Kalev (also known as Tallinn Kalev, Korvpalliklubi Kalev) was a professional basketball club from

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

what was back then part of

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The team played in the Estonian Basketball League (Korvpalli Meistriliiga) and in the Soviet Union Basketball League. Their home arena was Kalev Sports Hall. Kalev was a professional basketball team representing Estonia in Soviet Union Basketball League until 1992; thereafter Kalev was designed like a national team with the best 12 players from all over Estonia.

History

Kalev was founded in 1920 with the eponymous sports Estonian society. Kalev became winner of the second to last championship of the

USSR Premier Basketball League The USSR Premier Basketball League, or Soviet Union Premier Basketball League (also called Supreme League), was the first-tier men's professional basketball league in the former Soviet Union. The league existed from 1923 to 1991, as the top profe ...

in 1991 and in 1991–92 season the team became runner-up of the open

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

league. After the collapse of the

leading players left to play in European basketball clubs. In the season 1993–94 the club almost collapsed, and a year later, in season 1994–95, played in the Estonian Championship already under brand Kalev/Auma. In the 1995–96 season the team is regaining its former name in saw the return of Martin Müürsepp and Margus Metstak, and in the 1996–97 season

Tiit Sokk Tiit Sokk (born 15 November 1964) is a retired Estonian professional basketball player and current coach. Often cited as one of the very best European point guards of his generation, he is widely recognized as the greatest Estonian basketball p ...

returned from Panathinaikos. In the 1999–98 season for the club signed Rauno Pehka and Gert Kullamäe who returned to the team Sergei Babenko and American players. In the same season Tiit Sokk leaves from Tallinn to play in Greece. In the 1999–2000 season the club won the champion of Estonia. The season 2004–05 became runner-up of the Estonian Cup. The next season the historic Kalev merged into BC Kalev/Cramo. Kalev is often confused with Estonian team Tallinna/Kalev TLÜ, which has no connections with KK Kalev.

Honours & achievements

USSR League * Winners (1): 1990–91 * Runners-up (1): 1991–92 USSR Cup * Runners-up (1): 1977–78 Estonian League * Winners (18): 1927, 1930, 1931, 1943, 1944 (winter), 1945, 1946, 1947, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, Estonian Cup * Winners (9): 1946, 1948, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1995–96, 2000-01

Notable players

References

External links

Tallinn Kalev on Fibaeurope.com
Basketball teams in Estonia {{Estonia-sport-stub