Košarkaški klub Cibona, commonly referred to as Cibona Zagreb or simply Cibona, is a men's 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 ...

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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and competes in the ABA League 2 and the Croatian League.

History

Formation and early years

Cibona's history dates to late autumn of 1945 when Sloboda (''Freedom'') was founded as a sports society of bank workers, craftsmen, traders, and clerks. On April 24, 1946, thanks to basketball enthusiast Branimir Volfer and his friends Ljubo Prosen and Joso Miloš, basketball section of Sloboda, the predecessor of today's Cibona, was formed. Its first game was against local rival Slavija on May 7, 1946. Sloboda did not last too long under that name as in November 1946, it merged with Tekstilac, Amater and Grafičar into Sportsko društvo Zagreb (''Sports Society Zagreb''). Name changing continued through the next four years. In late 1948 it was known as Vihor (''Vortex'') and already in 1949 as Polet (''Elan''). Finally, in June 1950, the club changed the name to Lokomotiva (''Locomotive'') and that name is going to stick for the next 25 years. Lokomotiva competed in Yugoslav top division since 1951, with only two years (1952 and 1960) spent in the second division.

First trophies

Lokomotiva's first major trophy came in 1969, when they won the

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

, led by legendary Hall of Famer Mirko Novosel. The final game against AŠK Olimpija was played in Lokomotiva's new basketball hall "Kutija šibica" (literally meaning ''Matchbox''). Led by phenomenal trio Većeslav Kavedžija, Nikola Plećaš and Milivoj Omašić, Lokomotiva won the game 78:77. Their first European trophy came in 1972 when Lokomotiva won the premier edition of

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

. Their opponent in finals was OKK Beograd and the first game was played in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. OKK Beograd won the first game 83:71 but in a return match Lokomotiva, led by great Nikola Plećaš (nicknamed ''Sveti Nikola'') who scored 40 points, trashed the Belgrade side by 94–73.

Cibona's glory years

In November 1975, the basketball club split away from the Lokomotiva sports society and came under the direct control of the municipal authorities of the city of Zagreb. Politicians such as Slavko Šajber became very influential in the club during this period and set about getting the club some financial support. In that regard, the club's main sponsors became four SR Croatia-based food industry giants (all of them state-owned at the time): Kraš, Franck, Badel and Voće. The club took the name Cibona, taken from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''cibus bonus'', which translates to ''good food''. For the first trophy under the new name Cibona, they had to wait until 1980, when they won the

. The Final match was played in Borovo, and Cibona's opponent was mighty Bosna, led by Bogdan Tanjević on the bench, and Mirza Delibašić on the court. But Cibona, led by impressive Andro Knego, managed to beat them 68:62. This trophy marked the beginning of Cibona's golden era, influenced by two great basketball players and Hall of Famers – Krešimir Ćosić and Dražen Petrović. Between 1980 and 1988, Cibona won 14 major trophies: 3 Yugoslav League championships (1982, 1984, 1985), 7

s (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988), 2 FIBA European Champions Cups (1985, 1986), and 2 Cup Winners' Cups (1982, 1987). At the beginning of the war in the Former Yugoslavia in 1991, the team was forced to emigrate in order to play their games, and in an area with the minimum guarantees required by FIBA. For this reason, the club played in Spain for two years (seasons 1991–92 and 1992–93), specifically in Puerto Real (Cádiz).

Croatian powerhouse

In independent Croatia, Cibona became a dominant force strongly backed both politically and economically. The crisis of traditionally powerful Dalmatian clubs Split, Zadar and

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

also came in hand and Cibona won 11 national titles in a row (from 1992 to 2002). They were also regular Euroleague participant, reaching quarterfinals in 1996/97 and 1999/00. Cibona's dominance in the national championship was broken in 2003 when Split CO led by coach Petar Skansi, legendary

Dino Rađa Dino Rađa (alternatively Radja, ; born 24 April 1967) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He was a member of the Jugoplastika team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which he helped to win two FIBA European Champions Cup champ ...

and revived talent Josip Sesar won the championship. Cibona regained the title next season but was beaten in finals by Zadar season after. In 2005–06 and 2006–07 Cibona won championships beating Zadar in the final series twice but then shockingly missed the final series in 2007/08 after Split eliminated them in semifinal series. In 2001 regional basketball league called Adriatic League was formed and Cibona took part in it. After disappointing first and second season, Cibona hosted Final Four and reached the final game in 2003/04 but was defeated on the home court by FMP Reflex.

Recent seasons

Recent seasons have been a mixture of success and failure for Cibona. In national championship, Cibona won four out of five recent league titles but this dominance is seriously put on test by the rise of large company backed Cedevita. In European competitions, Cibona lost its Euroleague license for the 2011/12 season after competing in Euroleague since its formation. During 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons Cibona competed in Eurocup but failed to win any game. In regional ABA League Cibona had a great 2009/10 season. Cibona entered the Final four held in Arena Zagreb as a top-seeded team. After beating Union Olimpija in semifinals, Cibona faced Partizan in the final game. Partizan won the title thanks to an off-the-glass three-pointer by Dušan Kecman from half-court at the buzzer, bringing the celebration of Cibona players and staff (who already invaded the floor as Bojan Bogdanović scored a corner three-pointer for Cibona with just 0.6 seconds left on the clock) to an abrupt end. The final score was 75–74 and Cibona once again didn't manage to win a title at the home court. The next three seasons in the regional league were disappointing for Cibona, finishing 12th, 7th, and 11th. In the 2013–14 season, under head coach Slaven Rimac, Cibona won the

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

championship, despite huge financial problems the club was facing. As a champion of the league, Cibona had direct spot in the Euroleague, but withdrew from it in order to stabilize financially. Eventually, Crvena Zvezda, as third in the standings, took its spot in the Euroleague.

Honours

Total titles: 48

Domestic competitions

* Croatian League : Winners (20): 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2018–19, 2021–22 : Runners-up (7): 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 * Croatian Cup : Winners (9): 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2021–22, 2022–23 : Runners-up (11): 1991–92, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 * Yugoslav League (defunct) : Winners (3): 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85 : Runners-up (4): 1960–1961, 1970–71, 1980–81, 1985–86 *

(defunct) : Winners (8): 1968–69, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88 : Runners-up (2): 1971–72, 1990–91 * Yugoslav Supercup * Winners (1): 1984 * Runners-up (2): 1980, 1988

European competitions

* EuroLeague : Winners (2): 1984–85, 1985–86 * FIBA Saporta Cup (defunct) : Winners (2): 1981–82, 1986–87 : Semifinalist (3): 1980–81, 1983–84, 1988–89 *

(defunct) : Winners (1): 1971–1972 : Runners-up (2): 1979–80, 1987–88 * European Super Cup (semi-official, defunct) : Winners (1):

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

: Runners-up (1): 1986 * Euroleague Opening Tournament (1): 2001

Regional competitions

* Adriatic League : Winners (1): 2013–14 : Runners-up (3): 2003–04, 2008–09, 2009–10

Worldwide competitions

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...

: 3rd place (3): 1985, 1986,

Other competitions

* FIBA International Christmas Tournament (defunct) : 3rd place (1):

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

* Charleroi, Belgium Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2008 * Porec, Croatia Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2009 * Zagreb, Croatia Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2009 * Županja, Croatia Invitational Game : Winners (1): 2010 * Drazen Petrovic Cup Winners (2): 2012, 2013 : ''Runners-Up (1)'': 2014 * Rijeka Tournament : Winners (1): 2015

Individual club awards

* Triple Crown : Winners (1): 1984–85 * Small Triple Crown : Winners (1): 1981–82

Season by season record

The following table shows the records from the season 1990–91 in all competitions:

Home arenas

*Open basketball court in Kranjčevićeva street (1946–1947) *Open basketball court Tuškanac (1947–1969) *Kutija Šibica Sports Hall (1969–1987) * Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall (1987–present)

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Retired numbers

* 4 – Mihovil Nakić * 10 – Dražen Petrović * 11 – Andro Knego * 20 – Marin Rozić

Players at the NBA draft

Notable players

Members of the Basketball Hall of Fame

* Krešimir Ćosić * Mirko Novosel * Dražen Petrović *

Personnel

Head coaches

Top performances in European and worldwide competitions

The road to the European Cup victories

1972 FIBA Korać Cup 1981–82 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup 1984–85 FIBA European Champions Cup 1985–86 FIBA European Champions Cup 1986–87 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup

References

External links

Official website

KK Cibona
at Eurobasket.com
Cibona vs Real Madrid 1985 European Champions Cup Final
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cibona Basketball teams in Croatia 1946 establishments in Croatia Basketball teams established in 1946 KK Cibona EuroLeague-winning clubs Basketball teams in Yugoslavia Recipients of the Charter of the Republic of Croatia