Names of the Final Four •
FIBA era (1958–2001): • FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four (1966–1967, 1988–1991) • FIBA European League Final Four ("FIBA EuroLeague Final Four") (1992–1996) • FIBA EuroLeague Final Four (1997–2000) •
FIBA SuproLeague Final Four (2001) •
Euroleague Basketball era (since 2000): • Euroleague Final Four (2002–2016) • EuroLeague Final Four (since 2017)
Historical changes The first time the
EuroLeague used a
Final Four format to decide its league champion, was at the conclusion of the
1965–66 and
1966–67 seasons, when it held the
1966 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four, and the
1967 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four. Those first two final fours were won by
Simmenthal Milano (1966) and
Real Madrid (1967).
FIBA Europe did not use the final four format again until the
1987–88 season, when it held the
1988 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four, which was also won by
Tracer Milano. The EuroLeague Final Four has been held every year since, with
FIBA Europe organizing it until 2001, and the
Euroleague Basketball Company organizing it since 2002. There were two separate competitions during the 2000–01 season. The
SuproLeague, which was organized by
FIBA, and the
EuroLeague, which was organized by
Euroleague Basketball Company. Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague competition, in its
inaugural year, used a playoff format, with the two professional teams from
Bologna (
Virtus and
Fortitudo),
AEK, and
TAU reaching the tournament's semifinals. Virtus was the winner of the
2001 Euroleague Finals. ==EuroLeague Final Four by season==