Basketball Club "BC" Almaty (russian: Баскетбольный клуб "БК" Алматы) is a

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

i professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

club based in the city of Almaty in southern Kazakhstan. Founded in 2006, it has played under the name Almaty Legion (russian: Алматинский легион) since 2014. The club has competed in the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship - losing twice in the championship final – and the

Kazakhstan Basketball Cup The Kazakhstan Basketball Cup () is the national men's professional basketball cup competition in the country of Kazakhstan. It is organised annually over a few days in a single location by the National Basketball Federation Kazakhstan. Its offic ...

, which they won in 2015. For the 2014–15 season, the team also competed in the Russian Basketball Super League, the professional second division league in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

History

BC Almaty was founded in December 2006 by the municipality of Almaty, it was managed by the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of that city. In July 2014, the club became a

limited liability partnership A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is not ...

, with the municipality selling the totality (100%) of its shares in the club as part of a privatization campaign. In their first season in the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship in 2007–08, they reached the championship finals, losing to the Astana Tigers. After the Tigers turned down an invitation to play in the 2008 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Almaty replaced them. In their first international foray they reached the quarterfinal stage, losing to eventual champions Saba Battery. In the 2014 off-season, BC Almaty went through a re-branding, changing its name to Almaty Legion (russian: Алматинский легион), though it retained the former designation as its legal name, also changing its logo. SKA Almaty, who had played in the Soviet league in the 1980s, was merged into BC Almaty to serve as the reserve squad in the second division Higher league under the name Almaty Legion KazNU (russian: Алматинский Легион КазНУ). Almaty Legion were accepted into the Russian Basketball Super League, the second division of distant neighbours Russia, to play the 2014–15 season there. They finished dead last of the 16 team league with 2 wins out of 30, though they later beat MBA Moscow in the 15th place playoffs to move up a position. In February 2015, Legion won their first trophy, the

, beating Tobol Kostanay 90-86 in the final to win the tournament organised in Almaty. They also reached the final of the

2014–15 Kazakhstan Basketball Championship The 2014–15 Kazakhstan Basketball Championship (russian: Чемпионата Казахстана по баскетболу сезон 2014–15) was the 23rd season of the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship, the highest professional basketball ...

but were crushed 82-56 by perennial champions

BC Astana Astana Basketball Club ( kk, Astana Basketbol Kluby), commonly referred to as BC Astana, is a Kazakh professional basketball club that is based in Astana, Kazakhstan. Founded in 2011, it has competed in the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship a ...

Titles

: winners ( 2015)

Current squad

Notable players

:To appear in this section a player must have either: - Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team or one NBA game at any time.

References

External links

FIBA game center profile
Retrieved 23 June 2015
AsiaBasket.com profile
Retrieved 23 June 2015
Russian Basketball Federation profile
Retrieved 23 June 2015 {{in lang, ru Basketball teams established in 2006 Basketball teams in Kazakhstan Sport in Almaty