The Slovakia men's national basketball team ( sk, Slovenské národné basketbalové mužstvo) represents

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in international

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 ...

competition. The supervising body is the

Slovak Basketball Association The Slovak Basketball Association ( sk, Slovenská basketbalová asociácia) also known as SBA is the governing body of basketball in Slovakia. It was founded after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. They are headquartered in Bratislava. ...

(SBA). Slovakia is one of the newest national basketball teams in the world, having split from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

following the dissolution of the unified state in 1993. They joined

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

later that year, and played in their first international match against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. Slovakia to date does not have much history on the international level. Although they have attempted to qualify for major tournaments such as

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

and the

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

, but have yet to reach qualification.

History

The Czechoslovak era

Until 1993,

was a part of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, with Slovak born players taking part on the Czechoslovakia national team. One of the most notable players who was born in Slovakia, and played for the Czechoslovakia national team to achieve success at the international level was Stanislav Kropilák. He helped lead Czechoslovakia to three medal finishes at the

, in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

After independence

After gaining

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

from Czechoslovakia, the Slovak national team on numerous attempts during their early years strived to qualify for EuroBasket, but ultimately came up short. In qualification to reach

EuroBasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

, Slovakia was slotted into Group F to begin the qualifiers. Slovakia, however, would go on to struggle to a (1–5) record and missing their chance to qualify. For qualification to the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Slovakia took part in European Pre-Qualifiers, but were eventually eliminated after amassing a (1–5) record in their group. Slovakia later went through EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers but were once again denied of making it to the continental stage, after finishing with a (3–5) record during pre-qualifying.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

Olympic Games

EuroBasket

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers matches in July/August 2023 against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Depth chart

Head coach position

* Milan Cernicky – (2004–2010) * Peter Balint – (2011–2012) * Miroslav Grznár – (2012–2013) * Milan Cernicky – (2014–2015) * Ivan Rudež – (2016–2018) *

Žan Tabak Žan Tabak (born 15 June 1970) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player who last served as the head coach for San Pablo Burgos of the Liga ACB. His basketball career, spanning twenty years, was marked by several notable achie ...

– (2019–2021) * Oleg Meleshchenko – (2021–2022) *

Aramis Naglić Aramis Naglić (born 28 August 1965) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for Vienna of the Austrian League. His most important trophies as a player including the silver medal with the Croatia nati ...

– (2022–present)