Basketball Club "BC" Almaty (russian: Баскетбольный клуб "БК" Алматы) is a

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

i 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 the city of

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

in southern Kazakhstan. Founded in 2006, it has played under the name Almaty Legion (russian: Алматинский легион) since 2014. The club has competed in the

Kazakhstan Basketball Championship The Kazakhstan Basketball Championship (russian: Чемпионата Казахстана по баскетболу) is the highest professional basketball league in Kazakhstan, it is organised by the National Basketball Federation Kazakhstan. Its ...

- losing twice in the championship final – and the

Kazakhstan Basketball Cup The Kazakhstan Basketball Cup () is the national men's professional basketball cup competition in the country of Kazakhstan. It is organised annually over a few days in a single location by the National Basketball Federation Kazakhstan. Its offic ...

, which they won in 2015. For the 2014–15 season, the team also competed in the Russian Basketball Super League, the professional second division league in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

History

BC Almaty was founded in December 2006 by the municipality of

, it was managed by the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of that city. In July 2014, the club became a

limited liability partnership A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is not ...

, with the municipality selling the totality (100%) of its shares in the club as part of a privatization campaign. In their first season in the

in 2007–08, they reached the championship finals, losing to the

Astana Tigers Tigers Astana Basketball Club ( kk, Zholbarystar Astana Basketbol Kluby) or more commonly Astana Tigers ( kk, Astana Zholbarystary) is a Kazakh basketball club based in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Founded in 2000, the club competed in the Kazakhst ...

. After the Tigers turned down an invitation to play in the

2008 FIBA Asia Champions Cup The FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2008 was the 19th staging of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, the basketball club tournament of FIBA Asia. The tournament was held in Kuwait City, Kuwait between May 8, 2008 and May 19. The tournament was scheduled to end o ...

, Almaty replaced them. In their first international foray they reached the quarterfinal stage, losing to eventual champions

Saba Battery Saba Battery Club (also Saba Battery Physical and Cultural Gym) is an Iranian sports club based in Tehran, Iran. The club was founded in 2002شود Teams * Saba Battery Football Club, competing in the Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro Leagu ...

. In the 2014 off-season, BC Almaty went through a re-branding, changing its name to Almaty Legion (russian: Алматинский легион), though it retained the former designation as its legal name, also changing its logo. SKA Almaty, who had played in the

Soviet league The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in the 1980s, was merged into BC Almaty to serve as the reserve squad in the second division Higher league under the name Almaty Legion KazNU (russian: Алматинский Легион КазНУ). Almaty Legion were accepted into the Russian Basketball Super League, the second division of distant neighbours Russia, to play the 2014–15 season there. They finished dead last of the 16 team league with 2 wins out of 30, though they later beat MBA Moscow in the 15th place playoffs to move up a position. In February 2015, Legion won their first trophy, the

, beating Tobol Kostanay 90-86 in the final to win the tournament organised in Almaty. They also reached the final of the 2014–15 Kazakhstan Basketball Championship but were crushed 82-56 by perennial champions

BC Astana Astana Basketball Club ( kk, Astana Basketbol Kluby), commonly referred to as BC Astana, is a Kazakh professional basketball club that is based in Astana, Kazakhstan. Founded in 2011, it has competed in the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship a ...

Titles

: winners (

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

)

Current squad

Notable players

:To appear in this section a player must have either: - Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team or one

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

game at any time.

References

External links

FIBA game center profile
Retrieved 23 June 2015
AsiaBasket.com profile
Retrieved 23 June 2015
Russian Basketball Federation profile
Retrieved 23 June 2015 {{in lang, ru Basketball teams established in 2006 Basketball teams in Kazakhstan Sport in Almaty