The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the 2nd-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 Pro B season are promoted to the top-tier levelLNB Pro A, replaced by the bottom two teams in Pro A. The two last placed teams are relegated to the third level, which is the NM1.
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–present)
Format
All eighteen 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 Pro A. 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 ProA. The bottom two regular season teams are meanwhile relegated to the third tierNationale Masculine 1 (NM1) league.
^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.
