The Málaga underdog that famously toppled an NBA powerhouse
In short: In 2007, Unicaja achieved a rare feat by defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in a friendly match. This victory remains one of only 17 instances where an NBA team has lost to a foreign club, proving that Spanish basketball could compete with the world's best.
Founded in 1977 as CB Caja de Ronda, the club has undergone significant transformations to become the powerhouse known today as Unicaja. A pivotal moment occurred in 1992 when the club merged with another local Málaga team, CB Maristas de Málaga, which had originally been established in 1953 as Ademar Basket Club. Since that merger, the team has been sponsored by the Spanish bank Unicaja, a name it has carried for over three decades.
The club's competitive peak includes a historic run in the 2007 Euroleague Final Four, where they secured a third-place finish after a semifinal defeat by CSKA Moscow. This era also saw them face the Memphis Grizzlies in October 2007, a match featuring NBA stars Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro. That victory was not just a local triumph but a significant moment in international basketball history, marking one of the few times an NBA franchise has fallen to a non-American opponent.
Unicaja has demonstrated remarkable resilience across different tiers of competition. After losing its Euroleague A-licence in 2015, the club immediately rebounded by winning the EuroCup in the 2016–17 season. More recently, they have dominated the Basketball Champions League, securing back-to-back titles in the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons. This recent success included a 2024 victory over Canarias in Belgrade and a subsequent world-level title at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Baloncesto Málaga
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