Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia,
S.A.D commonly known as Saski Baskonia () and also simply as Baskonia, 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 (appro ...
team based in
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...
, Spain. The team plays in the
Liga ACB
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...
and the
EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
.
History
1959–1969: start in the provincial basketball
In 1959, the Club Deportivo Vasconia founded a basketball program under the presidency of Félix Ullivarriarrazua. Vicente Elejalde was appointed as head coach. A previous attempt to establish a basketball program, in 1951, had ended in failure.
In its first season, the team finished second in the provincial championship behind Corazonistas. In the 1963–64 season, the team won its first provincial titles, taking both the league and cup. The team went on to win the provincial championship in five of its first ten seasons of competition (1959-69) and achieved the promotion to the 3rd division after Pepe Laso took over as head coach, prevailing over city rival
Deportivo Alavés
Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...
.
1970–1980: the leap to the Spanish top league
Club Deportivo Vasconia was an immediate success in the Spanish 3rd division and was elevated to the 2nd division after beating
Grupo Covadonga in the promotion playoffs. In its first season in the 2nd division (1970-71), the team qualified for the promotion playoffs to the
1st division, but was defeated by
Breogán
Breogán (also spelt Breoghan, Bregon or Breachdan) is a character in the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Christian history of Ireland and the Irish (or Gaels). He is supposedly the son of Brath, and is described as an ancestor of the Gae ...
. A year later, the team achieved promotion to the
1st division after finishing as the champion of Group A.
The team opened the 1972–73 season in the
1st division by defeating
Breogán
Breogán (also spelt Breoghan, Bregon or Breachdan) is a character in the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Christian history of Ireland and the Irish (or Gaels). He is supposedly the son of Brath, and is described as an ancestor of the Gae ...
89-67. The Basque team went on to reach the semifinals of the
Copa del Rey
The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
where they were eliminated by
Estudiantes. In the 1973–74 season, the club reached 1,400 supporters and signed its first foreign player, the Canadian
Phil Tollestrup
Phil Tollestrup (born October 12, 1949) is a former Canadian basketball player and Olympian. Among his accomplishments, he was the fourth overall scorer in the 1976 Summer Olympics (21.3 ppg), where Canada competed for the bronze medal; was dra ...
. The team finished in eighth place and gained the right to play in the
Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
* Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people
* Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager
* Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player
* Vitomir ...
but declined to participate on financial grounds.
In 1974, Jose Luis Sánchez Erauskin, former player and founder of the club, took over the club's presidency. The team incorporated young players such as Manu Moreno, Kepa Segurola, Luis María Junguitu, Carlos Salinas, and
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
, and signed American
Ray Price
Noble Ray Price (January 12, 1926 – December 16, 2013) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone is regarded as among the best male voices of country music, and his innovations, such as prope ...
, who became the division's top scorer. Memorable wins in the 1975–76 season included a 70–69 upset of
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
and a 78–76 road win over
Joventut. In 1976–77, Sánchez Erauskin and his board made the decision to change the V by B in the name of the club, which became Club Deportivo Basconia. The team adopted the Basque national colors of the
Ikurriña
The flag of the Basque Country, also known as the ikurrina (in Basque)EuskaltzaindiaDictionary of the Standard Basque, retrieved 2010-10-04. or ikurriña ( Spanish spelling of the Basque term), is the official flag of the Basque Country Auton ...
, green with red and white trim instead of the club's traditional blue and maroon. Pepe Laso combined his position as head coach with the Spanish national coach and Iñaki Garaialde and Txema Capetillo joined the team.
In 1977, Juan Antonio Ortiz de Pinedo retired as a player to become the head coach of the team, replacing Pepe Laso. In 1978,
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
was transferred to
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
. In addition to financial compensation, the club obtained the young player Manuel San Emeterio in return. Iñaki Iriarte became the head coach of the team. Players like Junguitu, and Txomin Sautu returned and Juan Manuel Conde was signed, along with the American Webb Williams. Fernando Aranguiz assumed the presidency of the club in June 1978 and Carlos Luquero was honored for a professional record including more than 300 games and more than 7,000 points with the team. In the
Copa del Rey
The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
, the team reached the semifinals before falling to that year's winner,
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
.
In 1979, Peio Cambronero arrived from
Estudiantes and the club signed the American Malcolm Cesare, but the results for the 1979–80 season were not good and the team finished the league in a relegation position. Fortunately, the
Spanish Federation decided to expand the 1st division to fourteen teams, allowing Club Deportivo Basconia to remain in the league.
1980–1990: in steady progression
The reprieve lasted just one year, as the 1980–81 season was one of the saddest in the club's history. A last-place finish and just six wins led to relegation to the 2nd division. The misfortunes did not end there, as one of its players, Juanma Conde, died after an irreversible illness. This was a blow to the entire club, for the loss of a teammate and a friend.
In the summer of 1981,
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
, who had returned to the team after passing through
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
and had been tested by
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
, was transferred to
Joventut. The direction of Iñaki Iriarte from the bench and the contribution of Cambronero Peio, Txomin Sautu, Salva Diez, Mikel Cuadra, Xabier Jon Davalillo and Luis Mari Junguitu allowed the team to promote to the
1st division and return to the place that it had occupied among the great teams for almost a decade. A new change in the presidency of the club allowed the arrival of José Antonio Apraiz. The season of the return to the top league was not very positive in terms of results, the team ended up in relegation positions with a baggage of three wins, three draws and twenty defeats. Spanish basketball was preparing to enter a new stage marked by professionalism, and the creation of the
Liga ACB
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...
made it possible for the team to avoid relegation back to the 2nd Division.
As of the 1983–84 season with the first edition of the
Liga ACB
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...
, the modern Spanish basketball story begins in which the club was strongly committed to leaving its modest club status. Basque guard Alberto Ortega returns to the team, one of the stars of the league like
Essie Hollis
Essie B Hollis (born May 16, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the small forward position. He played college basketball for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies
College career
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Hollis att ...
and Rilley Clarida became the first couple of foreigners of the club because the new
Liga ACB
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...
allowed the signing of two foreign players per team. In the 1984–85 season,
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
returned to the team,
Pablo Laso
Pablo Laso Biurrun (born 13 October 1967) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the current head coach for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was the head coach of Real Madrid for eleven s ...
made the leap to the first team after his trip at an American institute with only 16 years, which together with another youth player like Aitor Zárate formed the youngest guards in the league. As a counterpoint to this commitment to youth, an illustrious veteran of Spanish basketball like Miguel López signed for the team. Completing the incorporations with the arrival of Terry White as new foreign player for the team led by Xabier Añua.
In 1985, the club won its first official title, the
Copa Asociación which was played among the teams eliminated in the first round of the league playoffs. In the final, the team won to the
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
led by Pepe Laso in Villanueva de La Serena (
Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...
).
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
was the top scorer of the game with 30 points and the team earned the qualification to the
Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
* Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people
* Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager
* Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player
* Vitomir ...
for the following season. At the institutional level, Jose Antonio Santamaría is again the club president. The 1985–86 season was marked by the
Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
* Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people
* Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager
* Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player
* Vitomir ...
debut. The first rival was the Dutch
Super Cracks Werkendam, which was clearly defeated at home (73–88) and overwhelmingly in Vitoria-Gasteiz (130–94). The next rival was the French
ASVEL
ASVEL Basket, currently known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team located in the commune of Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, France. The club, which is the basketball section of the ASVEL multi-sports ...
. In the home game, the Basque team fell against the French team 84–94, but this defeat did not undermine the team hopes to seek the comeback weeks later in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. The game played in the French town at the end of game resulted in a draw at 88 points, but the competition system computed the difference in points of both clashes and meant the elimination of the Basque team from the competition.
At that time, important foreigners such as
Abdul Jeelani and
Larry Micheaux arrived who gave a plus of quality to a large team from the team (Alberto Ortega,
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
,
Pablo Laso
Pablo Laso Biurrun (born 13 October 1967) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the current head coach for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was the head coach of Real Madrid for eleven s ...
, Jesús Brizuela and the young players Madoz, Urdiain, Felix De La Fuente and Arana) and directed by Pepe Laso who returned to be the head coach of the team for two seasons. A season later, the captain of the team, Iñaki Garaialde, who was honored in Polideportivo Mendizorrotza days before the start of the 1987–88 season, retired as a player. Manu Moreno took over the bench as the head coach. Names like Fede Ramiro, or Agustin Cuesta with an already important experience in Spanish basketball reinforced the team. Larry Micheaux and David Lawrence formed the American couple, but the weak performance of the second led to its replacement by the jumpy Nikita Wilson midway through the season. The team was strong at home and began to stand up to rivals with a bigger budget. The season ended in eighth position.
At the start of the 1988–89 season,
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
retired as a player. A few weeks after his retirement, offered himself as a candidate for the presidency of the club and José Antonio Santamaría gave his position to the former player, being one of the youngest presidents of the
ACB. As president, began the process of converting the club into a
Sociedad Anónima Deportiva
Sociedad anónima deportiva ("Public limited sports company") is a special type of Spanish public limited company (known as in Spain). The new legal status was introduced in 1990 to improve financial management and transparency in sports clubs ...
, as required by the Sports Law. The club became the first Spanish professional sport club to carry out this transformation and was born under the name of Saski-Baskonia
S.A.D.. The Baskonia of
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
wanted to take another step in the professionalization of the club taking as an example 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 ...
franchises and began to make his first important bets, the signing of
Chicho Sibilio Chicho is a Spanish male nickname. It can be a pet name for many different Spanish names, including Francisco and Narciso.
Notable people known by this nickname include:
* Cándido Sibilio
* Chicho Frumboli, also known as Mariano Frúmboli, Argen ...
after being one of the stars of
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
. Puerto Rican pivot from the Boston Celtics,
Ramón Rivas and the signing of the Argentine
Marcelo Nicola
Marcelo Patricio Nicola Virginio (born May 12, 1971) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player and a current coach. A very versatile power forward, he was a regular member of the Argentine national basketball team, and compet ...
who signed a 10-year deal as a franchise player in which the club would settle in the 90s.
The objective was to overcome the seventh place in the final standings that would allow the pass to compete in European competitions. Despite these important bets, the 1989–90 season the club failed to take that step forward. Halfway through the season, Manu Moreno was sacked as coach and the
Željko Pavličević
Željko Pavličević (born 26 March 1951) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach for Eastern Sports Club (basketball), Eastern in
ASEAN Basketball League.
Early life
Pavličević began ...
signed after a brilliant record in
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 compete ...
. However, the team fell in the first round of playoffs against
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
and closed his short stay in
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...
as a head coach.
1990–2010: introducing in European basketball and first trophies
With
José Antonio Querejeta
José Antonio Querejeta Altuna (born 19 March 1957), known as Josean Querejeta, is a retired basketball player of Saski Baskonia, Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid, Joventut Badalona and CB Zaragoza, CAI Zaragoza, and the current president of ...
as president, the club grows exponentially. Herb Brown signed as head coach and Alfredo Salazar began his travels through Argentina to capture talent. In 1991, the club left Polideportivo Mendizorrotza to move to the
Araba Arena, which lived its extension from 5,000 to 9,500 spectators at the end of the decade. In 1993, Manel Comas signed as head coach. With Manel Comas, the team won its first
Spanish King's Cup, when
Pablo Laso
Pablo Laso Biurrun (born 13 October 1967) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the current head coach for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was the head coach of Real Madrid for eleven s ...
and
Velimir Perasović
Velimir Perasović (; born 9 February 1965) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He is serving as the head coach for the Russian team BC UNICS, UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League.
Early life
Perasović was born in Stob ...
led the team to an historical win. The club was already making noise internationally too, reaching the
FIBA European Cup
The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...
final in both 1994 and 1995. When it hosted the same title game in 1996, the team pleased its many fans by downing
PAOK
PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
behind 31 points from
Ramón Rivas. After the departure of Manel Comas,
Sergio Scariolo
Sergio Scariolo (born 1 April 1961) is an Italian professional basketball coach who is the head coach of the senior Spain national team. Scariolo latest coached also Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Having won four EuroB ...
signed as head coach. With Scariolo, the team made its first
Spanish Championship playoff final in 1998 and added a second
Spanish King's Cup title in 1999. Names like
Ramón Rivas,
Marcelo Nicola
Marcelo Patricio Nicola Virginio (born May 12, 1971) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player and a current coach. A very versatile power forward, he was a regular member of the Argentine national basketball team, and compet ...
,
Juan Alberto Espil,
Pablo Laso
Pablo Laso Biurrun (born 13 October 1967) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the current head coach for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was the head coach of Real Madrid for eleven s ...
,
Elmer Bennett
Elmer James Bennett (born February 13, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of , he played at the point guard position.
High school
Bennett played competitively for Bellaire High School, in Bellaire, Texas. ...
or
Velimir Perasović
Velimir Perasović (; born 9 February 1965) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He is serving as the head coach for the Russian team BC UNICS, UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League.
Early life
Perasović was born in Stob ...
were some of the protagonists of that decade.
The team started the 21st century with
Duško Ivanović
Duško Ivanović (; born September 1, 1957) is a Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague.
Professional playing ca ...
on the bench. In his first year, they then found quick success in the newly reborn
EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
. With a deep roster featuring
Elmer Bennett
Elmer James Bennett (born February 13, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of , he played at the point guard position.
High school
Bennett played competitively for Bellaire High School, in Bellaire, Texas. ...
,
Saulius Štombergas
Saulius Štombergas (born December 14, 1973) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player, basketball coach and businessman. Štombergas is widely considered to be among the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, known fo ...
,
Victor Alexander
Victor Joe Alexander (born August 31, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. Listed at tall, and in weight, he played as a center and power forward. Alexander played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA ...
,
Fabricio Oberto
Fabricio Raúl Jesús Oberto (; born March 21, 1975) is an Argentine-Italian color analyst and former professional basketball player. At , he played as a center and power forward. With the LNB club Atenas, in his native Argentina, Oberto began ...
and a young
Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
, Baskonia reached the
2001 Euroleague Finals, before losing to
Virtus Bologna
Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna.
The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...
in the fifth and final game on the road. With winning momentum and the additions of
Dejan Tomašević
Dejan Tomašević ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Томашевић; born 6 May 1973) is a Serbian professional basketball executive, former player and politician serving as a member of the National Assembly (Serbia), National Assembly since 6 February 20 ...
and
Andrés Nocioni
Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born 30 November 1979) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. He was a two-time All-EuroLeague selection before spending eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 2004 to 2012. Noci ...
, the team achieved its first
double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
in the next season, with another Spanish King's Cup trophy and its first Spanish League title ever. Baskonia snatched two more Spanish King's Cups, in 2004 and 2006, as
Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
and
Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
played decisive roles, and success followed the team in the
EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
. Baskonia's arrival to its first EuroLeague Final Four in 2005 couldn't have been louder, as the team upset favored host
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
in the semi-finals, but couldn't overcome defending champ
Maccabi in the title game.
Back home, Baskonia again reached the Spanish League finals, only to lose in dramatic fashion. Baskonia returned to the EuroLeague Final Four in 2006, but once again Maccabi stood in its way, this time in the semi-final. The team also made it to the Spanish League finals, but was swept there. The next season, Baskonia won its EuroLeague regular season and Top 16 groups before sweeping
Olympiacos
Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...
in the Playoffs, as Scola became the
Euroleague Basketball
Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...
's top all-time scorer at that time. Nonetheless, eventual champion
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...
downed Baskonia in the semi-finals and once home again in Spain, Baskonia lost in the semi-finals.
Through outstanding scouting and shrewd management, Baskonia built a squad that went to four straight
EuroLeague Final Four
The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...
s. Baskonia advanced to the EuroLeague Final Four in
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
,
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 ...
,
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
, and
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, losing to
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...
in the 2005 final, and 2006 semi-finals, to
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...
in the 2007 semi-finals, and to
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
in the 2008 semi-finals.
In the 2007–08 season, the team led by Neven Spahija won its second Spanish
Liga ACB
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...
championship. In 2008–09 season, the team added its sixth
Spanish King's Cup title. In the 2009–10 season, Baskonia won its third Spanish
Liga ACB
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...
championship by sweeping
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
on a memorable series-winning three-point play by
Fernando San Emeterio
Fernando San Emeterio Lara (born 1 January 1984) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently working as an assistant coach for Valencia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.
He was an All-EuroLeague First ...
. Names like
Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
,
Andrés Nocioni
Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born 30 November 1979) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. He was a two-time All-EuroLeague selection before spending eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 2004 to 2012. Noci ...
,
Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
.
Igor Rakočević
Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player.
At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...
,
Arvydas Macijauskas
Arvydas Macijauskas (born 19 January 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at tall, he played at the shooting guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest Lithuanian players of the 2000s, he won numerous ...
,
José Calderón,
Pete Mickeal
Fenton Pete Mickeal (born February 22, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player, that served as an NBA scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, with ...
or
Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
were some of the protagonists of that decade.
2010–present: new arena and the new EuroLeague era
In 2012, its arena
Fernando Buesa Arena
Fernando Buesa Arena is an indoor sports arena in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It is primarily used for basketball and is the home arena of Saski Baskonia.
History
The history and evolution of this sports enclosure has been closely t ...
was expanded to 15,504 seats and the many initiatives the club continues to put into practice show that Baskonia is always moving forward. The club reached the EuroLeague Playoffs in 2011 and 2012 and reached the Top 16 14 times in 15 years. In 2016, Baskonia returned the
EuroLeague Final Four
The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...
for the first time in eight years, as the club made it to the
2016 Final Four. Here the team was defeated after
overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
in the semi-final by
Fenerbahçe. In the third place game, Baskonia lost to Russian side
Lokomotiv Kuban
PBC Lokomotiv Kuban () is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. It participates in the VTB United League.
Their honour list includes a EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup championship in the 2012–13 season, and two Russian Basketb ...
.
In the 2016–17 season, the
EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
adopted a new league-style format in which a round-robin season of sixteen teams was played. In the first season in the new format, the team changed its core of players and also its head coach, but still remained deep in the playoff zone for most of the regular season and ended up advancing to the next phase with a 17–13 record and seventh place. A four-game winning streak in December and another in March covered up for a negative run of six losses in seven games between Rounds 17 and 23. Baskonia clinched a playoff berth for the 10th time in 12 seasons, but there the team was swept by
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
after three tough games.
Ádám Hanga
Ádám Hanga (born 12 April 1989) is a Hungarian professional basketball player for Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. He was drafted 59th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2011 NBA draft. Hanga won the EuroLeague Best Defender awar ...
was one of the team leaders and was chosen as the
EuroLeague Best Defender
The EuroLeague Best Defender is an annual basketball EuroLeague awards, award of the European professional club basketball system, European premier level EuroLeague. It is awarded to the best defensive player throughout the season, up until the E ...
by the league's head coaches, and Baskonia showed, once again, its innate ability to sign talent that seemed to go under the radar for everybody else with names like
Shane Larkin
DeShane Davis Larkin (born October 2, 1992) is an American-born naturalized Turkish professional basketball player and the team captain for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senio ...
,
Johannes Voigtmann
Johannes "Jo" Voigtmann (born 30 September 1992) is a German professional basketball player for Bayern Munich of the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the EuroLeague. He is also a member of the senior German national team. He is 2.11 m ta ...
and
Rodrigue Beaubois playing major roles.
In the 2017–18 season, the club advanced to the playoffs for the third consecutive year and put up a major fight against
Fenerbahçe before falling in four games. None of that was looking likely when the Basque club suffered a shocking start, losing its first four games to signal the departure from the coaching position of club legend
Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
. The man appointed to turn things around was
Pedro Martínez
Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to .
As of 2023, M ...
, who immediately effected a remarkable revival as Baskonia won four of its next five games to ignite its challenge. A mid-season dip left the side in the bottom half of the standings heading into the final few weeks of the regular season, but then came a dramatic surge in form that yielded six consecutive win, with the consistent excellence of versatile big man
Tornike Shengelia
Tornike "Toko" Shengelia ( ka, თორნიკე შენგელია; born 5 October 1991) is a Georgian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Shengelia also represe ...
earning him the
monthly MVP award for March. A top half finish was sealed with a home win over
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...
in Round 29, and although disappointment followed against
Fenerbahçe, that playoff berth was a just reward for Baskonia's typically spirited recovery from its slow start. The team was also highly competitive on the domestic front, earning a second-place finish in the
Spanish League after pushing
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
hard in the finals.
The 2018–19 season was an important season for the club with the
Final Four
In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
taking place on its home court. A slow start caused Baskonia to part ways with head coach
Pedro Martínez
Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to .
As of 2023, M ...
and bring back club legend
Velimir Perasović
Velimir Perasović (; born 9 February 1965) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He is serving as the head coach for the Russian team BC UNICS, UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League.
Early life
Perasović was born in Stob ...
to replace him. Baskonia kept struggling on the road, but won 10 of its last 11 regular season games – including victories against playoff-bound teams
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
,
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...
and
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
– to reach the playoffs from sixth place. Baskonia managed to do something no team had done in over a decade – steal home-court advantage in a playoff series against
CSKA, but the Russian powerhouse recovered with back-to-back wins at
Buesa Arena to qualify for the Final Four and eventually win the title.
Vincent Poirier
Vincent Yann Poirier (born 17 October 1993) is a French professional basketball player for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi and the EuroLeague. He also represents the French national team in international competition.
Professi ...
was chosen to the
All-EuroLeague Second Team. Baskonia had early exits in its two main domestic competitions; it lost against
Joventut in the
Copa del Rey
The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
quarterfinals and against
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
in the
Spanish League quarterfinals.
On 30 June 2020, ten years after their last title, Baskonia won the
2019–20 ACB season
The 2019–20 ACB season, also known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, was the 37th season of the top Spanish professional basketball league, since its establishment in 1983. It started on 24 September 2019 with the first round of the regula ...
, marked by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Sponsorship naming
The club was often referred to for years as TAU Cerámica, a Spanish brand name of
ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...
s manufacturer TAULELL, which name sponsored the club from 1987 to 2009. Originally, TAULELL used another of its brand names, Taugrés, as the name of the team, before changing the name to TAU Cerámica in 1997. TAU, Taugrés and TAU Vitoria were also frequently used to refer to the team. Baskonia, Saski Baskonia, and Saski Baskonia, S.A.D. refer to the name of the actual sports club itself. In 2009, the Spanish credit union
Caja Laboral became the new name sponsor of the club and increased the amount of money that the name sponsor contributes to the sports club's budget. In 2016,
Laboral Kutxa end its sponsorship naming to Baskonia.
Baskonia has received diverse sponsorship names along the years:
* Caja Álava (1983–1987)
* Taugrés (1987–1997) / Tau Cerámica (1997–2009)
*
Caja Laboral /
Laboral Kutxa (2009–2016)
* Kirolbet Baskonia (2018–2020)
* TD Systems Baskonia (2020–2021)
* Bitci Baskonia (2021–2022)
* Cazoo Baskonia (2022–2023)
Arena
Since 1991, Baskonia has played its home games at the
Fernando Buesa Arena
Fernando Buesa Arena is an indoor sports arena in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It is primarily used for basketball and is the home arena of Saski Baskonia.
History
The history and evolution of this sports enclosure has been closely t ...
, which has a
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
of 15,504
SPORTS COMPETITIONS: Maximum capacity for sports events leaving the court free 15504.
people for basketball games. The arena was originally called the Pabellón Araba, from 1991 to 2000. The arena was extensively renovated and expanded in the year 2012.
The arena hosted the 1996 FIBA European Cup Final, in which Baskonia won the title and also hosted the 2010 Eurocup Finals,[Eurocupbasketball.com – An arena that grows with basketball's popularity.](_blank)
/ref> before hosting the EuroLeague Final Four
The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...
in 2019.
Players
Retired jerseys
Despite not having retired any number in its history, five of the club's most notable players have a jersey with the number they wore in their time with the team hung at the Fernando Buesa Arena
Fernando Buesa Arena is an indoor sports arena in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It is primarily used for basketball and is the home arena of Saski Baskonia.
History
The history and evolution of this sports enclosure has been closely t ...
. These are Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
(#5), whose shirt was put on display in 2017; Igor Rakočević
Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player.
At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...
(#8) and Sergi Vidal
Sergi Vidal Plana (born 9 April 1981) is a Spanish retired professional basketball player, who played at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
Professional career
Vidal signed with the Spanish League giants Real Madrid in August 2009, ...
(#9), who followed suit in 2020; Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
(#4), who was inducted in 2023; and Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
(#21), who was inducted in 2024.
Current roster
Depth chart
Notable players
* Carlos Cabezas
Carlos Eduardo Cabezas Jurado (born November 14, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He is the nephew of the former Uruguayan professional footballer Hugo Cabezas, who played in Spain in the late 70s. His father (Hugo's bro ...
* José Calderón
* Carlos Cazorla
Carlos Cazorla Medina (born December 7, 1977, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a retired Spanish basketball player, playing the small forward position.
Clubs
* Saski Baskonia – Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto, ACB (Spain) – 1993–1998 ...
* Ilimane Diop
Ilimane Diop Gaye (born 4 April 1995) is a professional basketball player for Al Riyadi of the Lebanese Basketball League. Although he was born in Senegal, Diop officially represents Spain when being on international duty since he was a baby whe ...
* Jorge Garbajosa
Jorge Garbajosa Chaparro (born 19 December 1977) is a Spanish former professional basketball player, the outgoing president of the Spanish Basketball Federation, and the current President of FIBA Europe. Standing at 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in ...
* Roberto Íñiguez
Roberto Íñiguez de Heredia Santamaria (born 5 September 1967) is a former Spanish basketball player and the current head coach of Spar Girona. Iñiguez spent most of his career with Valencia BC.
He played for Saski Baskonia, Valencia BC, CB M ...
* Pablo Laso
Pablo Laso Biurrun (born 13 October 1967) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the current head coach for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was the head coach of Real Madrid for eleven s ...
* Fernando San Emeterio
Fernando San Emeterio Lara (born 1 January 1984) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently working as an assistant coach for Valencia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.
He was an All-EuroLeague First ...
* Pau Ribas
Pau Ribas Tossas (born 2 March 1987) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He played most of his career for Catalan Liga ACB teams FC Barcelona Bàsquet, FC Barcelona and Joventut Badalona. Standing at , he primarily played in the ...
* Sergi Vidal
Sergi Vidal Plana (born 9 April 1981) is a Spanish retired professional basketball player, who played at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
Professional career
Vidal signed with the Spanish League giants Real Madrid in August 2009, ...
* Walter Herrmann
Walter Herrmann Heinrich (born 26 June 1979) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. He is listed at 6'9" and 225 lbs. He was a key member of the senior men's Argentine national basketball team that won the gold medal durin ...
* Marcelo Nicola
Marcelo Patricio Nicola Virginio (born May 12, 1971) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player and a current coach. A very versatile power forward, he was a regular member of the Argentine national basketball team, and compet ...
* Andrés Nocioni
Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born 30 November 1979) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. He was a two-time All-EuroLeague selection before spending eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 2004 to 2012. Noci ...
* Fabricio Oberto
Fabricio Raúl Jesús Oberto (; born March 21, 1975) is an Argentine-Italian color analyst and former professional basketball player. At , he played as a center and power forward. With the LNB club Atenas, in his native Argentina, Oberto began ...
* Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
* Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
* Luca Vildoza
Luca Vildoza (born August 11, 1995) is an Argentine professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the Argentine national team in international competition. At t ...
* Mirza Teletović
Mirza Teletović (born September 18, 1985) is a Bosnian former professional basketball player who was the president of the Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2018 to 2022. As a player, he spent six seasons in the National Baske ...
* Marcelo Huertas
Marcelo "Marcelinho" Tieppo Huertas (born 25 May 1983) is a Brazilian professional basketball player and the team captain for CB Canarias of the Spanish Liga ACB. He has represented the Brazilian national basketball team in international comp ...
* Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
* Georgi Glouchkov
Georgi Nikolov Glouchkov (alternate spelling: Gueorgui) (; born January 10, 1960) is a Bulgarian former professional basketball player and president of Bulgarian Basketball Federation. A 6 ft 8 in (204 cm) forward (basketball), forw ...
* Velimir Perasović
Velimir Perasović (; born 9 February 1965) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He is serving as the head coach for the Russian team BC UNICS, UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League.
Early life
Perasović was born in Stob ...
* Zoran Planinić
Zoran Planinić (born September 12, 1982) is a Croatian former professional basketball player.
Early years
Planinić was born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the former Yugoslavia. He started his basketball career at HKK Brotnjo Čitluk f ...
* Darko Planinić
* Roko Ukić
Roko Leni Ukić (born December 5, 1984) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Standing at , he mainly played at the point guard position, but could also play at the shooting guard position.
Professional career
Ukić was born and ...
* Maik Kotsar
* Jim Bilba
Jim Ruddy Anicet Bilba (born 17 April 1968 in Pointe-à-Pitre) is a former professional basketball player and coach, from France.
Professional career
Bilba won the EuroLeague championship with Limoges CSP in 1993.
National team career
Bilba won ...
* Laurent Foirest
Laurent Foirest (born 18 September 1973) is a French professional basketball coach and former player who played at the small forward position. He is at a height of tall. He is current head coach for Metropolitans 92 of the LNB Pro A. He was indu ...
* Thomas Heurtel
Thomas David Heurtel (; born 10 April 1989) is a French professional basketball player for Básquet Coruña, Leyma Coruña of the Spanish Liga ACB. Standing at , he plays at the point guard position.
Professional career France (2007–2010)
Heurt ...
* William Phillips
* Kevin Séraphin
Kevin Séraphin (born 7 December 1989) is a French retired professional basketball player. Standing tall, Séraphin played at both the power forward and center positions in his playing career. Séraphin started his professional basketball career ...
* Hanno Möttölä
Hanno Aleksanteri Möttölä (born 9 September 1976) is a Finnish basketball coach and a former professional basketball player. He is currently working as an assistant coach of Finland national team. A power forward, Möttölä played for the ...
* Tornike Shengelia
Tornike "Toko" Shengelia ( ka, თორნიკე შენგელია; born 5 October 1991) is a Georgian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Shengelia also represe ...
* Tibor Pleiß
Tibor Pleiß (, alternative spelling Pleiss; born 2 November 1989) is a German professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basketball League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing , he plays at the center position. He is also a r ...
* Johannes Voigtmann
Johannes "Jo" Voigtmann (born 30 September 1992) is a German professional basketball player for Bayern Munich of the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the EuroLeague. He is also a member of the senior German national team. He is 2.11 m ta ...
* Ioannis Bourousis
Ioannis Bourousis, commonly known as Giannis Bourousis (alternate spelling: Yannis, Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Μπουρούσης; born November 17, 1983) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball executive. He ...
* Christos Charissis
* Kornél Dávid
Dávid Kornél (in English sometimes Kornel David, born October 22, 1971) is a Hungarian former professional basketball player. He is yet the only Hungarian who played in the NBA.
Early life
Dávid grew up with the Budapesti Honvéd juniors ...
* Ádám Hanga
Ádám Hanga (born 12 April 1989) is a Hungarian professional basketball player for Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. He was drafted 59th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2011 NBA draft. Hanga won the EuroLeague Best Defender awar ...
* Pat Burke
Patrick John Burke (born December 14, 1973) is an Irish former professional basketball player who is currently the men's basketball head coach for Beacon College. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for three seasons between ...
* Lior Eliyahu
Lior Eliyahu (; born 9 September 1985) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He is 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) in height and he weighs 105 kg (225 pounds). He plays at the Power forward (basketball), power forward position. He was ...
* Andrea Bargnani
Andrea Bargnani (; born 26 October 1985) is an Italian former professional basketball player. The power forward- center played for Benetton Treviso in the Italian LBA and the EuroLeague before being selected first overall in the 2006 NBA draf ...
* Simone Fontecchio
* Achille Polonara
* Stefano Rusconi
Stefano Rusconi (born October 2, 1968) is an Italian former professional basketball player. At a height of tall, he played at the center position.
Professional career
Rusconi was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the 2nd round (52nd over ...
* Dāvis Bertāns
Dāvis Bertāns (born 12 November 1992) is a Latvian professional basketball player for Dubai Basketball of the ABA League. Nicknamed the "Latvian Laser", he also represents the Latvian national team. He was the 42nd pick in the 2011 NBA draft ...
* Jānis Timma
Jānis Timma (2 July 1992 – 17 December 2024) was a Latvian professional basketball player. Standing at , he mainly played at the small forward position. He also represented the senior Latvia men's national basketball team, Latvia national team ...
* Simas Jasaitis
Simas Jasaitis (born 26 March 1982) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. He also represented the Lithuanian national basketball team.
Professional career
Jasaitis' first team in the LKL was Sakalai during the 2000-2001 season. In t ...
* Rimantas Kaukėnas
Rimantas "Rimas" Kaukėnas (born 11 April 1977) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player who is the president of Wolves Twinsbet of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroCup. His long career has taken hi ...
* Arvydas Macijauskas
Arvydas Macijauskas (born 19 January 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at tall, he played at the shooting guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest Lithuanian players of the 2000s, he won numerous ...
* Saulius Štombergas
Saulius Štombergas (born December 14, 1973) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player, basketball coach and businessman. Štombergas is widely considered to be among the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, known fo ...
* Mindaugas Timinskas
Mindaugas Timinskas (born March 28, 1974) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and basketball coach. He represented the senior Lithuanian national basketball team.
College career
Born in Šilutė, Lithuanian SSR, Timinskas pla ...
* Rokas Giedraitis
Rokas Giedraitis (born August 16, 1992) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for KK Crvena zvezda, Crvena zvezda of the Serbian Basketball League of Serbia, KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He primarily plays at the small forward ...
* Predrag Drobnjak
Predrag "Peđa" Drobnjak ( sr-cyrl, Предраг "Пеђа" Дробњак; born 27 October 1975) is a Montenegrin professional basketball scout and former player. At , he played at the Power forward (basketball), power forward and Center (bask ...
* Thomas Kelati
Thomas Kelati (born September 27, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player of Eritrean heritage. In 2010, he gained Polish citizenship through his wife and is eligible to play on the Poland national basketball team in internation ...
* Maciej Lampe
Maciej Bolesław Lampe (born February 5, 1985) is a Polish former professional basketball player. Standing at , he used to play at the power forward and center positions.
Professional career
Originally from Łódź, Poland, Lampe grew up in S ...
* David Logan
* Ramón Rivas
* Miroslav Berić
Miroslav "Mića" Berić ( sr-cyr, Мирослав "Мића" Берић; born January 20, 1973) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Standing at 2.00 m (6'6 ") tall, he played at the shooting guard position.
Professional career
Be ...
* Nemanja Bjelica
Nemanja Bjelica ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Бјелица, ; born 9 May 1988) is a Serbian former professional basketball player who is the head of basketball operations of Bahçeşehir Koleji. He represented the senior Serbian national team in ...
* Vladimir Micov
Vladimir Micov ( sr-cyr, Владимир Мицов, born April 16, 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Standing at a height of , he mainly played as a small forward.
Professional career
2001–2009
Micov played for Beope ...
* Dejan Tomašević
Dejan Tomašević ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Томашевић; born 6 May 1973) is a Serbian professional basketball executive, former player and politician serving as a member of the National Assembly (Serbia), National Assembly since 6 February 20 ...
* Igor Rakočević
Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player.
At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...
* Richard Petruška
* Goran Dragić
Goran Dragić (born 6 May 1986) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Dragon", he played professional basketball in Slovenia and Spain before entering the NBA in 2008. Dragić also played for the Phoenix Suns, Miam ...
* Zoran Dragić
Zoran Dragić (born June 22, 1989) is a Slovenian professional basketball player who plays for Bilbao Basket of the Liga ACB. He also represents the Slovenian national basketball team internationally. Standing at , he plays the shooting guard a ...
* Jaka Blažič
Jaka Blažič (born 30 June 1990) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for KK Cedevita Olimpija, Cedevita Olimpija of the Adriatic League and the Premier A Slovenian Basketball League, Slovenian Basketball League. He also represents the ...
* Ender Arslan
Ender Arslan (born 13 January 1983) is a Turkish professional basketball coach and former player who played at the point guard position. He is currently the head coach for Esenler Erokspor of the Türkiye Basketbol Ligi (TBL).
Professional career ...
* Serkan Erdoğan
Serkan Erdoğan (born 30 August 1978) is a Turkish retired professional basketball player. Erdoğan tested positive for the banned substance Nandrolone, and was thus immediately suspended from the FIBA SuproLeague's 2000–01 season competition.
...
* Kaya Peker
Kaya Peker (born August 2, 1980) is a retired Turkish professional basketball player. He played at the center position.
Professional career
During his club career, Peker first played with the Turkish Super League clubs Pınar Karşıyaka and Ef ...
* Andrew Betts
* Victor Alexander
Victor Joe Alexander (born August 31, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. Listed at tall, and in weight, he played as a center and power forward. Alexander played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA ...
* Jerome Allen
* J. J. Anderson
* Joe Arlauckas
Joseph John Arlauckas (born July 20, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent. During his playing career, he played at the power forward position. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Bas ...
* Wade Baldwin IV
Wade Manson Baldwin IV (born March 29, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for Fenerbahçe Beko of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the EuroLeague.
High school and college career
Born in the Belle Mead section of Mo ...
* Ken Bannister
Kenneth Darnell Bannister (born April 1, 1960) is a retired American professional basketball player, from Baltimore, Maryland. At 6' 9" tall he was a power forward- center.
College career
Bannister played college basketball at Trinidad State ...
* Scooter Barry
Richard Francis "Scooter" Barry IV (born August 13, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player.
His nickname "Scooter" was given to him shortly after he was born in San Francisco. The son of NBA Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall ...
* Elmer Bennett
Elmer James Bennett (born February 13, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of , he played at the point guard position.
High school
Bennett played competitively for Bellaire High School, in Bellaire, Texas. ...
* Anthony Bonner
Anthony Bonner (born June 8, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Saint Louis.
High school
Bonner attended Vashon High School in St. Louis, Missouri, where he also played basketball. Du ...
* Ryan Bowen
Ryan Cleo Bowen (born November 20, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a 6'9", power forward.
College caree ...
* Rickey Brown
Rickey Darnell Brown (born August 29, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of tall, he played at the power forward and center positions.
High school
Brown attended and played high school basketball at West ...
* Chase Budinger
Chase Andrew Budinger ( ; born May 22, 1988) is an American beach volleyball player and former professional basketball player. He was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 44th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft after playing three years of c ...
* Lionel Chalmers
Lionel Chalmers Jr. (born November 10, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is in height and played at the po ...
* Chris Corchiani
Christopher Corchiani Sr. (born March 28, 1968) is an American-Italian former professional basketball player who played at the point guard position. He played briefly in the National Basketball Association after a college career at NC State. Cor ...
* Pat Durham
* Rashard Griffith
Rashard Nathan Griffith (born October 8, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player.
Early career
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Griffith starred for the nationally ranked King Jaguars of the Chicago Public League, where he was ...
* Travis Hansen
Travis Mitchell Hansen (born April 15, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Hansen played college basketball for Utah Valley and BYU.
Both h ...
* Pierriá Henry
Pierriá Henry (born January 20, 1993) is an American-born naturalized Senegalese professional basketball player who last played for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the University of Nort ...
* Darrun Hilliard
Darrun Hilliard II (born April 13, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for BC UNICS of the VTB United League.
Hilliard attended Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he was a two-time ''Associated Press'' first ...
* Essie Hollis
Essie B Hollis (born May 16, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the small forward position. He played college basketball for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies
College career
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Hollis att ...
* Casey Jacobsen
Casey Gardner Jacobsen (born March 19, 1981) is an American retired professional basketball player who played four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also had an extensive European basketball career, mostly while playing wit ...
* Mike James
* Linton Johnson
* Jalen Jones
Jalen Jones (born May 27, 1993) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball for the SMU Mustangs and the Texas A&M Aggies.
...
* Randolph Keys
Randolph Keys (born April 19, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player who played five National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons in his career for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee ...
* Shane Larkin
DeShane Davis Larkin (born October 2, 1992) is an American-born naturalized Turkish professional basketball player and the team captain for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senio ...
* Will McDonald
* Jordan McRae
Jordan Tyler McRae (born March 28, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Scafati Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers, and was drafted 58th overall ...
* Larry Micheaux
* Pete Mickeal
Fenton Pete Mickeal (born February 22, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player, that served as an NBA scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, with ...
* Drew Nicholas
Andrew Lawrence Nicholas (born May 17, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. A shooting guard, Nicholas was the leading scorer in the EuroLeague 2005–06 season, being awarded the Alphonso Ford Trophy. He is a two-time Eu ...
* Dan O'Sullivan
* Lamar Odom
Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won NBA Finals, championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named ...
* Lou Roe
Louis Marquel Roe (born July 14, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Spanish Liga ACB, among other leagues. He was an All-American college player at the Unive ...
* Brent Scott
* James Singleton
* Matt Steigenga
Matthew Todd Steigenga (born March 27, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. He was a 6'7", 220-40 lbs. small forward who most notably played a part of one season with the Chicago Bulls and a season in the Liga ACB. ...
* Darius Thompson
Darius Jamar Thompson (born May 4, 1995) is an American-born naturalized Italian professional basketball player for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he plays at the point guard position.
...
* Nikita Wilson
* David Wood
Players at the NBA draft
Head coaches
* Vicente Elejalde 1959–1969
* Pepe Laso 1969–1977, 1985–1987
* Juan Antonio Ortiz de Pinedo 1977–1978, 1982–1983
* Iñaki Iriarte 1978–1980, 1981–1983, 1992–1993
* Manu Moreno 1980–1981, 1987–1989
* Txema Capetillo 1983–1984
* Xabier Añúa 1984–1985
* Željko Pavličević
Željko Pavličević (born 26 March 1951) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach for Eastern Sports Club (basketball), Eastern in
ASEAN Basketball League.
Early life
Pavličević began ...
1989–1990
* Herb Brown
Herbert Brown (born March 14, 1936) is an American basketball coach and the brother of Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. He is the former head coach of the Detroit Pistons (1976–78).
Career
Brown succeeded Ray Scott when he was promoted from ...
1990–1992
* Manel Comas 1993–1997
* Sergio Scariolo
Sergio Scariolo (born 1 April 1961) is an Italian professional basketball coach who is the head coach of the senior Spain national team. Scariolo latest coached also Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Having won four EuroB ...
1997–1999, 2013–2014
* Salva Maldonado 1999
* Julio Lamas
Julio César Lamas (born June 9, 1964) is an Argentine professional basketball coach. He was head coach of the Japan men's national team from 2017 to 2021. He has also been the head coach of the Argentina men's national team.
Club coaching care ...
1999–2000
* Duško Ivanović
Duško Ivanović (; born September 1, 1957) is a Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague.
Professional playing ca ...
2000–2005, 2008–2012, 2019–2021, 2023–2024
* Pedro Martínez
Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to .
As of 2023, M ...
2005, 2017–2018
* Velimir Perasović
Velimir Perasović (; born 9 February 1965) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He is serving as the head coach for the Russian team BC UNICS, UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League.
Early life
Perasović was born in Stob ...
2005–2007, 2015–2016, 2018–2019
* Natxo Lezkano
Natxo Lezkano Moya (born 17 October 1972) is a Spanish professional basketball coach, who most recently managed Estudiantes of the Spanish Liga ACB. Since 2011, he has coached Ivory Coast's national basketball team, which he led to two Final Fo ...
2007
* Božidar Maljković
Božidar "Boža" Maljković ( sr-Cyrl, Божидар "Божа" Маљковић; born 20 April 1952) is a Serbian former professional basketball coach and current president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia.
He is one of the most successful b ...
2007
* Neven Spahija 2007–2008, 2021–2022
* Žan Tabak
Žan Tabak (born 15 June 1970) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player who is now serving as the head coach for Trefl Sopot of the PLK. His basketball career, spanning twenty years, was marked by several notable achievemen ...
2012–2013
* Marco Crespi
Marco Crespi (born 5 November 1978) is an Italian professional golfer.
Career
Crespi was born in Monza, Italy. He turned professional in 2002.
Crespi played on the Challenge Tour in 2006–2009 and 2012–2013. He was invited to the 2012 Telene ...
2014
* Ibon Navarro
Ibon Navarro Pérez de Albéniz (born April 30, 1976) is a Spanish basketball coach who is currently in charge of Unicaja of the Spanish Liga ACB.
Coaching career
Ibon Navarro has been a coach in the lower categories of Saski Baskonia from 2000 ...
2014–2015
* Sito Alonso
Alfonso Alonso Blasco (born December 4, 1975), commonly known as Sito Alonso, is a Spanish basketball coach who is the head coach for UCAM Murcia of the Spanish Liga ACB.
Coaching career Pro clubs
Alonso made his coaching debut in the Liga End ...
2016–2017
* Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
2017
* Joan Peñarroya
Joan Peñarroya Rodríguez (born 20 April 1969) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for FC Barcelona of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.
Playing career
A tall guard, Peñarroya started his playing ...
2022–2023
* Pablo Laso
Pablo Laso Biurrun (born 13 October 1967) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the current head coach for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was the head coach of Real Madrid for eleven s ...
2024–present
Source: baskonistas.com
Logos
Saski Baskonia Logo.gif, Non commercial logo (2010–2016)
Saski Baskonia.png, Non commercial logo (2016–present)
TAU Ceramica.png, Tau sponsorship logo (1987–2009)
Caja Laboral Logo.png, Caja Laboral sponsorship logo (2009–2013)
Season by season
Honours
Domestic competitions
* Spanish League
: Winners (4): 2001–02, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2019–20
: ''Runners-up (5)'': 1997–98, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2017–18
* Spanish Cup
The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...
: Winners (6): 1995
1995 was designated as:
* United Nations Year for Tolerance
* World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War
This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
, 1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
, 2002
The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
, 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
, 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 ...
, 2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
: ''Runners-up (3)'': 1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
, 2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
, 2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
* Spanish Supercup
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
** Spanish history
**Spanish culture ...
: Winners (4): 2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, 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 ...
, 2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
, 2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
.
: ''Runners-up (2)'': 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, 2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
* Association Cup
: Winners (1): 1985
* 2nd Division
: Winners (1): 1971–72
* Basque Cup
: Winners (4): 2010–11, 2011–12, 2018–19, 2022–23
European competitions
* EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
: ''Runners-up (2)'': 2000–01, 2004–05
: ''3rd place (1)'': 2005–06
: ''4th place (3)'': 2006–07, 2007–08, 2015–16
: Final Four (6): 2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, 2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, 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 ...
, 2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
, 2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, 2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
* FIBA Saporta Cup
The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...
: Winners (1): 1995–96 MVP Ramón Rivas
: ''Runners-up (2)'': 1993–94, 1994–95
Other competitions
* Trofeo Diputación / Álava
: Winners (27): 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
* Estella, Spain Invitational Game
: Winners (1): 2007
* Logroño, Spain Invitational Game
: Winners (1): 2007
* Ourense, Spain Invitational Game
: Winners (1): 2008
* Tudela, Spain Invitational Game
: Winners (1): 2008
* Torneo de Lleida Stagepro
: ''3rd Place (1)'': 2009
* Switzerland Invitational Game
: Winners (1): 2010
* Torneo Angers
: Winners (1): 2010
* Lanzarote, Spain Invitational Game
: Winners (1): 2011
* Bergara, Spain Invitational Game
: Winners (1): 2015
* Torneo Fundacion CID
: ''Runners-up (1)'': 2016
Individual awards
All-EuroLeague First Team
The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...
*Dejan Tomašević
Dejan Tomašević ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Томашевић; born 6 May 1973) is a Serbian professional basketball executive, former player and politician serving as a member of the National Assembly (Serbia), National Assembly since 6 February 20 ...
– 2002
*Arvydas Macijauskas
Arvydas Macijauskas (born 19 January 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at tall, he played at the shooting guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest Lithuanian players of the 2000s, he won numerous ...
– 2005
*Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
– 2006, 2007
*Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
– 2008
*Igor Rakočević
Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player.
At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...
– 2009
*Fernando San Emeterio
Fernando San Emeterio Lara (born 1 January 1984) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently working as an assistant coach for Valencia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.
He was an All-EuroLeague First ...
– 2011
*Ioannis Bourousis
Ioannis Bourousis, commonly known as Giannis Bourousis (alternate spelling: Yannis, Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Μπουρούσης; born November 17, 1983) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball executive. He ...
– 2016
*Tornike Shengelia
Tornike "Toko" Shengelia ( ka, თორნიკე შენგელია; born 5 October 1991) is a Georgian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Shengelia also represe ...
– 2018
All-EuroLeague Second Team
*Andrés Nocioni
Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born 30 November 1979) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. He was a two-time All-EuroLeague selection before spending eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 2004 to 2012. Noci ...
– 2003, 2004
*Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
– 2005
*Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
– 2006, 2007
*Igor Rakočević
Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player.
At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...
– 2007
*Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
– 2009, 2010
*Vincent Poirier
Vincent Yann Poirier (born 17 October 1993) is a French professional basketball player for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi and the EuroLeague. He also represents the French national team in international competition.
Professi ...
– 2019
*Darius Thompson
Darius Jamar Thompson (born May 4, 1995) is an American-born naturalized Italian professional basketball player for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he plays at the point guard position.
...
– 2023
EuroLeague Best Defender
The EuroLeague Best Defender is an annual basketball EuroLeague awards, award of the European professional club basketball system, European premier level EuroLeague. It is awarded to the best defensive player throughout the season, up until the E ...
*Ádám Hanga
Ádám Hanga (born 12 April 1989) is a Hungarian professional basketball player for Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. He was drafted 59th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2011 NBA draft. Hanga won the EuroLeague Best Defender awar ...
– 2017
EuroLeague Top Scorer "Alphonso Ford"
*Igor Rakočević
Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player.
At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...
– 2007, 2009
*Markus Howard
Markus Anthony Howard (born March 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Marquette Golden Eagles, where he was a two-time All-Ame ...
– 2024
ACB Most Valuable Player
ACB Most Valuable Player is an annual award of the Liga ACB, the top-tier professional basketball league in Spain. The ACB handed out the award first after the 1991–92 ACB season. Since then, four players have won the award more than once: Darr ...
* Kenny Green – 1997
*Andrés Nocioni
Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born 30 November 1979) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. He was a two-time All-EuroLeague selection before spending eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 2004 to 2012. Noci ...
– 2004
*Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
– 2005, 2007
*Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
– 2010
*Fernando San Emeterio
Fernando San Emeterio Lara (born 1 January 1984) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently working as an assistant coach for Valencia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.
He was an All-EuroLeague First ...
– 2011
*Ioannis Bourousis
Ioannis Bourousis, commonly known as Giannis Bourousis (alternate spelling: Yannis, Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Μπουρούσης; born November 17, 1983) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball executive. He ...
– 2016
ACB Finals MVP
*Elmer Bennett
Elmer James Bennett (born February 13, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of , he played at the point guard position.
High school
Bennett played competitively for Bellaire High School, in Bellaire, Texas. ...
– 2002
*Pete Mickeal
Fenton Pete Mickeal (born February 22, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player, that served as an NBA scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, with ...
– 2008
*Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
– 2010
*Luca Vildoza
Luca Vildoza (born August 11, 1995) is an Argentine professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the Argentine national team in international competition. At t ...
– 2020
All-ACB First Team
*Andrés Nocioni
Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born 30 November 1979) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. He was a two-time All-EuroLeague selection before spending eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 2004 to 2012. Noci ...
– 2004, 2013
*Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
– 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
* José Calderón – 2005
*Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
– 2006, 2007, 2009
*Igor Rakočević
Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player.
At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...
– 2009
*Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
– 2010
*Marcelo Huertas
Marcelo "Marcelinho" Tieppo Huertas (born 25 May 1983) is a Brazilian professional basketball player and the team captain for CB Canarias of the Spanish Liga ACB. He has represented the Brazilian national basketball team in international comp ...
– 2011
*Fernando San Emeterio
Fernando San Emeterio Lara (born 1 January 1984) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently working as an assistant coach for Valencia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.
He was an All-EuroLeague First ...
– 2011
*Mirza Teletović
Mirza Teletović (born September 18, 1985) is a Bosnian former professional basketball player who was the president of the Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2018 to 2022. As a player, he spent six seasons in the National Baske ...
– 2012
* Darius Adams – 2016
*Ioannis Bourousis
Ioannis Bourousis, commonly known as Giannis Bourousis (alternate spelling: Yannis, Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Μπουρούσης; born November 17, 1983) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball executive. He ...
– 2016
*Ádám Hanga
Ádám Hanga (born 12 April 1989) is a Hungarian professional basketball player for Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. He was drafted 59th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2011 NBA draft. Hanga won the EuroLeague Best Defender awar ...
– 2017
*Tornike Shengelia
Tornike "Toko" Shengelia ( ka, თორნიკე შენგელია; born 5 October 1991) is a Georgian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Shengelia also represe ...
– 2018
*Pierriá Henry
Pierriá Henry (born January 20, 1993) is an American-born naturalized Senegalese professional basketball player who last played for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the University of Nort ...
– 2021
*Darius Thompson
Darius Jamar Thompson (born May 4, 1995) is an American-born naturalized Italian professional basketball player for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he plays at the point guard position.
...
– 2023
*Markus Howard
Markus Anthony Howard (born March 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Marquette Golden Eagles, where he was a two-time All-Ame ...
– 2023, 2024
All-ACB Second Team
*Ádám Hanga
Ádám Hanga (born 12 April 1989) is a Hungarian professional basketball player for Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. He was drafted 59th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2011 NBA draft. Hanga won the EuroLeague Best Defender awar ...
– 2016
*Shane Larkin
DeShane Davis Larkin (born October 2, 1992) is an American-born naturalized Turkish professional basketball player and the team captain for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) and the EuroLeague. He also represents the senio ...
– 2017
*Tornike Shengelia
Tornike "Toko" Shengelia ( ka, თორნიკე შენგელია; born 5 October 1991) is a Georgian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Shengelia also represe ...
– 2019, 2020
*Vincent Poirier
Vincent Yann Poirier (born 17 October 1993) is a French professional basketball player for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi and the EuroLeague. He also represents the French national team in international competition.
Professi ...
– 2019
*Rokas Giedraitis
Rokas Giedraitis (born August 16, 1992) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for KK Crvena zvezda, Crvena zvezda of the Serbian Basketball League of Serbia, KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He primarily plays at the small forward ...
– 2021
ACB Top Scorer
*Ray Price – 1974
*Webb Williams – 1979
*Claude Gregory
Claude Andre Gregory (born December 26, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player from Washington, D.C.. He was a , power forward.
College career
Gregory played college basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers.
Professional care ...
– 1983
*Igor Rakočević
Igor Rakočević ( sr-cyrl, Игор Ракочевић; born 29 March 1978) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player.
At a height of 1.94 m (6'4 ") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, bu ...
– 2009
* Darius Adams – 2016
*Markus Howard
Markus Anthony Howard (born March 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Marquette Golden Eagles, where he was a two-time All-Ame ...
– 2024
ACB Rising Star
*Mirza Teletović
Mirza Teletović (born September 18, 1985) is a Bosnian former professional basketball player who was the president of the Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2018 to 2022. As a player, he spent six seasons in the National Baske ...
– 2008
ACB Most Spectacular Player
The ACB Most Spectacular Player, also known as the Kia Motors, KIA ACB Most Spectacular Player for sponsorship reasons, is the annual award that is given to the "most spectacular player" of each regular season phase of the Liga ACB, which is the S ...
*Tornike Shengelia
Tornike "Toko" Shengelia ( ka, თორნიკე შენგელია; born 5 October 1991) is a Georgian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Shengelia also represe ...
– 2019
Spanish Cup MVP
*Joe Arlauckas
Joseph John Arlauckas (born July 20, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent. During his playing career, he played at the power forward position. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Bas ...
– 1993
*Velimir Perasović
Velimir Perasović (; born 9 February 1965) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He is serving as the head coach for the Russian team BC UNICS, UNICS Kazan of the VTB United League.
Early life
Perasović was born in Stob ...
– 1994
*Pablo Laso
Pablo Laso Biurrun (born 13 October 1967) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the current head coach for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was the head coach of Real Madrid for eleven s ...
– 1995
*Elmer Bennett
Elmer James Bennett (born February 13, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of , he played at the point guard position.
High school
Bennett played competitively for Bellaire High School, in Bellaire, Texas. ...
– 1999
*Dejan Tomašević
Dejan Tomašević ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Томашевић; born 6 May 1973) is a Serbian professional basketball executive, former player and politician serving as a member of the National Assembly (Serbia), National Assembly since 6 February 20 ...
– 2002
*Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
– 2007
*Mirza Teletović
Mirza Teletović (born September 18, 1985) is a Bosnian former professional basketball player who was the president of the Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2018 to 2022. As a player, he spent six seasons in the National Baske ...
– 2009
Supercup MVP
*Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born 30 April 1980) is an Argentine former basketball player and the chief executive officer for the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) team Pallacanestro Varese. A three-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague selecti ...
– 2005
*Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...
– 2006, 2007
*Pablo Prigioni
Pablo Prigioni (born 17 May 1977) is an Argentine-Italian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played the point guard position, and was a member of the senior Argentina ...
– 2008
Matches against NBA teams
Baskonia B
Baskonia B is the reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...
of Baskonia. It currently plays in Tercera FEB, the fourth tier of Spanish basketball.
Notes
References
External links
*
Saski Baskonia
at ACB.com
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...
Saski Baskonia
at EuroLeague
The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
.net
{{Authority control
Basketball teams established in 1959
Basketball teams in the Basque Country (autonomous community)
Defunct and inactive League of Legends teams
EuroLeague clubs
Liga ACB teams
1959 establishments in Spain
Sport in Vitoria-Gasteiz