Košarkarski klub Olimpija (English: Olimpija Basketball Club) was a men's professional basketballclub based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Olimpija has won 23 National League championships, including eight consecutive titles between 1992 and 1999. They have played in two different National Leagues since 1946, the Yugoslav Federal League (1946–1991) and the Slovenian League (1991–2019). Olimpija has won three regional league championships, one in the Adriatic League and two championships in the Central European League. They have also won 20 National Cup tournaments, 8 National Supercup titles, and one FIBA Saporta Cup. In July 2019, the team merged with Cedevita, forming a new club Cedevita Olimpija.
History
Olimpija basketball club was founded in 1946 as a section of the Svoboda Physical Culture Society. The first basketball game was played the same year against Udarnik and Olimpija came out on top with the score of 37–14. Late in 1946, the club was renamed Enotnost and was known by that name until 1954 when it assumed the name AŠK Olimpia.
Olimpija won its first Yugoslav League title in the 1957 season under the direction of the coach/player Boris Kristančić. In the following years, Olimpija won five more Yugoslav titles, in 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, and 1970. A new era for the club began with Slovenia's independence when Olimpija won eight consecutive league titles between 1992 and 1999.
The club was established in 1946 as the basketball department of the larger sports club Svoboda. Later, the name of the club was changed several times. Since 1976 and until its dissolution in 2019, the name of the club included the sponsorship name.
Names
KK Svoboda (1946)
KK Enotnost (1947–1954)
AŠK Olimpija (1955–1976)
KK Olimpija (1976–2019)
Between 1976 and 2019, the names of the club included the sponsorship names:
The team's first venue was Tabor Gymnasium, before they moved to the 4,500 capacity[5]Tivoli Hall in 1965. In 2010, the club moved into their new arena, Arena Stožice, with a capacity of 12,480.
Peter Vilfan – spent most of his career playing for Olimpija; he became the first captain of the Slovenia national team after the country gained independence in 1991.[10]
Jure Zdovc – Regarded as one of the best point guards in Europe during the time of his career, Zdovc played for Olimpija in three spells between the 1980s and the early 2000s. Zdovc has won the EuroBasket with Yugoslavia in 1989 and 1991, and became the world champion with the team in 1990.[11]
A total of 16 former Olimpija players have played in the NBA:
.jpg)
