Élite 2 (basketball)
Second-level French men's basketball league
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Élite 2 is the second-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 Élite 2 season are promoted to the top-tier level LNB Élite, replaced by the bottom two teams in LNB Élite. The two last placed teams are relegated to the third level, which is the NM1.
| Organising body | Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1932 |
| First season | 1932–33 |
| Country | France |
| Confederation | FIBA Europe |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| Level on pyramid | Level 2 |
| Promotion to | LNB Élite |
| Relegation to | Nationale Masculine 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | French Cup (Federation Cup) Pro B Leaders Cup (League Cup) |
| Current champions | Boulazac (2024–25) |
| Most championships | JA Vichy (3 titles) |
| TV partners | Sport en France |
| Website | lnb.fr/pro-b |
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 (1993–2025)
- Élite 2 (2025–present)
Format
All twenty 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 Élite. 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 LNB Élite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADA Blois | Blois | Jeu de Paume | 2,525 |
| AMSB | Aix-les-Bains | Halle Marlioz | 1,500 |
| Antibes Sharks | Antibes | Azur Arena Antibes | 5,249 |
| Boulazac | Boulazac | Le Palio | 5,200 |
| Caen | Caen | Palais des Sports of Caen | 3,000 |
| Chartres | Chartres | Halle Jean Cochet | 1,200 |
| Châlons-Reims | Châlons-Reims | Complexe René-Tys Pierre de Coubertin | 3,000 2,791 |
| Denain Voltaire | Denain | Salle Jean Degros | 2,500 |
| ALM Évreux | Évreux | Salle Jean Fourré | 2,500 |
| Fos-sur-Mer | Fos-sur-Mer | Complexe sportif Parsemain | 2,000 |
| Gries-Souffel[a] | Gries & Souffelweyersheim | Espace Sport La Foret Salle des Sept Arpents | 1,450 1,500 |
| HTV | Hyères & Toulon | Espace 3000 Palais des Sports de Toulon | 2,500 4,700 |
| Hermine Nantes | Nantes | La Trocardière | 4,185 |
| Orléans | Orléans | Palais des Sports | 3,222 |
| Pau-Lacq-Orthez | Pau | Palais des Sports de Pau | 7,707 |
| Poitiers | Poitiers | Saint Eloi | 2,700 |
| Roanne | Roanne | Halle André Vacheresse | 5,020 |
| Rouen Métropole | Rouen | Kindarena | 5,789 |
| Saint-Chamond | Saint-Chamond | Halle André Boullohce | 1,200 |
| 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)
|
Excellence
|
Nationale 2 (National 2)
|
|
1988–present
- 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) |