The “Nederlandse Basketball Bond” was founded on July 15, 1947. Between 1945 and 1966 Amsterdam was one of the best teams of the Netherlands. In the 70’s the first American players came to play basketball in the Netherlands. At that time Haarlem was the top team and the Dutch top teams played in the top cups of European clubs competitions. It was also the beginning of American players with Dutch passports. Between the seasons 1978-79 and 1987-88 Den Bosch won all championship tittles, with the exception of 1981-1982 when Groningen surprised them once. Den Helder and Den Bosch were the best clubs between 1988-89 and 1997-98. In last years Amsterdam 
controls the Dutch competition.
       For American players, the Netherlands is an ideal start for a great professional European career. Most people talk English (not such common in many other Euro countries) and it is a good beginning to learn the European culture and customs. In Europe the Netherlands has a C-level (A are for example Turkey, Spain and Greece and B United Kingdom and Belgium) but overall it is a solid level league. The salaries with the division I teams are between 1,000 and 4,000 U.S. dollar / month (although some exceptions are very common) and other costs (car, accommodation, etc) are covered. The American and Bosman players are full professionals, and the Dutch players are mostly semi-professional. Sometimes import players are being signed by lower division teams, but in this case salaries are not very high. 
       The Netherlands (more than 16 million people) is located in north-western Europe. It is bounded by the North Sea on the north and west, by Belgium on the south, and by Germany on the east. Most popular sport in the Netherlands is soccer.