ASVEL Basket, known as LDLC ASVEL since 2018 due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team located in the commune of Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, France. The club, which is the basketball section of the ASVEL multi-sports club, competes at the highest level of French basketball, the LNB Élite. The club's home games are played in both the OL Arena and the Astroballe which have seating capacities of 12,523 and 5,560 respectively.
Founded in 1948, the team is the most successful in French basketball with 21 LNB Élite championships and 10 French Cup titles.
In June 2019, football club Olympique Lyonnais's holding company OL Groupe purchased a 25% stake in the ASVEL men's team, plus a 10% stake in the ASVEL women's team, in a deal worth around €3.7 million. The deal also included a plan for a new EuroLeague-standard arena.
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History
The parent club was founded in 1948, with the merger of two multi-sport clubs in Lyon and vicinity; ASVEL is an acronym combining the names of the predecessor clubs—Association Sportive Villeurbanne and Éveil Lyonnais. In its history, ASVEL has won 21 French Pro A League championships, 10 French Cups, two French Supercups, one French Federation Cup, and one Semaine des As Cup (French Pro A Leaders Cup), which makes it the most titled basketball club in France.
In 2014, former San Antonio Spurs star and France national team player, Tony Parker, became the club's president.
In the French Pro A League 2015–16 season, ASVEL won its 18th French League title, after beating Strasbourg IG 3 games to 2 in the French Pro A League Finals. ASVEL was down 2–0 in the series, but won three games in a row to take the championship.
In March 2017, NBA player, Nicolas Batum, became a shareholder in Infinity Nine Sports, the main investment company behind the club, and took over the position as director of basketball operations. Tony Parker remained majority owner, and ASVEL President. In 2018, the club signed a 10-year name sponsorship agreement with Groupe LDLC. The club also changed its main team colors from the original white and green to white and black, and changed its main logo design.
In 2019, ASVEL returned to the EuroLeague after the organisation decided to give the team a wild card for two years.
In the 2021–22 season, ASVEL won its third Pro A championship in a row, its first three-peat in 32 years after beating Monaco in the Finals. Over the next few seasons, ASVEL largely disappointed - with Monaco and later, Paris Basketball overtaking ASVEL in the Pro A, and poor showings in the EuroLeague.
Arenas
In July 2016, ASVEL announced that it would build a new multi-functional arena, with a projected seating capacity between 12,000 and 16,000 people, depending on the configuration. The arena is projected to cost €60 million. The new arena will be named the LDLC Arena, and its design and construction were given to architectural firm Populous and Citinea. Construction began in January 2022 and was opened in November 2023.
Logos and branding
On September 11, 2018, the club changed its name to LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons. Along with this change, the club changed its main colors from green to black and white. The decision was made with the explanation that, "when you are European, green is a colour that does not make you dream", and was followed by criticism from fans. The new logo, used since 2018, consists of the number four, which refers to ASVEL legend Alain Gilles, while also keeping the V that was used in the previous logo.
Honours and other achievements
Other Achievements
EuroLeague
Semifinalists (1): 1975–76
3rd place (1): 1977–78
4th place (1): 1996–97
Final Four (1): 1997
FIBA Saporta Cup
Runners-up (1): 1982–83
Semifinalists (2): 1984–85, 1986–87
FIBA Korać Cup
Semifinalists (1): 1995–96
Latin Cup
3rd place (2): 1953, 1966
French League
Runners-up (7): 1953–54, 1958–59, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2002–03
French Cup
Runners-up (5): 1953–54, 1954–55, 1958–59, 2001–02, 2015–16
French League Cup
Runners-up (2): 2017, 2020
French Super Cup
Runners-up (1): 2008
Federation Cup (defunct)
Winners (1): 1983–84
Runners-up (1): 1981–82
Villeurbanne, France Invitational Game
Winners (1): 2020
Season by season
Season by season results of the club in national, cup, and European competitions.
Players
Notable players
Éric Beugnot
Jim Bilba
Yann Bonato
André Buffière
Nouha Diakité
Alain Digbeu
Antoine Diot
Makan Dioumassi
Boris Dallo
Nando de Colo
Antoine Eito
Moustapha Fall
Youssoupha Fall
Laurent Foirest
Mickaël Gelabale
Alain Gilles
Henri Grange
Thomas Heurtel
William Howard
Edwin Jackson
Livio Jean-Charles
Paul Lacombe
Charles Lombahe-Kahudi
Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot
Théo Maledon
Jacques Monclar
Ferenc Németh
Amine Noua
Élie Okobo
Tony Parker
Individual club records
Individual club record holders, while players of ASVEL.
ASVEL players with the most French League championships
ASVEL players with the most French League championships won, while members of the club.
Sponsors
Groupe LDLC