ASVEL Basket, known as LDLC ASVEL since 2018 for 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 2014, Tony Parker became the president of the club. In 2017, Nicolas Batum became the club's director of basketball operations. 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.
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 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.
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. 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
Domestic competitions
- French League
: Winners (21): 1948–49, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1980–81, 2001–02, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22
: Runners-up (7): 1953–54, 1958–59, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2002–03
- French Cup
: Winners (10): 1952–53, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2018-19, 2020–21
: Runners-up (5): 1953–54, 1954–55, 1958–59, 2001–02, 2015–16
- A Leaders Cup
: Winners (2): 2010, 2023
: Runners-up (2): 2017, 2020
- French Super Cup
: Winners (2): 2009, 2016
: Runners-up (1): 2008
- Federation Cup <small>(defunct)</small>
: Winners (1): 1983–84
: Runners-up (1): 1981–82
European competitions
- 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
Other competitions
- Villeurbanne, France Invitational Game
: Winners (1): 2020
Season by season
thumb|250px|The ASVEL team during the 2008–09 season
Season by season results of the club in national, cup, and European competitions.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%"
|-
!Season
!Tier
!League
!
!French Cup
!A Leaders Cup
!colspan=2|European competitions
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"| 2008–09
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="background:gold; text-align:center;"| 1st
| Quarterfinalist
| Semifinalist
| <small>2</small> Eurocup || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"| 2009–10
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;"| 9th
| Round of 16
| style="background:gold"|Champion
| <small>1</small> Euroleague || align=center|
|-
|rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef;"| 2010–11
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 1
| rowspan=2|Pro A
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 11th
| rowspan=2|Semifinalist
| rowspan=2|Semifinalist
| <small>1</small> Euroleague || align=center|
|-
| <small>2</small> Eurocup || align=center|
|-
|rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef;"| 2011–12
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 1
| rowspan=2|Pro A
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 12th
| rowspan=2|Round of 16
| rowspan=2|
| <small>1</small> Euroleague || align=center|
|-
| <small>2</small> Eurocup || style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2012–13
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;"| 3rd
| Semifinalist
| Quarterfinalist
| colspan=2|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2013–14
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;"| 7th
| Round of 32
|
| <small>2</small> Eurocup || align=center|
|-
|rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef;"|2014–15
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 1
| rowspan=2|Pro A
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 6th
| rowspan=2|Quarterfinalist
| rowspan=2|
| <small>1</small> Euroleague || align=center|
|-
| <small>2</small> Eurocup || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2015–16
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=gold| 1st
| bgcolor=silver|Runner-up
| Semifinalist
| <small>3</small> FIBA Europe Cup || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2016–17
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;"| 4th
| Round of 32
| style="background:silver;"| Runner-up
| <small>3</small> Champions League || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2017–18
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;"| 6th
| Quarterfinalist
| Semifinalist
| <small>2</small> EuroCup || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2018–19
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="background:gold; text-align:center;"| 1st
| style="background:gold"| Champion
| 2019 Leaders Cup|Quarterfinalist
| <small>2</small> EuroCup || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2019–20
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| align="center"|–
| align="center"|–
| style="background:silver;"| Runner-up
| <small>1</small> EuroLeague || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2020–21
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="background:gold; text-align:center;"| 1st
| style="background:gold"| Champion
|
| <small>1</small> EuroLeague || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2021–22
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="background:gold; text-align:center;"| 1st
| Quarterfinalist
|
| <small>1</small> EuroLeague || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2022–23
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;"| 3rd
| style="background:silver;"| Runner-up
| style="background:gold"| Champion
| <small>1</small> EuroLeague || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2023–24
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;"| 3rd
| Round of 16
| Quarterfinalist
| <small>1</small> EuroLeague || align=center|
|-
|style="background:#efefef;"|2024–25
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| Pro A
| style="text-align:center;"| 3rd
| Quarterfinalist
| Semifinalist
| <small>1</small> EuroLeague || align=center|
|}
: Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
International record
{| class="toccolours" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="float:left; margin:0.5em"
|- style="background:#cadcfb;"
! Season
! Achievement
! Notes
|-
! colspan="4" style="background:#efefef;"| EuroLeague
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1964–65
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Real Madrid, 65–83 (L) in Villeurbanne and 65–84 (L) in Madrid
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1966–67
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| 4th place in a group with Simmenthal Milano, AŠK Olimpija and Racing Mechelen
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1969–70
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| 3rd place in a group with CSKA Moscow, Ignis Varese and Crvena zvezda
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1975–76
| style="text-align:center;"| Semi-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Real Madrid, 77–113 (L) in Madrid and 101–99 (W) in Villeurbanne
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1977–78
| style="text-align:center;"| Semi-final group stage
| style="text-align:left;"| 3rd place in a group with Real Madrid, Mobilgirgi Varese, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Jugoplastika and Alvik
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1996–97
| style="text-align:center;"| Final Four
| style="text-align:left;"| 4th place in Rome, lost to FC Barcelona 70–77 in the semi-final, lost to Smelt Olimpija 79–86 in the 3rd place game
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1998–99
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated 2–0 by Olympiacos, 57–70 (L) in Piraeus and 77–81 (L) in Villeurbanne
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1999–00
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated 2–1 by Efes Pilsen, 85–93 (L) in Istanbul, 77–60 (W) in Villeurbanne and 66-68 (L) in Istanbul
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2000–01
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated 2–0 by CSKA Moscow, 63–78 (L) in Moscow and 76–82 (L) in Villeurbanne
|-
! colspan="4" style="background:#efefef;"| FIBA Saporta Cup
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1967–68
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Ignis Varese, 88–73 (W) in Villeurbanne and 51–70 (L) in Varese
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1976–77
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| 4th place in a group with Forst Cantù, Juventud Schweppes and Steaua București
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1978–79
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| 3rd place in a group with EBBC, Gabetti Cantù and Śląsk Wrocław
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1982–83
| style="text-align:center; background:silver;"| Final
| style="text-align:left;"| lost to Scavolini Pesaro 99–111 in the final (Palma de Mallorca)
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1984–85
| style="text-align:center;"| Semi-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Žalgiris, 78–84 (L) in Kaunas and 93–88 (W) in Villeurbanne
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1986–87
| style="text-align:center;"| Semi-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Cibona, 82–98 (L) in Villeurbanne and 93–109 (L) in Zagreb
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1997–98
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Stefanel Milano, 58–67 (L) in Villeurbanne and 70–62 (W) in Milan
|-
! colspan="4" style="background:#efefef;"| FIBA Korać Cup
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1973–74
| style="text-align:center;"| Semi-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Forst Cantù, 68–99 (L) in Cantù and 94–76 (W) in Villeurbanne
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1995–96
| style="text-align:center;"| Semi-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Stefanel Milano, 69–73 (L) in Milan and 72–81 (L) in Villeurbanne
|-
! colspan="4" style="background:#efefef;"| EuroCup
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005–06
| style="text-align:center;"| Quarter-finals
| style="text-align:left;"| eliminated by Aris TT Bank, 60–67 (L) in Villeurbanne and 67–77 (L) in Thessaloniki
|}
Players
Roster
<section begin=roster/>
<!-- list of players -->
<!-- end list of players -->
<section end="roster" />
Depth chart
<section begin="depth" />
<section end="depth" />
Retired numbers
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
| colspan="4" style="background:white; color:black;" |LDLC ASVEL retired numbers
|-
! style="width:40px; background:black; color:white;" |No.
! style="width:150px; background:black; color:white;" |Player
! style="width:40px; background:black; color:white;" |Position
! style="width:100px; background:black; color:white;" |Tenure
|-
|4
|Alain Gilles
|G
|1965–1986
|-
|4
|Delaney Rudd
|G
|1993–1999
|-
|5
|Amara Sy
|G
|1999–2002, 2005–2007, 2008–2009, 2012–2015
|}
Notable players
200px|thumb|right|[[Alain Gilles played 21 years with the club, and coached the team for 9 years.]]
thumb|upright|200px|alt=Wembanyama reaching to grab a basketball in the air.|[[Victor Wembanyama who won the LNB Pro A Best Young Player in 2022 and the great top prospects in the 2023 NBA draft where he was selected first overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs.]]
200px|thumb|right|[[Charles Kahudi]]
200px|thumb|right|[[David Lighty]]
- 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
- Yves Pons
- Henri Rey
- Zaccharie Risacher
- Arthur Rozenfeld
- Yohann Sangaré
- Laurent Sciarra
- Matthew Strazel
- Gérard Sturla
- Amara Sy
- Philip Szanyiel
- Kim Tillie
- Ali Traoré
- Ronny Turiaf
- Saint-Ange Vebobe
- Victor Wembanyama
- Léo Westermann
- Guerschon Yabusele
- Ismaël Bako
- Retin Obasohan
- Kostas Antetokounmpo
- Noam Yaacov
- Nikola Radulović
- Nikola Vujčić
- Miro Bilan
- Andrija Žižić
- François Németh
- Kristjan Kangur
- Rolandas Alijevas
- Mantas Kalnietis
- Mindaugas Lukauskis
- Marko Kešelj
- Nikola Radulović
- Hüseyin Beşok
- Steve Bucknall
- Pops Mensah-Bonsu
- Tonye Jekiri
- David Andersen
- Adrian Uter
- Rowan Barrett
- Walter Hodge
- Hilton Armstrong
- Tarik Black
- Lawrence Boston
- Eric Campbell
- John Celestand
- Norris Cole
- Corey Crowder
- Bobby Dixon
- Charles Gaines
- James Gist
- Shaquille Harrison
- Brian Howard
- Frank Jackson
- Jaren Jackson
- Chris Jones
- Marcos Knight
- Jay Larranaga
- Paris Lee
- David Lighty
- Terrell Lyday
- Rawle Marshall
- Marlon Maxey
- Scott Machado
- Trenton Meacham
- Jay Murphy
- DeMarcus Nelson
- Dylan Osetkowski
- Ahmad Nivins
- André Roberson
- Delaney Rudd
- Mike Scott
- A. J. Slaughter
- Alex Tyus
- Chevon Troutman
- Darryl Watkins
- Casper Ware
- Lamayn Wilson
Head coaches
{| width="100%"
| width="35%" valign="top" align="center" |
{| cellpadding="3" style="font-size:95% border="1" cellspacing="1" align="center" style="margin: 0 1em 0 1em; text-align:center; background-color:#FFFFFF; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top:12px; margin-bottom:12px"
|-
!width=100 bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:#000000;" |Tenure
!width=150 bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:#000000;" |Head Coach
|-
| 1948–1955 || André Buffière
|-
| 1955–1956 || Raymond Sahy
|-
| 1956–1959 || Georges Darcy
|-
| 1959–1960 || Raymond Sahy
|-
| 1960–1963 || Gérard Sturla
|-
| 1963 || Raymond Sahy
|-
| 1963–1964 || Henri Rey
|-
| 1964–1967 || Jesus Mercader
|-
| 1967–1970 || Maurice Buffière
|-
| 1970 || Michel Le Ray
|-
| 1970–1972 || Jacques Caballé
|}
| width="35%" valign="top" align="center" |
{| cellpadding="3" style="font-size:95% border="1" cellspacing="1" align="center" style="margin: 0 1em 0 1em; text-align:center; background-color:#FFFFFF; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top:12px; margin-bottom:12px"
|-
!width=100 bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:#000000;" |Tenure
!width=150 bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:#000000;" |Head Coach
|-
| 1972–1973 || Jesus Mercader
|-
| 1973–1980 || André Buffière
|-
| 1980–1989 || Alain Gilles
|-
| 1989–1990 || Pierre Galle
|-
| 1990–1991 || Dominique Richard
|-
| 1991–1992 || Jean-Paul Rebatet
|-
| 1992–2001 || Grégor Beugnot
|-
| 2001–2002 || Bogdan Tanjević
|-
| 2002–2004 || Philippe Hervé
|-
| 2004–2005 || Erman Kunter
|-
| 2005–2006 || Claude Bergeaud
|}
| width="35%" valign="top" align="center" |
{| cellpadding="3" style="font-size:95% border="1" cellspacing="1" align="center" style="margin: 0 1em 0 1em; text-align:center; background-color:#FFFFFF; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top:12px; margin-bottom:12px"
|-
!width=100 bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:#000000;" |Tenure
!width=150 bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:#000000;" |Head Coach
|-
| 2006–2008 || Yves Baratet
|-
| 2008–2010 || Vincent Collet
|-
| 2010–2011 || Nordine Ghrib
|-
| 2011–2014 || Pierre Vincent
|-
| 2014 || Nordine Ghrib <br/>(interim head coach)
|-
| 2014–2018 || J. D. Jackson
|-
| 2018 || T. J. Parker
|-
| 2018–2020 || Zvezdan Mitrović
|-
| 2020–2023|| T. J. Parker
|-
| 2023–2024|| Gianmarco Pozzecco
|}
|}
Club Presidents
{| cellpadding="3" style="font-size:95% border="1" cellspacing="1" align="center" style="margin: 0 1em 0 1em; text-align:center; background-color:#FFFFFF; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top:12px; margin-bottom:12px"
|-
!bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:#000000;" |Tenure
!bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:#000000;" |Club President
|-
| 1948–1963 || Pierre Millet
|-
| 1963–1988 || Raphaël de Barros
|-
| 1988–1990 || Charles Hernu
|-
| 1990 || Philippe Charvieux
|-
| 1990–1992 || Gaston Charvieux
|-
| 1992–2001 || Marc Lefebvre
|-
| 2001–2014 || Gilles Moretton
|-
| 2014–present || Tony Parker
|}
Individual club records
Individual club record holders, while players of ASVEL.
{| class="wikitable alternance sortable centre" style="text-align:center"
!scope="col"|Category
!scope="col"|Player
!scope="col"|Club Tenure
!scope="col"|Record
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| Total Points Scored || Alain Gilles || 1965–86 || 6,141
|-
|style="text-align:center;" | Points Per Game || Norris Bell || 1984–88 || 21.8
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| Total Assists || Delaney Rudd || 1993–99 || 1,208
|-
|style="text-align:center;" | Assists Per Game || Delaney Rudd || 1993–99 || 7.3
|-
|style="text-align:center;" | Total Rebounds || Willie Redden || 1983–92 || 1,472
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| Rebounds Per Game || Willie Redden || 1983–92 || 8.5
|-
|style="text-align:center;" | Games played || Alain Gilles || 1965–86 || 372
|}
ASVEL players with the most French League championships
ASVEL players with the most French League championships won, while members of the club.
{| class="wikitable alternance sortable centre" style="text-align:center"
!scope="col"|Player
!scope="col"|French Championships
!scope="col"|Club Tenure
|-
| Alain Gilles || 8 || 1965–86
|-
| Henri Grange || 7 || 1955–69
|-
| Raymond Sahy || 6 || 1948–57
|-
| Alain Durand || rowspan="5"|5 || 1963–72
|-
| Henri Rey || 1949–60
|-
| Michel Duprez || 1968–77
|-
| Gilbert Lamothe || 1959–71
|-
| Bruno Recoura || 1967–75
|-
| André Buffière || rowspan="5"|4 || 1948–55
|-
| Michel Le Ray || 1967–73
|-
| Gérard Sturla || 1951–60
|-
| Jean-Pierre Castellier || 1963–69
|-
| Gérard Moroze || 1967–75
|}
Sponsors
- Groupe LDLC
References
External links
- Euroleague.net Team Page
- French League Profile
- Eurobasket.com Team Page