Atlético Petróleos de Luanda, commonly known as Petro de Luanda, is an Angolan

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 (appro ...

club based in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

. It competes at the local level, in the Luanda Provincial Basketball Championship and in the Angola National Basketball Championship. Additionally, the club plays at the continental level, in the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized by NBA Africa and the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Each season typically r ...

(BAL), which they have won in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Established in 1976, the team is part of a multi-sports club which includes

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

teams as well. Petro has been one of the most successful teams in Angola, having won the second most Angolan championships with 16 titles, trailing only

Primeiro de Agosto Clube Desportivo 1º de Agosto is a multisports club from Luanda, Angola. The club, founded 1 August 1977, is attached to the Angolan armed forces, which is its sponsor. Its main team competes in men's football, and its professional basketball t ...

, and sharing the record for most Angolan Cups with 14 cups. The team has won three continental titles as well, having won the FIBA African Champions Cup in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, and the BAL in

History

The Atlético Petróleos de Luanda club was founded on 14 January 1980 from the merger of three clubs, Grupo

Sonangol Group Sonangol () is a Government-owned corporation, parastatal that formerly oversaw petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. The group consisted of Sonangol E.P. () and its many subsidiaries. The subsidiaries generally had Sonangol E.P. ...

, Clube Atlético de Luanda and Benfica de Luanda. The establishment was a result of business cooperation after the independence of Angola from colonisation by Portugal. Another reason was that the country's oil company aimed to reintegrate with the community through sports. The club started with

before later establishing its basketball section. Petro de Luanda won its first

Angolan Basketball League The Angolan Men's Basketball League, (in Portuguese: ''Campeonato Nacional de Basquetebol em Séniores Masculinos''), for sponsorship reasons known as the Unitel Basket, is the top tier men's basketball league in Angola. C.D. Primeiro de Agosto ( ...

in 1989, which was followed by seven more championships, as well as six Angolan Cups, during the 1990s. During the 2000s, Petro won the league championship in 2006 and 2007 but saw arch-rivals

win most of the trophies this decade. On 26 November 2006, Petro de Luanda won its first-ever continental title after winning the 2006 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. They beat Primeiro de Agosto in the final, and Mílton Barros was named the tournament MVP. The 2010s were more balanced for the Angolan League in term of competition, with Petro winning the 2011, 2015 and 2019 title. On 19 December 2015, they won their second continental title after taking the

2015 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup The 2015 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup, FIBA Africa Basketball Club Championship (30th edition), was an international basketball tournament held in Luanda, Angola from December 10 to 19, 2015. The tournament, organized by FIBA Africa and host ...

at home in Luanda. Under head coach

Lazare Adingono Lazare Adingono (or Lazare Adie Ngono; born 11 January 1978) is a Cameroonian-American former basketball player and current head coach of Primeiro de Agosto of the Angolan Basketball League. Playing career Adingono played basketball at the Univ ...

, Petro defeated another Angolan team Rec do Libolo in the final. American point guard

Manny Quezada Emmanuel "Manny" Quezada is a Dominican-American basketball player who plays for Interclube in the Angolan Basketball League. Standing at , he plays as point guard. Career After playing at NCAA with San Francisco University, Quezada started ...

received MVP honours. As the champions of the 2018–19 national championship, Petro qualified for the inaugural season of the

(BAL). The BAL was a new initiate co-organised by

FIBA Africa FIBA Africa is a zone within the FIBA basketball association which contains all 54 national African FIBA federations. It was founded in 1961. FIBA Africa maintains offices in Cairo and in Abidjan. Zones The 54 federations of FIBA Africa are g ...

and the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. In September 2020, Petro announced the signing of Brazilian head coach José Neto. Under Neto, a period of domination on the national level began. In the 2021–22 season, Petro won the triple crown; winning its 15th national title, the Angolan Cup and the Supercup. In all league games, Petro was unbeaten and had a 31–0 record including the playoffs. In the same season, Petro had another successful run in the BAL which ended with them losing the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

to US Monastir. Ahead of the finals, head coach José Neto won the inaugural BAL Coach of the Year award. In 2023, Petro de Luanda won its 14th Angolan Cup, overtaking Primer de Agosto to become the club with the most cup titles in the country's history. In the following 2023–24 season, Petro struggled in the Kalahari Conference of the BAL with a 2–2 record. On March 20, 2024, Petro announced it had terminated its contract with José Neto, ending his four-year tenure as head coach.

Sergio Valdeolmillos Sergio Valdeolmillos Moreno (born 4 April 1967) is a Spanish basketball coach who is the current coach of Petro de Luanda of the Angolan Basketball League and the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Valdeolmillos won the BAL championship with Petr ...

was hired as the team's new coach four days later. Under Valdeolmillos, Petro recovered and on June 1, 2024, won their first-ever BAL championship after defeating Al Ahly Ly from Libya in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Honours

Players

Current roster

The following is Petro de Luanda's roster for the pre-season of the

2023 BAL season The 2023 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 3, was the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 11 March 2023 and ended on 27 May 2023. The 2023 BAL Playoffs, playoffs were played in the BK Arena in Kigali, which ...

Notable players

Staff

Head coaches

Season by season

Angolan League

BAL

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atletico, Petroleos Luanda (basketball) Basketball teams established in 1980 Basketball teams in Angola Basketball Africa League teams