Riesen Ludwigsburg ( en, Giants Ludwigsburg), for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, 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 that is based in

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The club currently plays in the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

(BBL), the first tier of basketball in Germany. As well, the club plays in the European

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 ...

competition. Riesen Ludwigsburg

Founded in 1960 as DJK Ludwigsburg, the club has been a regular in the BBL since the 1986–87 season, when the team promoted from the second division

2. Basketball Bundesliga The 2. Basketball Bundesliga is the second tier level league of professional club basketball in Germany. Before the 2007–08 season, the ''2. Basketball Bundesliga'' consisted of two geographical divisions (North and South). Since 2007 the 2. Bas ...

. Between the period 1970–2012, the team was also known as SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg and BSG Basket, before changing its name due to the end of the sponsorship agreement with EnBW.

History

The team was founded in 1960 as the basketball section of the multi-sports club DJK Ludwigsburg. In the 1979–80 season, the team promoted for the first time to the highest tier, the

. From 1970 until 1987, the club was known as SpVgg 07, as it was part of the multi-sports club

SpVgg Ludwigsburg The SpVgg Ludwigsburg was a German association football club from the city of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg. History The club was formed in 1907 under the name of 1. FC Ludwigsburger Kickers. In August 1907, the club then played its first g ...

. In 1987, the team separated from SpVgg and was renamed BSG Basket Ludwigsburg. In 2008, Ludwigsburg reached the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

Final for the first time, but lost to

Artland Dragons QTSV Quakenbrück, representing its professional team as Artland Dragons, is a basketball club based in Quakenbrück, Germany. Their home arena was the Artland Arena, which has room for 3,000 spectators. From 2003 till 2015 the club played in the ...

, 60–74. In the 2016–17 season, Ludwigsburg participated in the inaugural

(BCL) season, where they was eliminated by one point on aggregate in the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Banvit Banvit is a feed and poultry producer based in Bandırma, Turkey. Business and activities Starting as a feed producer in 1968, Banvit gradually moved into the production of broiler chickens. Today Banvit has the country's largest single broiler ...

. The campaign marked Ludwigsburg's best European performance in history, as it was the first time the team reached the knock-out phase of a European competition. In the 2017–18 season, Ludwigsburg set a new European club record when it advanced to the Final Four of the Champions League, after defeating

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

and

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...

in the 16th round and quarter-finals. This was the first time ever the club qualified for the final stage of a European tournament. Ludwigsburg lost in the semi-final to

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, 65–87. In the third place game, the team lost 74–85 to

UCAM Murcia UCAM Universidad Católica de Murcia Club de Baloncesto, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as UCAM Murcia, is a professional basketball team based in Murcia, Spain. It plays their home games at Palacio de Deportes. History Founded in 1985 u ...

as it finished in the fourth place. On 19 July 2019, David McCray announced his retirement and his number 4 was retired by Riesen, the first retired number in club history. The 2019–20 season was altered due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In a final tournament behind closed doors in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Luwdigsburg reached its first German finals ever. In the finals, it lost to

Alba Berlin Alba Berlin is a German professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Mercedes ...

on aggregate in two games.

Arenas

Ludwigsburg's home arena, since 2009, is

Arena Ludwigsburg Arena Ludwigsburg, also known as MHPArena, is an indoor sporting arena that is located in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The seating capacity of the arena for basketball games is 5,325 spectators. History Arena Ludwigsburg has been primarily used to host ...

, later renamed the MHP Arena, after they moved from Rundsporthalle Ludwigsburg.

Naming

Partly due to sponsorship reasons, the team has known various names in its history:

Logos

Neckar Riesen Ludwigsburg logo.png, Logo of Neckar Riesen Ludwigsburg (2012–2014)

Honours

Domestic competitions

**Runners-up: 2019–20 *

BBL-Pokal Basketball Bundesliga-Pokal, commonly known as the BBL-Pokal, is the annual national basketball cup competition in Germany. Since 2009, the title has been awarded to the winner of a tournament competition between top clubs of each Basketball Bund ...

**Runners-up: 2008

European competitions

**Third place (1): 2021–22 **Fourth place (1): 2017–18 **Final Four (2):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Season by season

Players

Retired numbers

Current roster

Notable players

- 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 at any time.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Enbw Ludwigsburg Basketball teams in Germany Sport in Baden-Württemberg Basketball teams established in 1960 1960 establishments in West Germany Sport in Ludwigshafen