Start Lublin, more commonly known as Polski Cukier Pszczółka Start Lublin because of sponsporship reasons, is a Polish
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
club based in
Lublin. The team plays in the
Polish Basketball League
Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...
(PLK) since
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. Its home arena is the Globus, which has places for 5,000 people. The basketball team is a part of MKS Start Lublin, which also holds
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
and
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
sections.
History
MKS Start Lublin was founded in 1953, along with the basketball team. After seven years of existence, Start promoted to the
Polish Basketball League
Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...
(PLK), the national highest league. In the 1964–65 season, Start captured its first bronze medal. In 1978, Start was the first Polish club to sign an African-American played in Kent Washington. Washington was named
PLK Most Valuable Player
The PLK Most Valuable Player award is given annually at the end of the regular season of the Polish Basketball League (PLK), the highest professional basketball league in Poland, to the most valuable player of the league. Originally, the award was ...
in 1980.
In the 2002–03 season, Start returned to the PLK after winning the First Division. After two years, the team relegated once again.
In the summer of 2014, Start Lublin received a
wild card from the
PLK because of the expansion from 12 to 16 teams.
Lublin had its most successful season in the
2019–20 PLK season
The 2019–20 Polish Basketball League (PLK) season, the Energa Basket Liga for sponsorship reasons, was the 86th season of the Polish Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in Poland. Anwil Włocławek were the defending cha ...
, which was curtailed 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 identi ...
. When the season was ended, the team was in second place with a 17–5 record. As such, it qualified for a European competition for the first time in the
2020–21 Basketball Champions League.
Honours
Polish Basketball League
Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...
*
Runners-up (1):
2019–20
*
Bronze medal (3): 1964–65, 1978–79, 1979–80
;
Polish Basketball Cup
The Polish Basketball Cup ( pl, Puchar Polski w koszykówce mężczyzn) is the annual top-tier level national domestic basketball cup competition for clubs in Poland. It is managed and organised by the Polish Basketball League (PLK). The competitio ...
*
Runners-up (1):
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
Sponsorship names
Due to sponsorship reasons, the club has been known by several names:
Season by season
Players
Current roster
Individual awards
PLK Most Valuable Player
The PLK Most Valuable Player award is given annually at the end of the regular season of the Polish Basketball League (PLK), the highest professional basketball league in Poland, to the most valuable player of the league. Originally, the award was ...
*Kent Washington – 1980
Notable players
*
Chavaughn Lewis
Chavaughn Lewis (born February 1, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Ironi Kiryat Ata of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played high school basketball at St. Mary's High School in Manhasset, New York, reaching the ...
(born 1993), basketball player for
Hapoel Galil Elyon
Hapoel Galil Elyon ( he, הפועל גליל עליון), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli b ...
of the
Israeli Basketball Premier League
*
Devonte Upson
Zwencyl DeVonte Upson (born March 23, 1993) is an American basketball player for Hapoel Haifa in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He plays the center position. He played college basketball for Trinidad State College and Southeastern Louisi ...
(born 1993), basketball player in the
Israeli Basketball Premier League
References
{{PLK
Basketball teams in Poland
Sport in Lublin
Basketball teams established in 1953