Košarkaški klub Zagreb ( en, Zagreb Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zagreb or simply Zagreb, was 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 (appr ...

club based in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. It competed in the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

and the Croatian League. In the 2011–12 season, the club competed in the modern EuroLeague.

History

The club was founded in 1970 under the name KK Siget after the Siget neighbourhood in Zagreb. In 1976 it was renamed to KK Novi Zagreb to represent Novi Zagreb, part of Zagreb located south of the

Sava river The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

. After Croatia became independent country, "Novi" was just dropped out and the club name got its simpler and present form - KK Zagreb. From the beginnings Zagreb players were known under the nickname ''Ants'' as a symbol of hard work and team spirit. Since its establishment KK Zagreb worked its way up over 19 years to join the famed first division in ex-Yugoslavia in 1989. Though it carries the name of a great basketball capital KK Zagreb had always lived a bit in the shadow of cross-town rival

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 ...

but since the beginning of the Croatian League in the early 1990s Zagreb has made a name of its own, becoming one of the better teams in the country. Until the late 2000s club was mainly known for its youth categories which won numerous Croatian and European titles, while senior team was always in the shadow of Croatian basketball ''Big Three'' - Cibona,

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

and Split. In recent years, when its became a permanent member of the EuroChallenge Cup competition, the club increased its budget with an intention to make another step forward in its ambitious plans and won its first domestic trophies, the Croatian Cup in 2008 and 2010. It was only a matter of time, when the team will move from its traditional base in Trnsko school sports hall (capacity 3,000) to a bigger one, which happened in 2010, when they moved to Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall, home of their better known rival Cibona. Moving to a new and bigger hall proved to be some kind of "growing up" for KK Zagreb as the club won double title, winning both Championship of Croatia and Croatian Cup in 2011. Club info on ABA League web site Zagreb played in the 2011–12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague competition. In 2018 the club was dissolved. A phoenix club was established in 2020.

Season by season

Honours

* Croatian Championship: 1 **2011 * Croatian Cup: 3 **2008, 2010, 2011

Notable players

* Aleksandar Petrović *

Ivan Meheš Ivan Meheš (born 1965 in Zagreb) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player. He started playing 1975 in basketball club KK Zapruđe. Professional basketball player career ended in 2000 when he started coaching in basketbal ...

Krunoslav Simon Krunoslav Simon (born 24 June 1985) is a Croatian professional basketball currently playing for Cedevita Junior of the Croatian League. Professional career After spending his youth years in KK Maksimir and KK Zrinjevac, Simon joined KK Zagreb ...

Mario Kasun Mario Kasun (born April 5, 1980) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He played at the center position. Professional career Kasun started playing basketball at a local club in Delnice when he was 14, before he started playing prof ...

* Damir Mulaomerović *

Dario Šarić Dario Šarić (; born 8 April 1994) is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He also represents the senior ...

Josip Sesar Josip Sesar (born 17 January 1978) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player for Cibona of the Croatian League and ABA League. Playing career Sesar started training basketball when he was ten. He was 182 cm tall at the ...

* Mario Stojić * Marko Tomas * Ante Tomić *

Luka Žorić Luka Žorić (born November 5, 1984) is a former Croatian professional basketball player. Standing at , he played at the center position. Professional career In March 2011, Žorić received the award for Most Valuable Player of the NLB Adriatic ...

* Mario Hezonja * Damir Milačić *

Sašo Ožbolt Sašo Ožbolt (born 4 April 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional basketball player who played for KK Portorož of the Slovenian League. He represented the Slovenian national basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship and Eurobaske ...

T.J. Ford Terrance Jerod Ford Sr. (born March 24, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. Having been awarded numerous top basketball accolades in high school and college, Ford entered the 2003 NBA draft and was selected eighth overall ...

* Sean May *

Alex Renfroe Gregory Alexander Renfroe (born May 23, 1986) is an American-born Bosnian professional basketball player for Covirán Granada of the Liga ACB. College career Renfroe played college basketball at Belmont University. He was named Atlantic Sun Co ...

* Mike James * Josh Heytvelt

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zagreb, KK

KK Zagreb Košarkaški klub Zagreb ( en, Zagreb Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zagreb or simply Zagreb, was a professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. It competed in the ABA League and the Croatian League. In the 2011–12 season ...

Basketball teams in Croatia Basketball teams established in 1970 Basketball teams in Yugoslavia Basketball teams disestablished in 2018