Baloncesto Málaga, S.A.D., for sponsorship reasons named Unicaja, is a Spanish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team that is based in Málaga, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and 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 Intercont ...

. The team is sponsored by the Spanish

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

Unicaja Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the n ...

History

Unicaja was originally founded in 1977, as CB Caja de Ronda. In 1992, the club merged another ACB team in the city of Málaga, CB Maristas de Málaga, which was originally founded in 1953 as Ademar Basket Club. Over the years, the club has featured players like: Nacho Rodríguez, Berni Rodríguez, Carlos Cabezas, Jorge Garbajosa,

Marcus Brown Marcus James Brown (born April 3, 1974) is a retired American professional basketball player. At 6'3" (1.91 m) tall, he played as a shooting guard. A three time All-EuroLeague selection, Brown has been mentioned as being one of the top U.S. play ...

, Sergei Babkov, Michael Ansley,

Louis Bullock Louis "Lou" Bullock, Jr. (born May 20, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Although his records have officially been vacated, due to the University of Michigan basketball scandal, his vacated records are unsurpassed for mo ...

, and

Kenny Miller Kenneth Miller (born 23 December 1979) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Miller, who played as a striker, is one of only five post-war players to have played for both Rangers and Celtic. Miller began his career at ...

, as well as numerous other well-known players. The club won its first title, when it won the European-wide third tier level

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the third-tier level club competition in European basketball, after the FIBA European Champions' Cup (later renamed th ...

in the 2000–01 season. They then won the Spanish King's Cup title in 2005. The next year, in the 2005–06 season, Unicaja won its first-ever Spanish League championship. The club finished its best years to date, by qualifying for the 2007 Euroleague Final Four, where it was defeated in the semifinals by

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

, and thus finished in third place in the EuroLeague. In October 2007, Unicaja faced the NBA's

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, and they defeated the Grizzlies, by a score of 102–99. That was one of the 17 times that an NBA team has lost to a foreign club.

Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (, ; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol won two NBA champion ...

and Juan Carlos Navarro, two of the greatest Spanish basketball players of all time, played for Memphis in that historical game. Málaga participated in the European-wide top-tier level league, the EuroLeague, for 15 consecutive seasons ( 2001–02 season to 2015–16 season). However, in the summer of 2015, it lost its EuroLeague A-licence. Therefore, in the 2016–17 season, Unicaja participated in the second tier level EuroCup. The club immediately won the EuroCup title, in its first season in the league, after winning over

Valencia Basket Valencia Basket Club S.A.D., commonly known as Valencia Basket (), is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague, with home games played at the Fuente de San Luis. The club is spon ...

in the league's Finals.

Logos

CB Unicaja Logo.png , The main logo of the club. Logo of Baloncesto Málaga.png , The alternate logo of the club.

Home arenas

*Pabellón Guadaljaire (1977–78) *Pabellón Tiro Pichón (1978–81) *Pabellón Ciudad Jardín (1981–99) *

Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena (Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena) is an indoor sporting arena that is located in Málaga, Spain. The current seating capacity of the arena is 11,300 for sports, and 10,000 for large concert events ...

(1999–present) Since 1999, Unicaja Málaga has played its home games at the

arena. The arena originally seated 9,743 spectators for basketball games, and was expanded in the year 2010, to a current

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 11,300 people for basketball games.

Players

Retired numbers

Current roster

Depth chart

Notable players

* Álex Abrines * Curro Ávalos * Saúl Blanco * Carlos Cabezas * Iñaki De Miguel *

Alberto Díaz Alberto Díaz Ortiz (born April 23, 1994) is a Spanish professional basketball player for Unicaja of the Liga ACB. At a height of 1.91 m (6'3") in shoes, and a weight of 86 kg (190 lbs.), he plays at the point guard position. Professional caree ...

* Dani Díez * Roger Esteller * Jaime Fernández *

Xavi Fernández Xavi Fernández (born 12 February 1968) is a Spanish basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 199 ...

* Germán Gabriel * Jorge Garbajosa *

Ricardo Guillén Ricardo Guillén Mendoza (born 17 June 1976, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) is a Spanish basketball player. He currently plays as a power forward at CB Marbella La Cañada in Liga EBA. After seven seasons in LEB Oro, he is the ...

Carlos Jiménez Carlos Jiménez Sánchez (born 10 February 1976) is a Spanish former professional basketball player and current sporting director of Unicaja. He is 2.05 m (6' 8 ") tall. His nickname is "suma y sigue Jiménez", which translated into English is, ...

Tomás Jofresa Tomás Jofresa Prats (born 25 January 1970) is a Spanish basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1992 Summer Olympics with Spain. During his 16-year long career, he played mainly in Spain, with stints in Italy, Greece and Po ...

* Chuck Kornegay * Pablo Laso * Jesús Lázaro * Juan Antonio Orenga * Alfonso Reyes * Berni Rodríguez * Mario Muñoz Oses * Ignacio Rodríguez * Dani Romero * Gaby Ruiz * Mike Smith * Carlos Suárez *

Fran Vázquez Francisco Vázquez González (; born 1 May 1983), more commonly known as Fran Vázquez, is a retired Spanish professional basketball player. Originally drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2005, Vázquez decided to remain in the Spanish ACB League ra ...

* Paco Vázquez * Sergi Vidal * Jean-Jacques Conceição *

Juan Ignacio Sánchez Juan Ignacio Sánchez Brown (born May 8, 1977), commonly known as Pepe Sánchez, is an Argentine-American former professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position. He was a part of Argentina's 2004 Olympic gold medal team. P ...

* Walter Herrmann *

Steve Leven Steve Leven (born 15 October 1982 in Sydney, Australia) is a retired Australian professional basketball player. College career Leven, a tall combo guard, started his college basketball career with Auburn University in 2002, then transferred t ...

* Ademola Okulaja * Marcus Faison * Jean-Marc Jaumin * JR Bremer * Nedžad Sinanović *

Vítor Faverani Vítor Luiz Faverani Tatsch (born May 5, 1988) is a Brazilian professional basketball player who plays for Flamengo of the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB). He has also represented Brazil in international competition and holds a Spanish passport. Pro ...

Rafael Hettsheimeir Rafael Estevão "Rafa" Hettsheimeir (born June 16, 1986) is a Brazilian-Spanish professional basketball player who plays for Bauru of the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) and the BCL Americas. He was also member of the Brazilian national basketball tea ...

Augusto Lima Augusto César Lima Brito (born September 17, 1991) is a Brazilian-Spanish professional basketball player for Unicaja of the Liga ACB. He is 6'10" (2.08m) tall and he can play as either a power forward or a center. He is left handed, but at ...

* Rafa Luz * Paulo Prestes * Roderick Blakney *

Earl Calloway Earl Genard Calloway (born September 30, 1983) is an American-born naturalized Bulgarian professional basketball player for the Ottawa Blackjacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). High school career Calloway played high school baske ...

* Earl Rowland *

Kyle Wiltjer Kyle Gregory Wiltjer (born October 20, 1992) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player for the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He spent two seasons of college basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats before tr ...

Ivan Grgat Ivan () is a Slavic languages, Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John (given name), John) from Hebrew language, Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. T ...

Davor Kus Davor Kus (born July 21, 1978) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. His natural position was point guard, although he can also feature as a shooting guard. Player profile Kus is known for his technical proficiency, precise passing ...

* Oliver Lafayette * Veljko Mršić *

Sandro Nicević Sandro Nicević (born June 16, 1976 in Pula, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a retired Croatian professional basketball player, who last played for Orlandina Basket in the Italian Serie A. Professional career Nicević started playing basketball ...

Hrvoje Perić Hrvoje Perić (born October 25, 1985) is a Croatian professional basketball player currently playing for Benedetto XIV Cento of the Italian second-tier Serie A2 Basket. Standing at 2.01 m, he plays at the power forward position. Professional c ...

* Krunoslav Simon * Zan Tabak * Luka Žorić * Jiri Welsch *

Christian Eyenga Christian Eyenga Moenge (born June 22, 1989) is a Congolese professional basketball player for Montakit Fuenlabrada of the Liga ACB. Eyenga was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 30th pick in that year's 2009 NBA draft. When drafted, h ...

* Juan José García * Sasu Salin * Joseph Gomis * Edwin Jackson * Mathias Lessort * Florent Pietrus *

Stéphane Risacher Stéphane Risacher (born 26 August 1972 in Moulins, Allier) is a basketball player from France, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known ...

* Moustapha Sonko * Frédéric Weis * Giorgi Shermadini * Shammond Williams * Robert Archibald * Joel Freeland * Darren Phillip * Morayo Soluade * Ioannis Giannoulis *

Georgios Printezis Georgios Printezis (alternate spelling: Giorgos) ( el, Γεώργιος Πρίντεζης, born February 22, 1985) is a Greek former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his career with Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League a ...

Kostas Vasileiadis Konstantinos "Kostas" Vasileiadis (alternate spellings include: Costas, Vasiliadis, Vassiliadis) ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Βασιλειάδης; born March 15, 1984) is a Greek professional basketball player who plays for Cá ...

* Robert Gulyás *

Pavel Ermolinskij Pavel Ermolinskij (born 25 January 1987) is an Icelandic basketball coach and former player of Ukrainian descent, a member of the Icelandic national team. He has won the Icelandic championship with KR seven times, in 2011 and 2014–2019. He pla ...

* Jon Stefansson *

Gal Mekel Gal Mekel ( he, גל מקל, pronounced ; born March 4, 1988) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He played for the Dallas Mavericks and spent time in Europe and Israel. He played college basketball for two years at Wichita Sta ...

* Jeff Brooks * Kaspars Berzins * Kristaps Valters *

Gintaras Einikis Gintaras Einikis (born September 30, 1969) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player and current coach. He stands at 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), and is a former center for the senior Lithuanian national team. Einikis is the only p ...

* Mindaugas Kuzminskas *

Domantas Sabonis Domantas Sabonis (; born May 3, 1996) is a Lithuanian-American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a two-time NBA All-Star. Sabonis started his career in Spain with Unicaj ...

* Richard Hendrix * Omar Cook *

Vladimir Golubović Vladimir Golubović ( sr-cyrl, Владимир Голубовић; born 24 February 1986) is a Serbian-born Montenegrin professional basketball player who last played for Real Betis Energía Plus of the Liga ACB. Standing at , he plays at the c ...

* Michał Chyliński * Thomas Kelati * Adam Waczyński * Adam Wójcik * José Ortiz *

Daniel Santiago Daniel Gregg Santiago (born June 24, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. A center, he had a collegiate career in the NCAA and NAIA. His professional career saw him play in the NBA, the Baloncesto Superior Nacional of ...

* Hamady Ndiaye *

Boniface Ndong Boniface N'Dong (born September 3, 1977) is a Senegalese retired basketball player and current coach. Currently, he is the head coach of the Senegal national basketball team. Born in M'Bour, Senegal, he also holds German citizenship. Professiona ...

* Milan Gurović * Stefan Marković * Dragan Milosavljević * Dejan Musli * Nemanja Nedović *

Kosta Perović Kosta Perović ( sr-cyr, Коста Перовић; born February 19, 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally. In the 2006 NBA draft he was a second-round selec ...

* Bojan Popović *

Vladimir Štimac Vladimir Štimac ( sr, Владимир Штимац, born August 25, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player who most recently played for the Ningbo Rockets of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He also represented the Serbian ...

* Uroš Tripković *

Zoran Dragić Zoran Dragić (born June 22, 1989) is a Slovenian professional basketball player who plays for Cedevita Olimpija of the Slovenian League and the ABA League. He also represents the Slovenian national basketball team internationally. Standing a ...

Erazem Lorbek Erazem Lorbek (born February 21, 1984) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. At a height of tall, he primarily played at the power forward position, but he was also capable of playing at the center position. A three-time All-Eur ...

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* Marko Tusek * Richard Petruska * Sergei Babkov * Valeri Tikhonenko *

Volodymyr Gerun Volodymyr Gerun (born 25 March 1994) is a Ukrainian professional basketball player for Real Betis of the Liga ACB. Playing career Gerun started out with his home town club BC Dnipro for the 2011–12 Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague season.

Pooh Jeter Eugene "Pooh" Jeter III (; born December 2, 1983) is an American-born naturalized Ukrainian professional basketball player for the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. A tall point guard, he is a naturalized player for the Ukraine national ...

Panchi Barrera Gustavo Javier Barrera Castro, commonly known as Panchi Barrera (born April 6, 1985, in Uruguay) is an Uruguayan-Spanish professional basketball player. His jersey's number is 9. He is a longtime member of the Uruguay national basketball team and ...

* Jayson Granger * Fredy Navarrete *

Joe Arlauckas Joseph John "Joe" Arlauckas (born July 20, 1965) is an American retired professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent. He played at the power forward position. Arlauckas is well-known for holding the record for the most points scored in a ...

Victor Alexander Victor Joe Alexander (born August 31, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. Listed at 6'10" (2.08 m) tall, and 265 pounds (120 kg) in weight, he played as a center and power forward. College career Alexander was conside ...

James Augustine James Augustine (born February 27, 1984) is a retired American professional basketball player who played as a forward. During the career he played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted 41st overall in the 2006 N ...

Mario Bennett Mario Marcell Bennett (born August 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. College career The youngest of four children, Bennett was an early entry candidate for the 1995 NBA Draft despite having been in school for four y ...

Adrian Branch Adrian Francis Branch (born November 17, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'7" small forward out of DeMatha High School, Branch starred at the University of Maryland from 1981 to 1985. He was an All-ACC second team ...

Jack Cooley Jack Ryan Cooley (born April 12, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Ryukyu Golden Kings of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the University of Notre Dame. High school career Cooley was a three-year star ...

* Juan Dixon * Zabian Dowdell * Jamie Feick * Gerald Fitch * Kyle Fogg *

Marcus Haislip Marcus Deshon Haislip (born December 22, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other top leagues. Haislip attended Marshall County High School in Lewisburg, Tennesse ...

Marc Iavaroni Marcus John Iavaroni (born September 15, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player and former head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as an assistant coach for several ...

* Tarence Kinsey *

Tony Massenburg Tony Arnel Massenburg (born July 31, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He shares a National Basketball Association (NBA) record with Chucky Brown, Joe Smith & Jim Jackson for having played with twelve different teams o ...

* Ray McCallum Jr. *

Gary Neal Gary Neal (born October 3, 1984) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played college basketball at La Salle University and Towson University. He began his professional career abroad with teams in Turkey, Spain and ...

* DeMarcus Nelson * Andy Panko * Brian Roberts * Lou Roe *

Sean Rooks Sean Lester Rooks (September 9, 1969 – June 7, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1992 to 2004, and was an Assistant for Player Development for the Philadelphia 76ers ...

Ralph Sampson Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selec ...

* Paul Shirley *

Reggie Slater Reginald Dwayne Slater (born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player born in Houston, Texas. He played the power forward (basketball), power forward position and played college basketball at the University of Wyoming ...

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* Marcus Williams * David Wood

Head coaches

*Alfonso Queipo de Llano: 1977–79, 1985–86 * José María Martín Urbano : 1979–80, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990–92 *Damián Caneda: 1980–81 *Ramón Guardiola: 1981–82 *Moncho Monsalve: 1982–84 *Ignacio Pinedo: 1984–85 *Arturo Ortega: 1986–87 *

Zoran Slavnić Zoran "Moka" Slavnić (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Мока Славнић; born 26 October 1949) is a Serbian retired professional basketball player and coach. He played with Crvena zvezda and with Partizan. One of the best European point guar ...

: 1987–88 *Mario Pesquera: 1988–90 *Javier Imbroda: 1992–98 *Pedro Ramírez: 1998–99 * Božidar Maljković: 1999–03 *Paco Alonso: 2003 *Chechu Mulero: 2003 *

Sergio Scariolo Sergio Scariolo (born 1 April 1961) is an Italian professional basketball coach who is head coach of Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the head coach of the senior Spain national team. Having won four EuroBasket champ ...

: 2003–08 * Aito Garcia Reneses: 2008–2011 *Chus Mateo: 2011–12 * Luis Casimiro: 2012 * Jasmin Repeša: 2012–13 * Joan Plaza: 2013–2018 * Luis Casimiro: 2018–2021 * Fotios Katsikaris: 2021–2022 * Ibon Navarro: 2022–present

Season by season

CB Caja de Ronda

CB Maristas

Unicaja

Honours and awards

Honours

National: * Liga ACB (Spanish League): (1) ** 2005–06 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

(Spanish Cup): (1) ** 2005 *2nd division championships: (2) **1ª División B: 1981, 1987 * Andalusia Cup: (13) ** 1996, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 International: * EuroCup: (1) **

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people * Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager * Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player * Vitomir ...

: (1) ** 2001 * EuroLeague: **

Third Place In sociology, the third place refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Examples of third places include churches, cafes, clubs, public ...

: 2007 Other competitions: *Torrox, Spain Invitational Game ** 2008 *Trofeo de Platja d'Aro ** 2008 *Trofeo Pollinica ** 2008 *Trofeo Ciudad de Cordoba, Spain ** 2009

Individual awards

ACB Finals MVP * Michael Ansley – 1995 * Jorge Garbajosa – 2006 Spanish Cup MVP * Jorge Garbajosa – 2005 ACB Slam Dunk Champion * Florent Piétrus – 2006 * James Gist – 2012 ACB Three Point Shootout Champion *Paco Vázquez – 2001 All-EuroLeague Second Team * Jorge Garbajosa – 2006 All-ACB First Team * Jorge Garbajosa – 2005, 2006 * Jayson Granger – 2015 All-ACB Second Team * Nemanja Nedović – 2017 EuroCup Finals MVP *

– 2017

Reserve team

Baloncesto Málaga B is the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

of Unicaja,

based in Málaga. From 2007 to 2016, Baloncesto Málaga had an agreement with CB Axarquía, for them to play as the club's main

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, while Baloncesto Málaga B, which currently plays also under the name Unicaja, was the club's third team until the end of this contract.

Women's team

On 14 July 2017, the club announced the creation of a women's team. Just in its second season, Unicaja promoted to Liga Femenina 2.

Season by season

References

External links

Official Website

Baloncesto Málaga
at ACB.com
Baloncesto Málaga
at Euroleague.net
Baloncesto Málaga
at Eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Baloncesto Malaga Basketball teams in Andalusia Liga ACB teams Basketball teams established in 1977 1977 establishments in Spain