Clube Portugal Telecom, commonly known as Portugal Telecom, was a

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 ...

team based in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal. The club was founded in 1996 and was owned by

Portugal Telecom Altice Portugal (formerly known as Portugal Telecom or PT) is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Since June 2, 2015, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Altice Europe, a multinational cable and telecommuni ...

, the largest

telecommunications service provider Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

in the country. The team won three consecutive league titles between 2000 and 2003, but was dissolved by the company before the start of the 2003–04 season, citing financial reasons.

History

The basketball team was established in 1996. The club played in the country's top flight league since its inception. In their second season, the team reached the

Portuguese Basketball League Cup The Portuguese Basketball League Cup (Taça da Liga) is a competition for Portuguese teams that play in LPB. It was played by the clubs of the former LCB, which was a professional league. After the LCB folded in 2008, the League Cup ended as well. ...

(''Taça da Liga'') finals, were they lost to Esgueira. In 1997–98 the club debuted at international level and took part in the

1997–98 FIBA EuroCup The 1997–98 FIBA EuroCup was the thirty-second edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition. it occurred between September 16, 1997, and April 14, 1998. The final was held at Pionir Hall, Belgrade, Yu ...

, finishing 5th out of 6 teams in their group. In the 2000–01 season the team finished the regular season as the best team with a 18–8 record; they reached the finals were they defeated Oliveirense. The team could count on American imports Jason Forrestal, Doug Muse,

Marcus Norris Marcus Anthony Norris (born August 20, 1974) is an American former basketball player, who played for 17 years in Europe, in the guard position. He was the 2003-04 Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year. Early life and educ ...

and

Ron Hale Ron Hale (born January 2, 1946) is an American actor best known for his role as Roger Coleridge on the ABC soap opera ''Ryan's Hope'' for its entire run (1975–1989). He played the recurring role of Mike Corbin, the father of mobster Sonny Cor ...

. At international level, Portugual Telecom participated in the 2000–01 FIBA Korać Cup, where they qualified for the Round of 32, where they were elimated as they finished 3rd out of 4 teams in their group. In the 2001–02 season the repeated as league champions: after finishing the regular season as the top ranked team with a 24–5 record, the team won the finals for the second consecutive season. After being eliminated in the qualifying round of the

2001–02 Euroleague The 2001–02 Euroleague was the second season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 45th season of the premier competition for European men's club ...

Spirou Charleroi Spirou Charleroi, commonly known simply as Spirou, is a Belgian professional basketball club that is located in Charleroi. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier of basketball in Belgium. The club's home arena is the Spiroudome whi ...

, Portugal Telecom took part in the

2001–02 FIBA Saporta Cup The 2001–02 FIBA Saporta Cup was the thirty-sixth edition of FIBA Europe, FIBA's European professional club basketball system, 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition. It was the last edition of the tournament. It t ...

, where they ended 5th out of 6 teams in the Group A of the regular season phase. The 2002–03 was the last one for the team. This team they ranked third in the regular season, qualifying for the playoffs, where they ultimately defeated Ovarense in the final series. The team also participated in the

2002–03 FIBA Europe Champions Cup The 2002–03 FIBA Europe Champions Cup was the first edition of Europe's 4th-tier level transnational competition for men's professional basketball clubs, the FIBA Europe Champions Cup, following the merger of the FIBA Korać Cup and FIBA Saporta ...

, where they were eliminated during the Regional Qualifying Round finishing 4th out of 6 in the Conference West.

, which owned the club, disbanded the team after the 2002–03 season.

Trophies

* Portuguese League: 3 : 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03 *

Portuguese Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: 2 :2000–01, 2001–02 *

Portuguese SuperCup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: 1 :2003

Notable players

Jean-Jacques Conceição Jean-Jacques Nzadi da Conceição (born 3 April 1964, in Kinshasa), more commonly known as J.J. Conceição or Jean-Jacques, is an Angolan-Portuguese retired professional basketball player. A 2.02 m (6'7 "), 100 kg (220 lbs.) power forw ...

Marc M'Bahia Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

Carlos Andrade Carlos Eduardo Fernandes Vieira de Andrade (born April 27, 1978) is a former Portuguese basketball player who played as a small forward. Andrade played college basketball in the United States, and had brief spells in Germany and Spain. He is the ...

* Diogo Carreira *

Jorge Coelho Jorge Miguel Correia Coelho (born October 18, 1978, Lisbon) is a Portuguese basketball player. He played at his home country for Portugal Telecom (1999/2000-2002-2003), CF Belenenses (2003/2004-2005/2006) and FC Porto (2006/2007). Coelho was al ...

* Artur Cruz * Luís Machado * João Santos * Paulo Simão */

Heshimu Evans Heshimu Kenyata Evans (born May 8, 1975) is an American-born Portuguese former basketball player, who last played for S.L. Benfica of the Portuguese Basketball League (LPB). Evans, a small forward from Evander Childs High School in The Bronx, w ...

*/ Mike Richmond *

Joffre Lleal Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre (12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 1916. He is best known for regroupi ...

* Doug Muse * Rasul Salahuddin

References

{{reflist Basketball teams in Portugal