Košarkaški klub Zagreb ( en, Zagreb Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zagreb or simply Zagreb, was 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 Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

based in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. It competed in the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

and the Croatian League. In the 2011–12 season, the club competed in the modern EuroLeague.

History

The club was founded in 1970 under the name KK Siget after the Siget neighbourhood in Zagreb. In 1976 it was renamed to KK Novi Zagreb to represent

Novi Zagreb Novi Zagreb () is the part of the City of Zagreb located south of the Sava, Sava river. Novi Zagreb forms a distinct whole because it is separated from the northern part of the city both by the river and by the levees around Sava. At the same time ...

, part of Zagreb located south of the

Sava river The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

. After Croatia became independent country, "Novi" was just dropped out and the club name got its simpler and present form - KK Zagreb. From the beginnings Zagreb players were known under the nickname ''Ants'' as a symbol of hard work and team spirit. Since its establishment KK Zagreb worked its way up over 19 years to join the famed first division in ex-Yugoslavia in 1989. Though it carries the name of a great basketball capital KK Zagreb had always lived a bit in the shadow of cross-town rival

Cibona Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and competes ...

but since the beginning of the Croatian League in the early 1990s Zagreb has made a name of its own, becoming one of the better teams in the country. Until the late 2000s club was mainly known for its youth categories which won numerous Croatian and European titles, while senior team was always in the shadow of Croatian basketball ''Big Three'' - Cibona,

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

and

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

. In recent years, when its became a permanent member of the EuroChallenge Cup competition, the club increased its budget with an intention to make another step forward in its ambitious plans and won its first domestic trophies, the

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

in 2008 and 2010. It was only a matter of time, when the team will move from its traditional base in Trnsko school sports hall (capacity 3,000) to a bigger one, which happened in 2010, when they moved to

Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall The Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall ( hr, Košarkaški centar Dražen Petrović), formerly known as Cibona Sports Centre ( hr, Sportski centar Cibona), is an indoor sports arena located in Zagreb, Croatia. The official seating capacity of the ...

, home of their better known rival Cibona. Moving to a new and bigger hall proved to be some kind of "growing up" for KK Zagreb as the club won double title, winning both Championship of Croatia and Croatian Cup in 2011. Club info on ABA League web site Zagreb played in the 2011–12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague competition. In 2018 the club was dissolved. A

phoenix club The Phoenix Building and Cincinnati Club are two historic buildings in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The membership of these two clubs was chiefly Jewish. Located at 812 Race Street, the Phoenix Building was constructed in 1893, desi ...

was established in 2020.

Season by season

Honours

* Croatian Championship: 1 **2011 *

: 3 **2008, 2010, 2011

Notable players

* Aleksandar Petrović * Ivan Meheš *

Krunoslav Simon Krunoslav Simon (born 24 June 1985) is a Croatian professional basketball currently playing for Cedevita Junior of the Croatian League. Professional career After spending his youth years in KK Maksimir and KK Zrinjevac, Simon joined KK Zagreb ...

Mario Kasun Mario Kasun (born April 5, 1980) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He played at the center position. Professional career Kasun started playing basketball at a local club in Delnice when he was 14, before he started playing prof ...

Damir Mulaomerović Damir Mulaomerović (born 19 September 1974) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for Cedevita Junior of the Croatian League. Professional career Mulaomerović started his career with S ...

Dario Šarić Dario Šarić (; born 8 April 1994) is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He also represents the senior ...

Josip Sesar Josip Sesar (born 17 January 1978) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player for Cibona of the Croatian League and ABA League. Playing career Sesar started training basketball when he was ten. He was 182 cm tall at the t ...

* Mario Stojić *

Marko Tomas Marko Tomas (born 3 January 1985) is a retired Croatian professional basketball player. He represented the Croatia men's national basketball team, Croatian national basketball team internationally. Standing at , he played at the shooting guard and ...

* Ante Tomić *

Luka Žorić Luka Žorić (born November 5, 1984) is a former Croatian professional basketball player. Standing at , he played at the center position. Professional career In March 2011, Žorić received the award for Most Valuable Player of the NLB Adriatic ...

Mario Hezonja Mario Hezonja (; born 25 February 1995) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He also represents the Croatian national team internationally. He was selected with the fifth over ...

Damir Milačić Damir Milačić (; born 25 February 1975) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of Šibenka of the Croatian League. Standing at 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in), he used to play as point ...

* Sašo Ožbolt *

T.J. Ford Terrance Jerod Ford Sr. (born March 24, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. Having been awarded numerous top basketball accolades in high school and college, Ford entered the 2003 NBA draft and was selected eighth overall ...

Sean May Sean Gregory May (born April 4, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant basketball coach at the University of North Carolina. May was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. He was a ...

* Alex Renfroe * Mike James *

Josh Heytvelt Joshua Rolin Heytvelt (; born June 26, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for Hitachi SunRockers of the Japanese National Basketball League (Japan), National Basketball League. College The 6-foot 11 ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zagreb, KK

KK Zagreb Košarkaški klub Zagreb ( en, Zagreb Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zagreb or simply Zagreb, was a professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. It competed in the ABA League and the Croatian League. In the 2011–12 seaso ...

Basketball teams in Croatia Basketball teams established in 1970 Basketball teams in Yugoslavia Basketball teams disestablished in 2018