Olympique Antibes, in full ''Olympique d'Antibes Juan-les-Pins'' and branded as Antibes Sharks, is a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club from the city of

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Established in 1933, the club's men's senior team currently plays in

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the second-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular se ...

, the French second division. The club has won the French championship three times, the last being in 1995.

History

The basketball team rose to prominence in the years 1950–60. In 1970, the team won the championship of France thanks to players of exception like Jean-Claude Bonato, Dan Rodriguez and Jacques Cachemire. At the beginning of the Eighties, Antibes suffered several disappointing seasons, but improved throughout the decade, and eventually won the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

title in 1991. At the beginning of the Nineties, Antibes regularly contended for titles alongside

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

and Pau-Orthez. In 1995, the club won a third national title before being plagued by financial problems. In 2002, in spite of finishing in a position that would have kept them safe from relegation, the club was dropped to

for lack of financial guarantees. Antibes then went through difficult years in Pro B. Then, in 2006–07, the club were relegated from Pro B to the nominally amateur Nationale 1. Although their 16th-place finish that season would normally have kept them safe from relegation, that season saw three teams relegated instead of the normal two because of a decision to reduce the number of teams in the top Pro A league. They would return to the professional ranks at the first opportunity, winning the Pro B crown in 2008. For the 2013 season, Antibes has new ambitions in a Pro B league where the other favourites are clubs like Pau-Orthez, Hyères Toulon, two teams coming from Pro A, and

JL Bourg Basket Jeunesse Laïque de Bourg-en-Bresse, commonly known as JL Bourg or simply Bourg, is a basketball club based in Bourg-en-Bresse, France that plays in the LNB Élite, the national top division. Their home arena is Ekinox, which has a capacity of 3, ...

. They end up in fifth place at the end of the regular season and win the play-offs against Champagne Châlons Reims, synonym with a spot in the Pro A championship from next season. Yet in the following year, they finish bottom of the league with 6 wins and 24 defeats, and returned once more to the Pro B. During the 2014–2015 season, they finish 6th of the regular season, and win also the B Leaders Cup, a victory that, as a matter of fact, guaranteed them a playoff spot. They win the playoffs against

Denain Denain (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km2 (4.448 sq mi). It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération de la Por ...

after having defeated

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and

Le portel Le Portel (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of France about southwest of Boulogne town centre. History Le Portel translates as "the little port." The origi ...

on their way to the final. Just one year after leaving the Pro A championship they earned the right to go back to the elite tier.

Arenas

From 1951 to 1991, Olympique Antibes played their home games at the Salusse-Santoni Hall, 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 1,300 people. From 1991 to 2009, Olympique Antibes played their homes games at the 5,051 seat

Jean Bunoz Sports Hall The Jean Bunoz Sports Hall was an indoor arena that was located in Antibes, France. The arena was primarily used to host basketball games, however it could also be used to host numerous other events, such as: acrobatic gymnastics, boxing, circus ...

. Since 2013, the club hosts their home games at the

Azur Arena Antibes The Azur Arena Antibes is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Antibes, France. The arena can be to host basketball, gymnastics, handball, judo, tennis, and trampolining competitions, concerts, and cultural events. It is primarily used ...

. The arena is located in

Antibes, France Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

, and it was opened in 2013. It has a seating capacity of 5,249 people for basketball games.

Honours

French League The French League (: "French League for Purge, purging, mutual aid (politics), mutual aid and European integration, European collaboration") was a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborationist French movement founded by Pier ...

: Winners (3):1969–70, 1990–91, 1994–95 * French League 2 : Winners (1): 2012–13 * French League 3 : Winners (1): 2007–08 *

LNB Pro B Leaders Cup The LNB Pro B Leaders Cup is a professional national basketball cup competition that is played in a given LNB Pro B (French 2nd Division) season. The trophy is the second tier level of its type in France, being one tier blow the LNB Pro A Leaders ...

: Winners (1): 2015

Season by season

Top performances in European & Worldwide competitions

Players

Retired numbers

Current roster

Notable players

Head coaches

Hervé Dubuisson Hervé Dubuisson (born 8 August 1957) is a French former professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, at a height of 1.97 m (6'5 ") tall, he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions. Dubuisson is the Fren ...

References

External links

Official SiteOfficial board
{{Pro B basket-ball 1933 establishments in France Basketball teams established in 1933

Olympique