FC Bayern Munich (basketball)

FC Bayern München Basketball GmbH, commonly referred to as Bayern Munich, is a professional basketball club, a part of the FC Bayern Munich sports club, based in Munich, Germany. The club competes domestically in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and internationally in the EuroLeague. The club has won six German Championships, and five German Cups in its history.

Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich logo
LeaguesBasketball Bundesliga
EuroLeague
Founded1946; 78 years ago (1946)
HistoryFC Bayern Munich Basketball
(1946–present)
ArenaBMW Park
Capacity6,700
LocationMunich, Germany
Team colorsRed, white
   
Main sponsorSiegmund
PresidentHerbert Hainer
Head coachGordon Herbert
Team captainVladimir Lučić
Championships6 German Championships
5 German Cups
Retired numbers2 (6, 24)
Websitefcb-basketball.de

Founded in 1946, Bayern's basketball section had early success in the 1950s and 1960s, before mostly disappearing from the national first level in the following three decades. The team had a resurgence in 2010s and has since been among Germany's best teams, as well as a EuroLeague regular.

Bayern plays its domestic home games at BMW Park, which was opened in 1972, while international games are played at the SAP Garden, which opened in 2024.

FC Bayern Munich Basketball also has a reserve team that plays in German third-tier level ProB.

History

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Early history (1946–1989)

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Bayern Munich was founded in 1900 as a gymnastic clubs and later became famous for its football section. The basketball section was founded in 1946 after one former football player started the team after retiring from his former sport.[1]

has a long basketball tradition. Besides its most successful years in the 1950s and 1960s (German Championships in 1954, 1955, and German Cup in 1968), the club enjoyed remarkable popularity in 1956, when it even drew 40,000 fans to an open-air test game against Lancia Bolzano, once a top basketball club from Italy. Later, in 1966, the club was a founding member of the Basketball Bundesliga.[2]

Bayern was one of the founding members of the Basketball Bundesliga in 1966.[1]

In the following years, the club slowly, but surely, faded into obscurity, and in 1974, was even relegated to the German 2nd Division. For a long time after that, the club never completely recovered, and only had a few successful years (Bayern moved up to the Basketball Bundesliga in 1987, and stayed there until 1989).[2]

Resurgence (2008–2014)

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In 2008, Bayern Munich, led by then-president Uli Hoeneß and then vice-president Bernd Rauch, announced its plans to return the club to its former glory, and return to the top level Basketball Bundesliga.[citation needed] Two years later, in 2010, Bayern Munich's club members voted in favor of a one-time financial injection in the team, with the aim of bringing it back to the first division.[1] Following its new financial funding, the team announced national team head coach Dirk Bauermann. In 2011, the team became fully professional.[3]

Success in the domestic area followed quickly,[4] as in the 2012–13 season the club reached the BBL semifinals, where it lost 3–2 against the reigning champions Brose Baskets.

German power house and EuroLeague (2014–present)

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Thanks to a wild card,[5] Bayern Munich played in the EuroLeague in the 2013–14 season. This was its first appearance in the top European championship, and it reached the Top 16 stage in its debut.

On 18 June 2014, Bayern won its third national title when it beat Alba Berlin 3–1 in the Finals. It was the first title for the team in 59 years, its last having been in 1955. The star player of the team was Malcolm Delaney, who won both the MVP and Finals MVP awards.

In the 2014–15 season, Bayern failed to win a title. In the BBL Finals they were defeated by Brose Baskets, 3–2. The team had to wait until 2018 for its next championship, as they beat Alba Berlin 3–2 in the Finals that year. By winning the BBL, Bayern also qualified for the following EuroLeague season.

In the following years, Bayern Munich became a power house in the BBL, as well as a regular in the EuroLeague.

Home arena

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A Bayern Munich home game inside the Audi Dome.

The team's home arena is called BMW Park, which seats 6,700 spectators.

New arena

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The team's home arena for EuroLeague games is called SAP Garden, which seats 12,500 spectators.

Players

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Retired numbers

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FC Bayern Munich retired numbers
No Nat. Player Position Tenure
6   Steffen Hamann PG 2010–2014
24   Demond Greene SG 2010–2014

Current roster

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

FC Bayern Munich roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age
G 0   Weiler-Babb, Nick 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 29 – (1995-12-12)12 December 1995
PF 1   da Silva, Oscar 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1998-09-21)21 September 1998
G 3   Edwards, Carsen 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 26 – (1998-03-12)12 March 1998
SF 5   Giffey, Niels 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 33 – (1991-07-08)8 July 1991
F/C 7   Voigtmann, Johannes 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 32 – (1992-09-30)30 September 1992
PG 8   Napier, Shabazz 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 33 – (1991-07-14)14 July 1991
SG 10   Kharchenkov, Ivan 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 18 – (2006-09-20)20 September 2006
F 11   Lučić, Vladimir   (C) 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 35 – (1989-06-17)17 June 1989
SG 13   Obst, Andreas 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 28 – (1996-07-13)13 July 1996
SF 17   Bitim, Onuralp 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 25 – (1999-03-31)31 March 1999
PF 20   Harris, Elias 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 35 – (1989-07-06)6 July 1989
C 22   Branković, Danko 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) 24 – (2000-11-05)5 November 2000
F/C 31   Booker, Devin 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 33 – (1991-02-28)28 February 1991
F/C 53   Yebo, Kevin 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 28 – (1996-03-14)14 March 1996
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Athletic trainer(s)
  •   Ivan Pijanec

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured

Updated: December 21, 2024

Depth chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Devin Booker Danko Branković Elias Harris
PF Johannes Voigtmann Oscar da Silva Kevin Yebo
SF Nick Weiler-Babb Onuralp Bitim Vladimir Lučić  
SG Andreas Obst Niels Giffey Ivan Kharchenkov
PG Carsen Edwards Shabazz Napier

Notable players

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Players at the NBA draft

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* Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game and All-NBA Team
# Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game
~ Denotes player who has been selected as Rookie of the Year
Position Player Year Round Pick Drafted by
SG/SF   Paul Zipser 2016 2nd round 48th Chicago Bulls

Head coaches

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Honours

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Domestic competitions

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Winners (6): 1953–54, 1954–55, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2023–24
Runners-up (4): 1950–51, 2014–15, 2020–21, 2021–22
Winners (5): 1968, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024
Runners-up (2): 2016, 2017
Runners-up (1): 2014
Winners (2): 1986–87, 2010–11
Runners-up (2): 1982–83, 1983–1984

European competitions

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Worldwide competitions

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Winners (1): 2019

Other competitions

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Runners-up (1): 2015

Individual awards

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Season by season

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Season Tier League Pos. German Cup European competitions
1966–67 [de] 1 BBL Süd 4th
1967–68 [de] 1 BBL Süd 4th Champion
1968–69 [de] 1 BBL Süd 3rd 2 Cup Winners' Cup 2R
1969–70 [de] 1 BBL Süd 6th
1970–71 [de] 1 BBL Süd 4th
1971–72 [de] 1 BBL Süd 6th
1972–73 [de] 1 BBL Süd 5th
1973–74 [de] 1 BBL Süd 8th
...
1982–83 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 2nd
1983–84 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 2nd
1984–85 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 4th
1985–86 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 3rd
1986–87 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 1st
1987–88 [de] 1 BBL 10th
1988–89 [de] 1 BBL 11th
1989–90 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 5th
1990–91 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 5th
1991–92 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 6th
1992–93 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 11th
...
1995–96 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 12th
...
1999–00 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 12th
...
2004–05 [de] 2 2. BBL Süd 15th
...
2008–09 [de] 2 ProA 8th
2009–10 [de] 2 ProA 8th
2010–11 [de] 2 ProA 1st
2011–12 1 BBL 5th 2 Eurocup RS
2012–13 1 BBL 4th Third position
2013–14 1 BBL 1st Fourth position 1 Euroleague T16
2014–15 1 BBL 2nd Quarterfinalist 1 Euroleague RS
2 Eurocup EF
2015–16 1 BBL 4th Runner-up 1 Euroleague RS
2 Eurocup QF
2016–17 1 BBL 4th Runner-up 2 EuroCup QF
2017–18 1 BBL 1st Champion 2 EuroCup SF
2018–19 1 BBL 1st Quarterfinalist 1 EuroLeague 11th
2019–20 1 BBL 5th Round of 16 1 EuroLeague
2020–21 1 BBL 2nd Champion 1 EuroLeague QF
2021–22 1 BBL 2nd Quarterfinalist 1 EuroLeague QF
2022–23 1 BBL 3rd Champion 1 EuroLeague 15th
2023–24 1 BBL 1st Champion 1 EuroLeague 15th
2024–25 1 BBL TBD 1 EuroLeague

International record

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Season Achievement Notes
EuroLeague
2013–14 Top 16 6th place in a group with CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, Galatasaray, Lokomotiv Kuban, Partizan and Žalgiris
2014–15 Regular season 5th place in a group with FC Barcelona, Fenerbahçe Ülker, Panathinaikos, EA7 Milano and PGE Turów
2015–16 Regular season 5th place in a group with Fenerbahçe, Khimki, Crvena zvezda Telekom, Real Madrid and Strasbourg
2020–21 Quarterfinals eliminated 3–2 by A|X Armani Exchange Milan, 79-78 (L) & 80-69 (L) in Milan, 85-79 (W) & 85-82 (W) in Munich, 92-89 (L) in Milan
2021–22 Quarterfinals eliminated 3–2 by Barcelona, 77-67 (L) & 75-90 (W) in Barcelona, 66-75 (L) & 59-52 (W) in Munich, 81-72 (L) in Barcelona
EuroCup
2011–12 Regular season 3rd place in a group with Spartak Saint Petersburg, Benetton Treviso and Cedevita
2014–15 Eighthfinals eliminated by Valencia Basket, 80–58 (L) in Valencia and 60–94 (L) in Munich
2015–16 Quarterfinals eliminated by Galatasaray Odeabank, 99–89 (W) in Munich and 72–59 (L) in Istanbul
2016–17 Quarterfinals eliminated 2–1 by Unicaja, 91–82 (W) in Munich, 82–67 (L) in Málaga and 69–74 (L) in Munich
2017–18 Semifinals eliminated 2–0 by Darüşşafaka, 76–74 (L) in Istanbul and 83–87 (L) in Munich
FIBA Saporta Cup
1968–69 Second round eliminated by AŠK Olimpija, 81–101 (L) in Munich and 94–46 (L) in Ljubljana

Sponsorships

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Official Shirt Sponsor Bernd Siegmund GmbH
Official Sport Clothing Manufacturer Adidas AG

Esports

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Bayern Munich was featured in the NBA 2K15, 2K16 & 2K17 video games.[6][7][8]

The official FC Bayern Basketball NBA 2K19 esports team "Bayern Ballers Gaming" was founded in April 2018. The Ballers quickly became one of the best virtual basketball teams in the world: together with their coach Swen Müller, the team continued to climb the NBA 2K ProAM world ranking, making them one of the Top 5 European teams.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "FC Bayern Basketball 101 - A History Lesson". Bavarian Football Works. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b Reisner, Dino (2010). Sonderheft Basketball 2010/2011 – Das Projekt (in German). Kicker. p. 107.
  3. ^ "FC Bayern Munich Basketball - EuroLeague". 26 February 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  4. ^ Interview of the Week – October 29: Bayern Munich basketball coach Michael Schwarz.
  5. ^ Proposed team list for 2013–14 Turkish Airlines Euroleague; Euroleague.net, 26 June 2013
  6. ^ FC Bayern Baskets erstmals in NBA 2K15 von 2K Games spielbar (in German)
  7. ^ NBA 2K16 mit komplettem Euroleague-Kader (in German)
  8. ^ "NBA 2K17 European Team List Revealed". sportando.com. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Bayern Ballers Gaming". bayernballers.com. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
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