Košarkaški klub Cibona (Basketball Club Cibona), based in Zagreb, is the most successful Croatian basketball club, with 42 domestic and international titles. In addition to Croatian League, the club competes in the regional ABA League.
Founded as a sports society called Sloboda in 1945, the club changed its names during the following years so it was also known as Sportsko društvo Zagreb, Vihor, Polet, until in 1950 it became Lokomotiva. The club competed and was fairly successful under this name for 25 years.
In 1975 the basketball club split away from the Lokomotiva sports club and the authorities of Zagreb got more involved into the club’s management and finances. Four big food industry companies, Kraš, Franck, Badel and Voće (the first three of which remain big Croatian brands still today) became the club’s main sponsors, so, to honour this, the club changed its name to Cibona (from Latin cibus bonus, meaning good food).
The ‘80s were the Cibona’s golden years – the club won 14 titles from 1980 to 1987, including two Euroleague titles and 7 Yugoslav Cups. Two giants of Croatian and international basketball, Krešimir Ćosić and Dražen Petrović, both of whom were elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, played for Cibona during this period.
The club had to emigrate in order to continue playing when the war started in Croatia in 1991, so they played in Spain for two years.
After that, Cibona became the biggest basketball club in independent Croatia, winning 11 consecutive national titles (1992-2002).
The last few seasons have been troublesome for the club due to financial problems, but they still managed to win the ABA League championship in the 2013-14 season.
Nicknamed “the wolves” (vukovi) the team colours are blue and white, and the club plays in Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall, which has a capacity of 5,400 and is located in Savska ulica 30.
KK Cibona
Savska ulica 30, Zagreb
Phone
Club: +385 1 48 43 016
Basketball hall: +385 1 48 43 333
Press: +385 1 48 43 016
www.cibona.com
