The Slovenian Basketball League (Slovene: 1. slovenska košarkarska liga), abbreviated as 1. SKL and known as the Liga Nova KBM due to sponsorship reasons, is the top-level professional men's basketball league in Slovenia. The league is operated by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia and consists of eleven clubs. The most successful team is Cedevita Olimpija with 21 titles.
The league was founded in 1991, shortly after Slovenia's independence from SFR Yugoslavia. Before the independence, the Slovenian Republic League was played as a second or third level of Yugoslav basketball. Olimpija, Ljubljana, Slovan, ŽKK Maribor, Lesonit, and Branik Maribor were the only Slovenian teams that played in the Yugoslav First Federal League.
Since 1991, the league has been named after sponsors on several occasions, giving it the following names:
In the regular season, ten teams play each other three times for a total of 27 games. If a team competes in international competitions (Basketball Champions League, EuroLeague or EuroCup Basketball) and plays at least ten international games per season, that team automatically enters the quarterfinals and does not compete in the regular season. The bottom-placed team of the regular season is relegated to the 2. SKL.
The top seven teams from the regular season advance to the quarterfinals and are joined by a team that did not compete in the regular season. In the quarterfinals and semifinals, a best-of-three playoff is used. The semifinal winners advance to the best-of-five championship finals, with the winners crowned as league champions.[3]
As of the 2024–25 season