Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto

Founded	1974; 51 years ago (1974) (the SPB in 2022)
First season	1974
Country	Venezuela
Conferences	Eastern / Western
Number of teams	14
Level on pyramid	1
International cup	BCL Americas
Current champions	Gaiteros del Zulia (5th title) (2025)
Most championships	Marinos de Oriente Trotamundos de Carabobo (11 titles each)
Website	www.spbven.com

TheSuperliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as theSPB, is theVenezuelan first division national professionalbasketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto in the 1993 season, and the name SuperLiga in 2019.Marinos are the team with most championships with 11. The winners and runners-up of each LPB season qualify for theFIBA Americas League regular season.

The 2018 season was the last played with the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto: in 2019 a new competition called Copa LPB was played. In late 2019 the president of theVenezuelan Basketball Federation Hanthony Coello announced the creation of a new league called SuperLiga Profesional de Baloncesto.

In 1974 the league was founded asLiga Especial de Baloncesto (Special Basketball League). The initiative came from Leonardo Rodríguez, who had come back from theUnited States in September 1973 and had proposed the creation of a league to Arturo Redondo, the then-president of theVenezuelan Basketball Federation.^[1][2] Before the foundation of this league, which involved teams from all over the country, basketball was practiced atstate level.^[1] The first edition of the league included four teams: Ahorristas de Caracas, Beverly Hills (also from Caracas), Colosos de Carabobo and Toyotas de Aragua. The first league was won by Ahorristas de Caracas, which defeated Colosos de Carabobo in the championship series, 3–2.^[1] The firstMVP was Americanforward Robert Lewis of Colosos de Carabobo.^[3] In 1975 two teams joined the league: Panteras del Táchira and Petroleros del Zulia. In 1975,Sam Shepherd of Panteras del Táchira scored a then-record 57 points against Petroleros del Zulia; that season also saw the first LPB All-Star Game.^[4] The 1975 league title was won by Colosos de Carabobo, which defeated Panteras del Táchira in the final series. In 1976, two more teams joined: Caribes de Anzoátegui and Universitarios de Mérida. The 1976 season saw the first Venezuelan player win the MVP trophy:centerRamón Rivero of Panteras del Táchira.^[3]

In 1977, the league was divided in two groups:Este (East), which included Ahorristas de Caracas, Centauros de Cojedes, Guaiqueríes de Margarita and Caribes de Anzoátegui, andOeste (West), which had Colosos de Carabobo, Universitarios de Mérida, Banqueros de Aragua, and Panteras del Táchira.Guaiqueríes de Margarita, which had debuted in the Liga Especial in 1977, won six consecutive championships from 1977 to 1982.^[1] During this period, Guaiqueríes had three MVP winners: Venezuelan forwardCruz Lairet in 1977 and AmericansGerald Cunningham andLewis Linder in 1980 and 1981, respectively.^[3] In 1983 the league saw the highest number of participants yet, with 9 teams: Caribes de Anzoátegui, Colosos de Carabobo, Gaiteros del Zulia, Guaiqueríes de Nueva Esparta, Panteras de Lara, Taurinos de Aragua, Telefonistas de Caracas, Universitarios de Mérida and theVenezuela national team, which participated as a preparation for the1983 Pan American Games.^[1] In the 1983 Liga Especial Panteras won the title, ending the winning streak of Guaiqueríes. In 1984 and 1985 Gaiteros del Zulia won two consecutive titles, led by American forwardMichael Britt, a second round selection in the1983 NBA draft who was named the 1985 MVP.^[3]

Between 1986 and 1989Trotamundos de Carabobo won four consecutive titles, with Alfonso "Al" Smith winning three MVP awards in a row (1987, 1988 and 1989).^[1] Trotamundos had several players from the Venezuela national team such asRostyn González,Luis Jiménez,Iván Olivares andAlexander Nelcha, and import players such as Al Smith, Sam Shepherd andLeroy Combs.^[1][5] The 1987 season saw the debut ofVíctor David Díaz, who played forPanteras de Miranda and went on to become the all-time league leader in games played, minutes played and points scored.^[6] In 1990 Bravos de Portuguesa won the title, ending Trotamundos' winning streak, with the contribution of MVPCarl Herrera, who had just graduated from theUniversity of Houston, where he played basketball in theNCAA Division I.^[3] In 1991Marinos de Oriente won the league title, and Marinos forwardCharlie Bradley, a former player of theUniversity of South Florida, won the MVP award.^[3][7] In 1992 the league title went toCocodrilos de Caracas, who had debuted the previous season replacing Halcones de Caracas. This was the second time a team from Caracas had won the championship following Ahorristas de Caracas in 1974.

In 1992 the Venezuela national team had participated in the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona,Spain. This had brought increased interest to basketball in Venezuela, and started a clash between the teams of the Liga Especial and the Basketball Federation for the division ofbroadcasting rights.^[8] This led to the creation of theLiga Profesional de Baloncesto (Professional Basketball League), which was a league owned by the teams and not under the direct control of the Federation.^[8] The first president was Tulio Capriles.^[1]

The first edition of league was played between 8 teams, with the best 6 advancing to the first round of semifinals ("Semifinals A"), of which the winners and the best losing team qualified for the second round ("Semifinals B"): the winners of Semifinals B qualified for the championship game in abest-of-7 series. The first LPB champions wereMarinos de Oriente, which defeatedTrotamundos de Carabobo in the final series, 4–3. The first MVP wasDavid Wesley, a player who then went on to have a long career in theNBA.^[3] In 1994 Trotamundos won the title againstCocodrilos de Caracas, led by MVPStanley Brundy, another player with NBA experience.^[3] In 1995Panteras de Miranda won the title, defeating Marinos; Marinos also qualified for the 1996 finals, where they lost toGaiteros del Zulia. In 1996Harold Keeling ofToros de Aragua won the MVP award: he then went on to acquire Venezuelan citizenship, and played for the Venezuela national team. In 1997Guaiqueríes de Margarita won their first title after 15 years: that season also saw Víctor David Díaz of Panteras de Miranda win the MVP award, the first Venezuelan to win it in the LPB era, and the first after 6 consecutive American MVPs (the last Venezuelan to win the award had been Carl Herrera in 1990).^[3]

In 1998 Marinos de Oriente defeated Trotamundos in the finals, and in 1999 Trotamundos won the title defeating Panteras de Miranda. In 2000 Cocodrilos de Caracas won the final series against Gaiteros del Zulia with the decisive basket ofLee Nailon, who scored in the final seconds of the seventh game of the series.^[9] In 2001 the league title went toGaiteros del Zulia, and in 2002Trotamundos de Carabobo won the league after having been down 1–3 in the final series. From 2003 to 2005,Marinos de Oriente won three consecutive titles. In 2006 Trotamundos de Carabobo defeatedGuaros de Lara in the championship series and reached 8 league titles, a record at the time.

In 2007 the league title was won by Guaiqueríes de Margarita. In 2008 the league was expanded to 10 teams, with the addition ofGigantes de Guayana andDeportivo Táchira.^[10] The 2008 championship went to Cocodrilos de Caracas. In 2009 Deportivo Táchira moved toLa Guaira, and becameBucaneros de La Guaira.^[10] The 2009 finals were won by Marinos, which also won the 2011 and 2012 titles after losing the 2010 finals to Cocodrilos de Caracas. Marinos reached 7 consecutive finals between 2009 and 2015, winning the titles in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015, reaching a total of 11, the most wins by a team in league history. In 2016 Cocodrilos de Caracas won the title againstBucaneros de La Guaira: the 2015–16 season was the first and only one to be played over two years instead of one. In 2017 and 2018Guaros de Lara won two consecutive titles. In 2019 the Liga Profesional de Baloncesto was replaced by the Copa LPB, a tournament intended as a preparation to the national team's participation in the2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.^[11]

In December 2019 newly elected Federation president Hanthony Coello announced that a new league called SuperLiga Profesional de Baloncesto was going to replace the LPB^[12] and was scheduled to start on February 28, 2020.^[13][14] On March 12, 2020, the Venezuelan Basketball Federation announced viaTwitter that the planning of the new tournament was halted due to thecoronavirus pandemic.^[15][16] The SuperLiga eventually commenced on October 13, 2020.^[17] A total of 13 teams participated after Trotamundos, Guaros de Lara and Cocodrilos de Caracas withdrew.^[18]Spartans Distrito Capital won the first SuperLiga title.^[19]

On July 8, 2022, the SuperLiga and the LPB merged to form the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB.^[20] The boards agreed to merge all records, statistics and championships of Venezuelan basketball.

The competition consists of 20 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 abest-of-seven format.

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

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

The following 18 teams played in the 2024 SPB season.

Did not participate:

• Gigantes de Guayana
• Guaros de Lara

Teams shown initalics are no longer in existence.

Year	Player	Team	PPG	Ref.
1994	Gabriel Estaba	Malteros de Lara	26.7	[21]
1995	Data not available
1996	Harold Keeling	Toros de Aragua	24.0	[22]
1997	Víctor David Díaz	Panteras de Miranda	27.1	[23]
1998	Víctor David Díaz	Panteras de Miranda	24.0	[24]
1999	Askia Jones	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	25.2	[25]
2000	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	22.2	[26]
2001	Víctor David Díaz	Panteras de Miranda	22.9	[27]
2002	Víctor David Díaz	Panteras de Miranda	26.7	[28]
2003	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	26.8	[29]
2004	Víctor David Díaz	Panteras de Miranda	25.9	[30]
2005	Aaron Harper	Panteras de Miranda	24.1	[31]
2006	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	22.6	[32]
2007	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	21.8	[33]
2008	Marcus Fleming	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	21.4	[34]
2009	José Gregorio Vargas	Trotamundos de Carabobo	19.2	[35]
2010	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	23.3	[36]
2011	Data not available
2012	Donald Sims	Gaiteros del Zulia	24.1	[37]
2013	Kelvin Peña	Toros de Aragua	22.7	[38]
2014	Andre Emmett	Cocodrilos de Caracas	22.4	[39]
2015	Jezreel De Jesús	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	22.9	[40]
2016	Wendell McKines	Cocodrilos de Caracas	23.1	[41]
2017	Al Thornton	Gaiteros del Zulia	23.6	[42]
2018	Trey Gilder	Panteras de Miranda	26.5	[43]
2020	Tulio Cobos	Supersonicos de Miranda	16.3	[44]
2021	Luis Almanza	Trotamundos	18.1	[45]

Year	Player	Team	RPG	Ref.
1998	Reggie Jackson	Toros de Aragua	9.9	[24]
1999	Torraye Braggs	Toros de Aragua	11.7	[25]
2000	Rubén Garcés	Toros de Aragua	10.0	[26]
2001	Richard Lugo	Panteras de Miranda	9.8	[27]
2002	Jack Michael Martínez	Panteras de Miranda	11.2	[28]
2003	Damian Cantrell	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	11.1	[29]
2004	Aki Thomas	Toros de Aragua	9.7	[30]
2005	Richard Lugo	Trotamundos de Carabobo	9.8	[31]
2006	Richard Lugo	Trotamundos de Carabobo	9.8	[32]
2007	Lee Benson Jr.	Marinos de Anzoátegui	11.0	[33]
2008	Axiers Sucre	Marinos de Anzoátegui	9.3	[34]
2009	Hátila Passos	Marinos de Anzoátegui	8.2	[35]
2010	Richard Lugo	Trotamundos de Carabobo	9.3	[36]
2011	Data not available
2012	Jack Michael Martínez	Cocodrilos de Caracas	10.5	[37]
2013	Jack Michael Martínez	Guaros de Lara	12.4	[38]
2014	Jack Michael Martínez	Trotamundos de Carabobo	10.9	[39]
2015	Dwayne Jones	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	15.2	[40]
2016	Dwayne Jones	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	14.5	[41]
2017	Axiers Sucre	Gigantes de Guayana	11.0	[42]
2018	Axiers Sucre	Gigantes de Guayana	10.2	[43]
2020	Luis Bethelmy	Cocodrilos de Caracas	11.5	[44]
2021	Anyelo Cisneros	Diablos de Miranda	9.7	[45]

Year	Player	Team	APG	Ref.
1994	Sam Crawford	Marinos de Oriente	11.1	[46]
1995	Data not available
1996	Harold Keeling	Toros de Aragua	5.8	[22]
1997	Harold Keeling	Toros de Aragua	6.5	[22]
1998	Damon Jones	Trotamundos de Carabobo	7.8	[24]
1999	Harold Keeling	Marinos de Oriente	7.9	[25]
2000	Harold Keeling	Marinos de Oriente	6.5	[26][47]
2001	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	5.9	[27]
2002	Billy Keys	Cocodrilos de Caracas	7.1	[28]
2003	Ernesto Mijares	Marinos de Oriente	5.8	[29]
2004	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	5.4	[30]
2005	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	6.4	[31]
2006	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	5.7	[32]
2007	Ruben Nembhard	Gaiteros del Zulia	5.9	[33]
2008	Carl Krauser	Gigantes de Guayana	6.1	[34]
2009	Panchi Barrera	Trotamundos de Carabobo	5.7	[35]
2010	Kojo Mensah	Panteras de Miranda	5.7	[36]
2011	Data not available
2012	Paul Stoll	Gigantes de Guayana	6.8	[37]
2013	Kelvin Peña	Toros de Aragua	5.8	[38]
2014	Tu Holloway	Guaros de Lara	4.6	[39]
2015	Gregory Vargas	Marinos de Anzoátegui	8.0	[40]
2016	David Cubillán	Trotamundos de Carabobo	6.0	[41]
2017	David Cubillán	Trotamundos de Carabobo	7.5	[42]
2018	Heldrin Guillent	Guaros de Lara	6.9	[43]
2020	Kevin Pena	Centauros de Portuguesa	6.0	[44]
2021	Gregory Vargas	Cocodrilos de Caracas	6.2	[45]

Year	Player	Team	SPG	Ref.
1994	Gabriel Estaba	Malteros de Lara	3.7	[21]
1995	Data not available
1996	Harold Keeling	Marinos de Oriente	4.2	[22]
1997	Harold Keeling	Marinos de Oriente	2.6	[22]
1998	Harold Keeling	Marinos de Oriente	3.6	[24]
1999	Ernesto Mijares	Panteras de Miranda	3.9	[25]
2000	Alvin Sims	Toros de Aragua	4.3	[26]
2001	Charles Byrd	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4.3	[27]
2002	Diego Guevara	Trotamundos de Carabobo	5.5	[28]
2003	Data not available
2004	Ronnie Fields	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4.9	[30]
2005	Data not available
2006
2007	Edgar Moreno	Cocodrilos de Caracas	3.5	[33]
2008	Johnell Smith	Deportivo Táchira	3.8	[34]
2009	Heissler Guillent	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	3.7	[35]
2010	Heissler Guillent	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	3.2	[36]
2011	Data not available
2012	Paul Stoll	Gigantes de Guayana	4.3	[37]
2013	Marquis Jones	Gigantes de Guayana	3.3	[38]
2014	Smush Parker	Guaros de Lara	2.3	[39]
2015	Carl Elliott	Cocodrilos de Caracas	2.3	[40]
2016	Carl Elliott	Cocodrilos de Caracas	2.0	[41]
2017	Carl Elliott	Cocodrilos de Caracas	2.9	[42]
2018	Heissler Guillent	Guaros de Lara	2.8	[43]
2020	José Sojo	Spartans Distrito Capital	2.6	[44]
2021	Harold Cazorla	Indios de Caracas	3.3	[45]

Year	Player	Team	BPG	Ref.
1998	Richard Lugo	Panteras de Miranda	2.1	[24]
1999	Andre Riddick	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4.1	[25]
2000	Andre Riddick	Trotamundos de Carabobo	4.2	[26]
2001	Richard Lugo	Panteras de Miranda	3.3	[27]
2002	Richard Lugo	Panteras de Miranda	2.1	[28]
2003	Data not available
2004	Lonnie Jones	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	2.2	[30]
2005	Data not available
2006
2007	Richard Lugo	Trotamundos de Carabobo	2.4	[33]
2008	Miguel Marriaga	Gaiteros del Zulia	1.7	[34]
2009	Clarence Matthews	Gigantes de Guayana	1.3	[35]
2010	Richard Lugo	Trotamundos de Carabobo	1.7	[36]
2011	Data not available
2012	Rammel Allen	Marinos de Anzoátegui	2.3	[37]
2013	Kleon Penn	Toros de Aragua	3.6	[38]
2014	Lamont Barnes	Guaiqueríes de Margarita	1.5	[39]
2015	Justin Williams	Panteras de Miranda	3.0	[40]
2016	Jeral Davis	Gaiteros del Zulia	3.1	[41]
2017	Maurice Sutton	Cocodrilos de Caracas	1.5	[42]
2018	Tony Mitchell	Cocodrilos de Caracas	1.8	[43]
2020	Luis Carrillo	Guaiqueries de Margarita	2.3	[44]
2021	Windi Graterol	Spartans Distrito Capital	2.4	[45]

• Most games in a career

• 1,126 byVíctor David Díaz, 28 seasons (1987–2015)^[48]

• Most minutes in a career

• 32,078 byVíctor David Díaz, 28 seasons (1987–2015)^[48]

• Most points in a career

• 19,621 byVíctor David Díaz, 28 seasons (1987–2015)^[48]

• Most points in a game

• Regular season (overtime): 78 by Al Smith,Trotamundos de Carabobo (vs.Bravos de Portuguesa) on July 6, 1985 (3OT)^[49]
• Regular season (no overtime): 76 byVíctor David Díaz,Panteras de Miranda (vs.Bravos de Portuguesa) on June 5, 2002^[50]
• Playoffs: 58 by Al Smith,Trotamundos de Carabobo (vs.Bravos de Portuguesa) on May 9, 1986^[50]

• Most rebounds in a game

  38 byRon Anthony,Gaiteros del Zulia (vs.Taurinos de Aragua) on May 27, 1983^[51]

• Most assists in a career

• 4,595 bySam Shepherd, 23 seasons (1974–1997)^[46]

• Most assists in a game

• 28 byLeopoldo Bompart,Caribes de Anzoátegui (vs.Panteras del Táchira) on July 27, 1976^[46]
• 28 by Pedro Rojas,Bravos de Portuguesa (vs.Panteras de Miranda) on March 13, 1986^[46]

• Most blocks in a game

• Regular season: 13 byCarl Herrera,Bravos de Portuguesa (vs.Trotamundos de Carabobo) on April 20, 1986^[52]
• Playoffs: 11 byAndre Riddick,Trotamundos de Carabobo (vs.Panteras de Miranda) on June 29, 1999^[52]

• Venezuelan Basketball All-Star Game

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

• Liga Profesional de Baloncesto
• Basketball competitions in Venezuela
• Basketball leagues in South America
• Sports leagues in Venezuela
• 1974 establishments in Venezuela
• Sports leagues established in 1974

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
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