BC Kalev, known as BC Kalev/Cramo for sponsorship reasons, is a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club based in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, Estonia. The team plays in the

Korvpalli Meistriliiga The Korvpalli Meistriliiga ( en, Basketball Champions League), known as the OlyBet Korvpalli Meistriliiga for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier level and most important professional basketball league in Estonia. It is controlled by the Est ...

, the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League and the

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA's European-wide second level. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in nation ...

. They play their home games at the

Kalev Sports Hall Kalev Sports Hall ( et, Kalevi spordihall) is a multi-purpose arena in Estonia. It was built in 1962 and holds up to 1,780 people (all-seater).Saku Suurhall Unibet Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Haabersti subdistrict of the Estonian capital, Tallinn. Opened in November 2001, it is the largest multi-purpose hall in the country with around 7,000 seats but can hold up to 10,000 people. It ...

. Kalev/Cramo have won 12 Estonian Championships, 8

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

s and 1

Latvian-Estonian Basketball League The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League is the highest professional men's club basketball league in Latvia and Estonia; it has been organised since 2018, run by the Latvian Basketball Association and the Estonian Basketball Association. History ...

title.

History

Early years (1998–2005)

Founded in 1998, the club started out as Canon ENM. Coached by Allan Dorbek the team joined top-tier

(KML) for the 1998–99 season. The club's first season was a disappointment, as the team finished in last place without winning a single game. In 1999, the team was renamed Ehitustööriist. The team's results improved slowly as Ehitustööriist finished the league in 7th place for four consecutive seasons. In 2003, the club merged with

Audentes Audentes is a company based in Tallinn, Estonia. The company was established in 1995 by Tõnis Arro and Tea Varrak under the name AS Fontes PMP, which encompassed the company Fontese Koolituse AS and Fontes Private School. In 1997 the company was ...

and became Ehitustööriist/Audentes, while the former Estonia national team coach

Maarten van Gent Maarten Herman van Gent (born 22 March 1947 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch basketball coach, manager, scout and businessman. Van Gent started playing basketball at age 17. He also played korfball and soccer in college. After serving in t ...

was hired as head coach. The team finished the 2003–04 season in 5th place. After the season, Ehitustööriist/Audentes dissolved and both clubs continued separately. In 2004, Ehitustööriist moved to the new 7,200-seat

Saku Suurhall Unibet Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Haabersti subdistrict of the Estonian capital, Tallinn. Opened in November 2001, it is the largest multi-purpose hall in the country with around 7,000 seats but can hold up to 10,000 people. It ...

. The team finished the 2004–05 regular season with a 12–4 record and dominant in the playoffs. In the finals, they faced

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. Ehitustööriist won the series and the team's first Estonian Championship 4 games to 3.

Howard Frier Howard Fletcher Frier (born March 31, 1976) is a retired American-Estonian basketball player. Howard played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes averaging 4.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in his senior year. After graduating he played two sea ...

was named

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the season. The team also competed in the regional

Baltic Basketball League Baltic Basketball League (BBL) was the Baltic states basketball league founded in 2004. The league mainly focused on teams from the Baltic states, but teams from Sweden, Russia, Kazakhstan, Finland, and Belarus have participated in the Baltic L ...

for the first time, finishing in 7th place with an 8–10 record.

BC Kalev/Cramo (2005–present)

Coming off their first Estonian Championship, Ehitustööriist leased the trademark "Kalev" from AS Kalev and became BC Kalev/Cramo. Allan Dorbek was replaced as head coach by former Estonia national team shooting guard

Aivar Kuusmaa Aivar Kuusmaa (born 12 June 1967) is an Estonian basketball coach and former professional basketball player who played mostly at the shooting guard position. He won the USSR Premier Basketball League in 1991 as a member of the Tallinn Kalev ba ...

for the 2005–06 season. On 2 October 2005, the team won their first

, defeating University of Tartu 70–64 in the final. Kalev/Cramo also made their debut in Europe, entering the 2005–06 season of the

FIBA EuroCup FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

but failed to advance past the group stage with just one victory in 6 games. In the KML, Kalev/Cramo finished the regular season in first place with a 21–3 record and reached the finals in the playoffs. The team defended their title, defeating University of Tartu 4 games to 3, winning the deciding seventh game 69–68. James Williams was named Finals MVP and Kuusmaa won the

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

award. Despite that, Kuusmaa was replaced by

Veselin Matić Veselin Matić ( sr-cyrl, Веселин Матић; born July 21, 1960) also known by his nickname Toza, is a Serbian professional basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of India men's national basketball team. Personal life His so ...

for the 2006–07 season. The team won their second Estonian Cup in 2006, but was unable to defend the title. Kalev/Cramo reached the finals but lost the series 2–4 to University of Tartu. Despite losing in the finals,

Valmo Kriisa Valmo Kriisa (born 18 May 1974 in Pärnu, Estonia) is an Estonian former professional basketball player. He played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. Kriisa started his senior club career with "KK Tartu" team (Tartu Ülikool/Rock) in ...

won the Estonian Player of the Year award, while

Travis Reed Travis Reed (born August 6, 1979) is an American retired professional basketball player. Reed played college basketball for UCLA and Long Beach State. He played professionally in the Netherlands, Estonia, Romania, Australia and Germany. Profess ...

was named KML and BBL MVP and Matić won the Coach of the Year award. Kalev/Cramo saw limited success in Europe, reaching the second round in the 2006–07 FIBA EuroCup and competing in the European second tier 2007–08 ULEB Cup, but a record of 3–7 wasn't enough to advance past the group stage. The team won another Estonian Cup in 2007 and reached the finals in the 2007–08 season, but were swept by University of Tartu. In 2008,

Nenad Vučinić Nenad Vučinić ( sr-cyr, Ненад Вучинић; born 7 April 1965) is a Serbian-New Zealand basketball coach and former player. He once served as the interim head coach for Philippines men's national basketball team, with Chot Reyes replaci ...

replaced Matić as head coach. Kalev/Cramo won their fourth consecutive Estonian Cup in 2008. The team finished the 2008–09 regular season in second place. In the semi-finals, Kalev/Cramo easily dispatched TTÜ in three games to reach the finals. In the finals, the team defeated University of Tartu 4 games to 2 and captured their third title. Forward

Kristjan Kangur Kristjan Kangur (born 23 October 1982) is an Estonian professional basketball player for Kalev/Cramo in the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League. He is 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) tall, and he can play at both the small forward and power forward pos ...

was named Finals MVP and the Estonian Player of the Year. In 2009, the team joined the newly established

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus an ...

. In December 2009, Vučinić left Kalev/Cramo. The team struggled in the 2009–10 season and finished the regular season in fourth place with a 19–9 record under the former assistant coach

Alar Varrak Alar Varrak (born 20 April 1982) is an Estonian basketball coach and a former point guard. He is the assistant coach of Kalev/Cramo of in the VTB United League. Career Varrak was born in Jõgeva, and spent his short playing career in the Esto ...

. The team lost in the semi-finals to University of Tartu but won the bronze medals in the third place games, winning the series in two games against TTÜ. Gregor Arbet, Estonia-Latvia, 2006

In July 2010, Aivar Kuusmaa returned to Kalev/Cramo. Led by

Gregor Arbet Gregor Arbet (born 19 June 1983) is a former Estonian professional basketball player and the current assistant coach for TalTech of the Estonian Korvpalli Meistriliiga. He is a 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) tall shooting guard and small forward. He rep ...

and

Armands Šķēle Armands Šķēle (born September 4, 1983) is a former Latvian professional basketball player. He was a member of Latvian National Team. He earned praise from fans for his artistic style of play that thrived on creativity and unorthodox moves. Du ...

, the team finished the 2010–11 regular season in first place. In the playoffs, Kalev/Cramo swept Rakvere Tarvas in the semi-finals 3–0 and University of Tartu in the finals 4–0. Šķēle was named Finals MVP and Kuusmaa won his second Coach of the Year award. Kalev/Cramo defended their title in the 2011–12 season, defeating Tartu Ülikool in the finals in a four-game sweep.

Tanel Sokk Tanel Sokk (born 20 January 1985) is an Estonian professional basketball player who plays for TalTech Basketball Team of the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League. Standing at 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in), he plays at the point guard position. He also ...

was named Finals MVP and Kuusmaa once again won the Coach of the Year award. Kalev/Cramo struggled early in the 2012–13 season and after a 69–95 defeat to Rakvere Tarvas on 22 November 2012, Kuusmaa was sacked, with assistant coach Alar Varrak taking over the coaching reins. Despite the poor start, Kalev/Cramo finished the regular season in first place and swept the playoffs. Kalev/Cramo won their 6th Estonian Championship as Tanel Sokk claimed his second straight Finals MVP award. Alar Varrak was named Coach of the Year. The team also placed third in the 2012–13 Baltic Basketball League. With star players Gregor Arbet and

Frank Elegar Frank Roderick Elegar (born December 3, 1986) is a U.S. Virgin Islands-Guyanese professional basketball player who last played for Napoli Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He can play as either a center or a power forward. College ...

and the additions of

Vlad Moldoveanu Vlad-Sorin Moldoveanu (born February 11, 1988) is a Romanian professional basketball player who last played for CSO Voluntari. He also represents the Romanian national basketball team in international competition. Standing at , he plays at the pow ...

and Rain Veideman, the team's success continued in the 2013–14 season. Kalev/Cramo once again finished the regular season in first place and was undefeated in the playoffs. Kalev/Cramo won their fourth consecutive Estonian Championship, while Moldoveanu was named Finals MVP and Varrak won his second Coach of the Year award. The team finished the 2014–15 regular season in second place. Kalev/Cramo swept TTÜ in the quarter-finals and

Rapla Rapla (German: ''Rappel'') is a town in central Estonia, the capital of Rapla County and the centre of Rapla Parish. The oldest records date back to 1241 in the Danish Census Book, when it was said that it was a small village with 8 acres of ...

in the semi-finals. In the finals, Kalev/Cramo once again faced University of Tartu, but lost the series 1–4. On 20 December 2015, Kalev/Cramo won their fifth Estonian Cup, defeating University of Tartu 73–55 in the final. Kalev/Cramo finished the 2015–16 season regular season in first place and undefeated. The team extended their winning streak in the quarter- and semi-finals. In the finals, the team faced University of Tartu and won the series 4 games to 1, the single loss being the team's only defeat in the season.

Rolands Freimanis Rolands Freimanis (born January 21, 1988) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Trefl Sopot of the Polish Basketball League. He plays at the power forward and center positions. Professional career Born in Gulbene, Latvia, Freimanis star ...

was named Finals MVP. Kalev/Cramo defended their title in the 2016–17 season, facing Rapla in the finals and winning the series 4 games to 0.

Branko Mirković Branko Mirković ( sr-cyr, Бранко Мирковић, bg, Бранко Миркович; born October 5, 1982) is a Serbian-Bulgarian professional basketball player who currently plays for Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys of the Lithuanian Basket ...

was named Finals MVP. In November 2017, Varrak was sacked and replaced by

Donaldas Kairys Donaldas Kairys (born 6 March 1977) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. Coaching career On 4 February 2020, Kairys was signed by Avtodor Saratov as head coach. He left the position after the season ended. On 9 Jun ...

. The team won their third consecutive league title in the 2017–18 season, defeating University of Tartu in the finals 4 games to 0. Kristjan Kangur, who returned to the club for the season, was named Finals MVP. In the 2018–19 season, Kalev/Cramo finished the inaugural Estonian-Latvian Basketball League in third place and won their fourth consecutive KML title. On September 17, 2021, Kalev beat

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

77–70 in the final qualifying round of the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

and became the first Estonian team to qualify for the competition's regular season. On February 24, 2022 Kalev terminated their membership with

due to

Russian war against Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...

Sponsorship naming

The team has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship. In 2005, the team leased the trademark "Kalev" from AS Kalev and became BC Kalev/Cramo. *Canon ENM: 1998–1999 *Ehitustööriist: 1999–2001 *Ehitustööriist/Kalev: 2001–2003 *Ehitustööriist/Audentes: 2003–2004 *Ehitustööriist: 2004–2005 *BC Kalev/Cramo: 2005–present

Logos

BC Kalev-Cramo logo.svg, BC Kalev (2005–2016) BC Kalev-Cramo crest.png, BC Kalev/Cramo (2016–2020) BC Kalev Cramo logo.png, BC Kalev/Cramo (2018-2020) BC_KC_logo_Dark_RGB@4x-8.png, BC Kalev/Cramo (2020–present)

Home arenas

Kalev Sports Hall Kalev Sports Hall ( et, Kalevi spordihall) is a multi-purpose arena in Estonia. It was built in 1962 and holds up to 1,780 people (all-seater).Audentes Sports Center: (2003–2004) *

: (2004–present)

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Squad changes for the 2021–22 season

In

Out

Coaches

* Allan Dorbek: 1998–2003 *

: 2003–2004 * Allan Dorbek: 2004–2005 *

: 2005–2006 *

: 2006–2008 *

: 2008–2009 *

: 2010 *

: 2010–2012 *

: 2012–2017 *

: 2017–2019 *

Roberts Štelmahers Roberts Štelmahers (born November 19, 1974) is a Latvian retired professional basketball player, who played the point guard position. Štelmahers was a member of the Latvia national basketball team from 1992 to 2005 participating in four EuroB ...

: 2019–2022 *

Heiko Rannula Heiko Rannula (born July 28, 1983) is an Estonian professional basketball coach and former player, who is currently a head coach for Kalev/Cramo, and an assistant for Jukka Toijala in Estonian National Team. Professional player career Heiko R ...

: 2022–

Season by season

Trophies and awards

Trophies

* Estonian Championship: (12) ** 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

**Runners-up (3): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2014–15 *

: (8) **2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2022 **Runners-up (4): 2009, 2011, 2013, 2021 * Estonian-Latvian Championship: (1) **

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual awards

Estonian Player of the Year *

– 2007 *

– 2009 KML MVP *

– 2005 *

– 2007 KML Finals MVP *

– 2012, 2013 *

– 2009, 2018 *

– 2017, 2019 * James Williams – 2006 *

– 2011 *

– 2014 *

– 2016 *

Chavaughn Lewis Chavaughn Lewis (born February 1, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Ironi Kiryat Ata of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played high school basketball at St. Mary's High School in Manhasset, New York, reaching the ...

– 2021 KML Best Defender * Bamba Fall – 2012 *

– 2014

KML Coach of the Year The KML Coach of the Year ( et, Korvpalli Meistriliiga aasta treener) is an award for the top-tier professional basketball league in Estonia, the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). Winners See also * Korvpalli Meistriliiga * KML Most Valuable Playe ...

– 2006, 2011, 2012 *

– 2013, 2014, 2016 *

– 2018, 2019 * Allan Dorbek – 2005 *

– 2007 *

– 2009 *

– 2021

VTB United League Young Player of the Year The VTB United League Young Player of the Year is an annual VTB United League award given since the 2012–13 VTB United League season to the league's best young player. Players who are under age 23 are eligible. Winners : There was no awardin ...

* Isaiah Briscoe – 2018 BBL MVP *

– 2007

All-KML Team All-KML Team ( et, Korvpalli Meistriliiga tähtede viisik) is an award for the top-tier professional basketball league in Estonia, the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). It is the yearly selection of the league's top five basketball players, by positio ...

– 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 *

– 2007, 2008 *

– 2012, 2013 *

– 2013, 2014 *

– 2005 * Víctor González – 2005 *

Rait Keerles Rait Keerles (born 22 November 1980) is a retired Estonian professional basketball player. Keerles started his professional career in 1997, when he signed with BC Kalev. He has also played for Canon ENM and BC Tallinna Kalev before signing with B ...

– 2006 *

– 2007 *

Charron Fisher Charron Fisher (born November 15, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. College career After attending Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, Fisher played college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier bask ...

– 2010 *

– 2011 * Bamba Fall – 2013 * Rain Veideman – 2014 * Scott Machado – 2015 * Shawn King – 2016 * Sten Sokk – 2016 *

– 2017 * Isaiah Briscoe – 2018 * Bojan Subotić – 2018 *

– 2019 *

Arnett Moultrie Arnett Nathaniel Moultrie (born November 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. He played college basketball with UTEP and Mississippi State. High school In Mou ...

– 2019 * Janari Jõesaar – 2021 *

Marcus Keene Marcus Johnny Rashaan Keene (born May 6, 1995) is an American basketball player for SIG Strasbourg of the French LNB Pro A. He gained national prominence in 2016–17 season as a redshirt junior while at Central Michigan University, having been ...

– 2021 *

Devin Thomas Devin Thomas (born November 15, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver. After playing college football for Michigan State, he was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played for the Redskins ...

– 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:BC Kalev BC Kalev/Cramo Kalev Basketball teams established in 1998 1998 establishments in Estonia Sport in Tallinn