The professional basketball Leagues of Italy, France and Spain founded the ULEB ( Union des Ligues Européennes de Basket-Ball ) on June 25, 1991 in Rome ( Italy ). In 1996 the League of Greece was the first addition to the three original members.

In November 1992, a joint All-Star weekend was held in Madrid, Spain, featuring the stars from the Spanish and Italian Leagues ( ACB and LEGA ). The experience was repeated one year later in Rome before a crowd of 10.500 fans. In 1994, the French league joined the event and the All Star weekend moved to Valencia, Spain, with LEGA, ACB and LNB stars competing and showing their skills.

The ULEB has had only two Presidents since its inception: Gian Luigi Porelli ( since September 1991 until March 1998 ) and Eduardo Portela, President of ACB Spanish League ( since March 18, 1998 up to date ).

In December 1999 the Union welcomed the British, Belgian and Swiss leagues.

A key date in ULEB and European basketball history was Friday June 9, 2000. That day, the most important clubs in Europe and the ULEB Leagues, met in Sitges ( south off Barcelona ), and decided to create and manage a new competition, Euroleague. Until that moment, it had been FIBA to organize the top basketball clubs competition in Europe. The first game of the new Euroleague, Real Madrid v Olympiakos, was played October 16, 2000 in Madrid.

One year later, in October 2001, the ULEB was enlarged with the leagues of Germany, Netherlands and Poland. Year 2002 saw the addition of the Adriatic League ( February ) and the League of Austria ( October ). That same month, the ULEB Cup, the second European club competition, was born. The first game was played in Istanbul, on October 15, 2002, facing Darussafaka and Novo Mesto.

In June 2003 the League of Lithuania, in January 2004 the League of Czech Republic joined the ULEB and in July 2005 was extended with the League of Israel. The most recent addition to the ULEB family is the Russian League, which was granted admission in May 2011. So, the ULEB currently represents a total number of 16 professional Basketball Leagues across Europe.

Eduardo Portela is the current President of the ULEB. The Adriatic League ABA, represented by its President Radovan Lorbek, and the Greek League HEBA ( represented by President Giorgos Chalvatzakis ) hold the ULEB Vice Presidencies. The Executive Committee of the Union is completed with the Leagues of Belgium ( BLB ), France ( LNB ), Germany ( BBL ) and Spain ( ACB ).

ULEB headquartes are located in Barcelona.