Turkey Basketball League – Want a Lesson in World History

Turkey’s BEKO Basketball League – tryouts, opportunities, contact, how can Americans play?

About

Basketball Super League formerly known as the Turkish Basketball League is the top professional basketball team for men in the Turkish basketball league system. The Basketball Super League (BSL) is headed by the Turkish Basketball Federation and is made up of sixteen teams, divided into the first and second tiers wherein the two lowest-placed teams are placed in the latter.

Currently, the Turkish Basketball League is EuroLeague’s second-best national league and caters to its defending champions, Fenerbahce. The TBL is also famous for one of the leagues with the best in-game and financial opportunities alongside its tremendous growth in the European sports league.

History

In 1904, basketball was played for the first time in Turkey at Robert College thanks to the introduction of an American teacher of physical education. It was later popularized in Turkey with Ahmet Robenson as the president of Galatasaray S.K.

Local basketball tournaments were done in cities like Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara. Turkish Championship also ran from 1946 to 1967. The current professional league was started back in 1966 by the Turkish Basketball Federation and started their season in the same year. As for the current system, all the sixteen teams play against each other twice, once at their base and the other as visitors. At the end of every season, only the top eight teams can participate in the playoffs and the winner would be crowned the Turkish champions. The two best teams coming from the Turkish Second League are promoted to the Basketbol Süper Ligi whereas the two most underperforming teams are demoted.

It is not a surprise that the TBSL is successful and is rightfully so with their successful development of the game’s popularity in their country and in Europe as well as dominating competitions such as the EuroLeague, FIBA Basketball Champions League, and the EuroCup.

Teams

The following are the league’s sixteen teams with their corresponding cities. From Istanbul, they have: Anadolu Efes, Arel Üniversitesi Büyükçekmece, Bahçeşehir Koleji, Beşiktaş Sompo Japan, Darüşşafaka Doğuş, Fenerbahçe Beko, Galatasaray Doğa Sigorta and Sigortam.Net İTÜ. From Afyon, two teams dominate known as Meksa Yatırım Afyon Belediyespor. From Ankara, they have: OGM Ormanspor and Türk Telekom. In Bandirma, there is Teksüt Bandırma. From Bursa, Tofaş. Lastly, from Izmir Pınar Karşıyaka.

How much do basketball players make in Turkey?

As mentioned before, the Turkish league is one of the most powerful and financially successful European basketball leagues in the world. Not only that, even though the Spanish ACB was marked as the strongest European national basketball league, but the Turkish also did not get left behind with some of their teams having higher salaries compared to teams from the Spanish ACB.

The Turkish Basketball Super League also boasts having the ability to hire power players coming from the NBA and continues to take pride in their national players who got successfully drafted for the American League, specifically: Omer Asik who plays for the Pelicans starting back in 2014, Cedi Osman who currently plays for Cleveland Cavaliers, Ersan Ilyasova and Enes Kanter who currently plays for Oklahoma.

Turkish Basketball Opportunities

As per salary, an average professional basketball player in Turkey makes $36k to $50k per season (Paysa, n.a.). Additionally, top earners like Nando De Colo earn as high as $2.6M per season as well as Jan Veseley who earns up to $2.4M per season, both from Fenerbahce BEKO take Europe by storm both in skills and domination in salaries (Barkas, 2019).

In general, the TBSL offers grand opportunities for aspiring professional basketball players and by joining TBSL, players will have a high chance in getting drafted not only for NBA but also other leagues are it the EuroLeague or NBL due to TBSL being renowned as one of the strongest leagues in the world.

Tryouts, Contacts and how Americans can play

For U.S. players there is an Overseas Basketball Combine that can provide the platform for U.S Players to showcase their skills and for international basketball talent evaluators to and League, Scouts to evaluate talent.

There are several procedures before a player can hope to play in the Turkish league. One of them is getting into contact with viable agencies. If you are aspiring to play then you should contact the following agencies: 1&Box Sports Agency, Octagon Europe, and Kart-Omer Services.

These services already established themselves as top agencies for recruitment; however, if they are not available, other options include Akcil-Burcu Services, Akkaya-Yasemin Services, Aktulgali-Tufan Services, You First Sports and EM-PA Tourism Industry and Sports Management.

Turkish Basketball League Contacts and Agents

While European basketball leagues often request agents from their residing country. American agents such as Bill Duffy (BDF SSports Agency)have international offices and can help with representation if you meet their athlete representation requirements.

For more available agencies, you can check eurobasket.com/Turkey/basketball-Agents.asp. Once you are done contacting an agent, then you can check out the available teams, you can follow Afyon, Anadolu Efes, Bahcesehir, Bandirma, Besiktas, Bursaspor, Buyukcekmece, Darussafaka, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Gaziantep, ITU BB, OGM Orman, Pinar Karsiyaka, Tofas, and Turf Telekom for the TBSL.

If you intend to try out for the TBL then you can follow Akhisar Bld, Bandirma BK, Bornova Bld, Duze Bld, Fethiye, Final Spor, Konyaspor, Manisa, Merkezefendi, Petkim, Samsun, and Yalova Bld.

For the TB2L teams, Ankara Kayi, Baskent, Beylikduzu, Corlu, Izmir BSB, Kagitspor, Karsiyaka, TED Ankara. You can find their respective links in eurobasket.com/Turkey/basketball=Links.asp.

Understanding The Turkish Recruitment Protocol

Agent representation is always advised. I personally advised players to talk to well-established agents, coaches or professional players fro the states to better understand the process. Yes, we at Souletics can help, but we seek to give you all the information to make proper decisions.

Once you are done contacting them, then it is almost standard procedure from there. There will be paper works in the middle then you will need to contact the team manager. It is advised that you contact the manager directly or the coach because the other staff in position would just redirect you to him.

It is also much better if you hear the proper procedures from the person you need as well. Once you are done contacting them, you will then undergo tryouts. In the tryouts, you must bring out your best and make sure to take pointers on things you can improve on. Should they pass you and draft you into their teams, and this goes for everyone, not just American players, then bring out your best performance in every game to continue in the team. The Turkish league is no stranger to removing players who underperform since they do set the standard high. They are not one of Europe’s powerhouses for no reason.

It is important to note that before you accept their agreement, read through them to avoid any legal issues once you play for the team. You should also check the benefits and what they can offer you should you play for them and what you would get if you perform well.

Conclusion

Now, the big question is, is playing for an international league worth it? It is, especially if you are aspiring to get into the NBA draft. Since the pool for the NBA is so vast, not everyone gets the opportunity to play in the main teams and would get to play as a free-lance or a substitute player instead. It is recommended to first establish yourself in another country and buildup your career from there before aspiring to get into the NBA. Though there are some consequences for going abroad such as missing home, culture shock and the like, through effort and luck, you will be able to achieve the goals you set for yourself and that is to produce the best version of you and grab every opportunity that will bring you success.

References:

Barkas, A. (2019). The Top 10 EuroLeague salaries of 2019-20. Eurohoops. Retrieved
        on March 22, 2020 from https://www.eurohoops.net/en/trademarks/909850/the-top-
        10-euroleague-salaries-of-2019-20/.

ESPN. (n.a.) Turkish Basketball Super League is the Second Best National League.
        Retrieved on March 22, 2020 from http://tblstat.net/nd.asp?n=38858.

Paysa (n.a.). Professional Basketball Player Salaries in Turkey, TX. Retrieved on March
        23, 2020 from https://www.paysa.com/salaries/professional-basketball-player–
        turkey,-tx–tl