1965 Caen
1966 BC Montbrison
1967 Tours
1968 Olympique Antibes
1969 Paris Université
1970 Caen
1971 Nantes
1972 Vichy
1973 Monaco
1974 Nice BC
1975 Orthez
1976 Valenciennes

1977 Racing Paris
1978 Mulhouse
1979 Stade Français
1980 Challans
1981 Chorale Roanne
1982 Nice BC
1983 Lyon
1984 Saint-Etienne
1985 Racing Paris
1986 Cholet
1987 Gravelines

1988–present

Season	Champions	Promoted teams
1987–88	Montpellier PSC	Saint-Quentin BB, BCM Gravelines
1988–89	Reims CB	Chorale Roanne
1989–90	SCM Le Mans	JDA Dijon
1990–91	Lyon
1991–92	Levallois SC	ESPE Châlons-en-Champagne
1992–93	ASA Sceaux
1993–94	SLUC Nancy	SIG Strasbourg
1994–95	Besançon BCD	ALM Évreux
1995–96	Toulouse Spacer's	Élan Chalon
1996–97	Maurienne Savoie	Toulouse Spacer's
1997–98	Levallois SC (2)
1998–99	SIG Strasbourg	ESPE Châlons-en-Champagne
1999–00	JL Bourg	STB Le Havre
2000–01	Limoges	Hyères Toulon VB
2001–02	JA Vichy	Chorale Roanne
2002–03	Reims CB (2)	Besançon BCD
2003–04	Stade Clermontois Basket	ESPE Châlons-en-Champagne
2004–05	Étendard de Brest	SPO Rouen
2005–06	Entente Orléanaise	Besançon BCD
2006–07	JA Vichy (2)
2007–08	Besançon BCD (2)	SPO Rouen
2008–09	Poitiers	Paris-Levallois
2009–10	Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez	Limoges
2010–11	Nanterre	Dijon
2011–12	Limoges	Boulazac
2012–13	Olympique Antibes	Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez
2013–14	Boulogne-sur-Mer	JL Bourg, SPO Rouen, Champagne Châlons-Reims^[a]
2014–15	Monaco (2)	Antibes Sharks
2015–16	Hyères-Toulon	ESSM Le Portel
2016–17	JL Bourg	Boulazac Dordogne
2017–18	ADA Blois
2018–19	Roanne	Orleans Loiret
2019–20	Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	Fos	Paris
2021–22	SLUC Nancy (2)	ADA Blois
2022–23	Saint-Quentin	Élan Chalon

^ In the 2013–14 season, two extra teams (SPO Rouen and Châlons-Reims) were promoted to the 2014–15 Pro A season because of the expansion of the Pro A from 16 to 18 teams.

Logos

(The official current logo of the league 2017–present).
(The previous official logo of the league until 2017.)

Awards

LNB Pro B Best Coach and Most Improved Player

Year	LNB Pro B Best Coach	LNB Pro B Most Improved Player
2006	François Peronnet (Châlons-en-Champagne)	–
2007	Olivier Cousin (Quimper)
2008	Michel Veyronnet (Rouen)
2009	Ruddy Nelhomme (Poitiers)
2010	Didier Dobbels (Pau-Lacq-Orthez)
2011	Pascal Donnadieu (JSF Nanterre)
2012	Frédéric Sarre (Limoges)	Ferdinand Prénom (Antibes)
2013	Rémy Valin (Évreux)	Mam Jaiteh (Boulogne-sur-Mer)
2014	Germain Castano (Boulogne-sur-Mer)	Olivier Romain (Saint-Quentin)
2015	Laurent Legname (Hyères-Toulon)	Mathieu Wojciechowski (Le Portel)
2016	Kyle Milling (Hyères-Toulon)	Isaia Cordinier (Denain)
2017	Cédric Heitz (Charleville-Mézières)	Arthur Rozenfeld (Roanne)

References

External links

Official Site (in French)
Eurobasket.com - France

[1] Formed by the merger of five clubs after the 2020–21 season—BC Gries-Oberhoffen and BC Souffelweyersheim, both of which played in the 2020–21 Pro B season, plus BC Nord Alsace, Weyersheim BB and Walbourg-Eschbach Basket.

[2] In the 2013–14 season, two extra teams (SPO Rouen and Châlons-Reims) were promoted to the 2014–15 Pro A season because of the expansion of the Pro A from 16 to 18 teams.

[a]

[a]

v t e Pro B
LNB FFBB List of Clubs List of Venues French League System
Seasons	2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Teams	Aix Maurienne Alliance Alsace Antibes Boulazac Chalon Châlons-Reims Denain Voltaire Évreux La Rochelle Lille Nantes Orléans Quimper Saint-Chamond Saint-Quentin Saint-Vallier Vichy-Clermont
Cup competition	Pro B Leaders Cup (League Cup)
Awards	MVP Finals MVP Best Scorer
Other	French clubs in international competitions