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 team plays its home games at BMW Park, which was opened in 1972.

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

History
Bayern Munich 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.

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).

In 2008, the declared goal of the team was to return to the club's former glory, and return to the top German League, which it eventually did. In the near future, the club seeks to become a major force in European basketball, so that Bayern Munich will not only be well known for its football (soccer) operations, but also for its basketball operations as well. In the 2012–13 season the club reached the semifinals, where it lost 3–2 against the reigning champions Brose Baskets.

Thanks to a wild card, 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. 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 since 1955; 59 years before. Star player of the team was Malcolm Delaney, who won both the MVP and Finals MVP.

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.

Home arena


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

New arena
SAP Garden is a planned 12,500-seat indoor arena, to be built in Olympiapark, Munich. It will not be completed until spring 2024 at the earliest.

Notable players
• 🇩🇪 İsmet Akpınar

• 🇩🇪 Robin Amaize

• 🇩🇪 Danilo Barthel

• 🇩🇪 Robin Benzing

• 🇩🇪 Markus Bernhard

• 🇩🇪 Isaac Bonga

• 🇩🇪 Oscar da Silva

• 🇩🇪 Bastian Doreth

• 🇩🇪 Robert Garrett

• 🇩🇪 Anton Gavel

• 🇩🇪 Jason George

• 🇩🇪 Niels Giffey

• 🇩🇪 Demond Greene

• 🇩🇪 Steffen Hamann

• 🇩🇪 Elias Harris

• 🇩🇪 Yassin Idbihi

• 🇩🇪 Jan Jagla

• 🇩🇪 Karim Jallow

• 🇩🇪 Ivan Kharchenkov

• 🇩🇪 Alex King

• 🇩🇪 Maxi Kleber

• 🇩🇪 Artur Kolodziejski

• 🇩🇪 David Krämer

• 🇩🇪 Hans-Jörg Krüger

• 🇩🇪 Maodo Lô

• 🇩🇪 Robert Maras

• 🇩🇪 Joshua Obiesie

• 🇩🇪 Andreas Obst

• 🇩🇪 Olaf Radatz

• 🇩🇪 Bogdan Radosavljević

• 🇩🇪 Heiko Schaffartzik

• 🇩🇪 Gavin Schilling

• 🇩🇪 Dieter Schneider

• 🇩🇪 Klaus Schulz

• 🇩🇪 Philipp Schwethelm

• 🇩🇪 Andreas Seiferth

• 🇩🇪 Lucca Staiger

• 🇩🇪 Helmut Uhlig

• 🇩🇪 Nelson Weidemann

• 🇩🇪 Nick Weiler-Babb

• 🇩🇪 Jan Niklas Wimberg

• 🇩🇪 Paul Zipser

• 🇩🇪 Maik Zirbes

• 🇺🇸 Wade Baldwin IV

• 🇺🇸 Devin Booker

• 🇺🇸 John Bryant

• 🇺🇸 Zylan Cheatham

• 🇺🇸 Jared Cunningham

• 🇺🇸 Malcolm Delaney

• 🇺🇸 George Devone

• 🇺🇸 Carsen Edwards

• 🇺🇸 Freddie Gillespie

• 🇺🇸 James Gist

• 🇺🇸 Ben Hansbrough

• 🇺🇸 Darrun Hilliard

• 🇺🇸 Josh Huestis

• 🇺🇸 Othello Hunter

• 🇺🇸 JaJuan Johnson

• 🇺🇸 Nick Johnson

• 🇺🇸 Greg Monroe

• 🇺🇸 Lawrence Roberts

• 🇺🇸 Bryce Taylor

• 🇺🇸 Malcolm Thomas

• 🇺🇸 Chevon Troutman

• 🇺🇸 Derrick Williams

• 🇺🇸 Cassius Winston

• 🇨🇿 Ondřej Balvín

• 🇦🇷 Leandro Bolmaro

• 🇨🇲 Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje

• Danko Branković

•  Vitalis Chikoko

• 🇲🇪 Justin Cobbs

• 🇷🇸 Nemanja Dangubić

• 🇧🇦 Nihad Đedović

• 🇦🇹 Erol Ersek

• 🇮🇹 Diego Flaccadori

• 🇫🇷 Sylvain Francisco

• 🇧🇦 Amar Gegić

• 🇮🇱 Yotam Halperin

• 🇧🇬 Jared Homan

• 🇪🇸 Serge Ibaka

• 🇷🇸 Ognjen Jaramaz

• 🇷🇸 Stefan Jović

• 🇫🇮 Petteri Koponen

• 🇫🇷 Mathias Lessort

• 🇷🇸 Vladimir Lučić

• 🇷🇸 Milan Mačvan

• 🇮🇱 Yam Madar

• 🇲🇰 Bo McCalebb

• 🇷🇸 Vasilije Micić

• 🇷🇸 Aleksandar Nađfeji

• 🇷🇸 DeMarcus Nelson

• 🇦🇹 Marvin Ogunsipe

• 🇳🇬 Nedu Onyeuku

• 🇲🇪 Dino Radončić

•  Leon Radošević

• 🇧🇦 Alex Renfroe

• 🇲🇪 Tyrese Rice

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Stuart Robbins

•  Matej Rudan

• 🇷🇸 Duško Savanović

• 🇷🇸 Boris Savović

•  Žan Mark Šiško

• 🇷🇸 Vladimir Štimac

• 🇨🇮 Deon Thompson

• 🇮🇸 Mirko Virijević

Head coaches
• Dirk Bauermann

• Yannis Christopoulos

• Aleksandar Đorđević

• Oliver Kostić

• Franz Kronberger

• Pablo Laso

• Emir Mutapčić (interim)

• Svetislav Pešić

• Dejan Radonjić

• Andrea Trinchieri

Domestic competitions

 * German Championship
 * 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


 * German Cup
 * Winners (5): 1968, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024
 * Runners-up (2): 2016, 2017


 * German Super Cup
 * Runners-up (1): 2014


 * German 2nd League
 * Winners (2): 1986–87, 2010–11
 * Runners-up (2): 1982–83, 1983–1984

European competitions

 * EuroLeague:
 * Quarterfinals (2): 2020–21, 2021–22
 * Top 16 (1): 2013–14
 * EuroCup
 * Semifinals (1): 2017–18

Worldwide competitions

 * NBA G League International Challenge
 * Winners (1): 2019

Other competitions

 * Zadar Basketball Tournament
 * Runners-up (1): 2015

Individual awards
BBL Most Valuable Player BBL Finals MVP German Cup MVP BBL Best German Young Player All-BBL First Team All-BBL Second Team BBL Most Effective Player ProA Young Player of the Year
 * Malcolm Delaney – 2014
 * Malcolm Delaney – 2014
 * Danilo Barthel – 2018
 * Nihad Đedović – 2019
 * Carsen Edwards – 2024
 * Vladimir Lučić – 2021
 * Nick Weiler-Babb – 2023
 * Sylvain Francisco – 2024
 * Paul Zipser – 2016
 * Malcolm Delaney – 2014
 * John Bryant – 2015
 * Bryce Taylor – 2016
 * Chevon Troutman – 2012, 2013
 * Tyrese Rice – 2013
 * Bryce Taylor – 2014
 * Deon Thompson – 2014
 * Nihad Đedović – 2015
 * Maxi Kleber – 2017
 * Danilo Barthel – 2018, 2019
 * Devin Booker – 2018
 * Vladimir Lučić – 2019
 * Maxi Kleber – 2017
 * Bastian Doreth – 2011

50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors Nominated: EuroLeague Basketball 2010–20 All-Decade Team Nominated: All-EuroLeague First Team All-EuroLeague Second Team EuroLeague MVP of the Month EuroLeague MVP of the Round All-EuroCup First Team All-EuroCup Second Team EuroCup Basketball MVP of the Week NBA G League International Challenge Finals MVP
 * Svetislav Pešić
 * James Gist
 * Vladimir Lučić – 2020–21
 * Vladimir Lučić – 2021–22
 * Augustine Rubit – 2022–23, January
 * Malcolm Delaney – 2013–14, Top 16, Week 10
 * Duško Savanović – 2014–15, Regular Season, Week 9
 * Derrick Williams – 2018–19, Regular Season, Round 12
 * Vladimir Lučić – 2020–21, Regular Season, Round 3–4
 * Vladimir Lučić – 2020–21, Regular Season, Round 8
 * Wade Baldwin – 2020–21, Regular Season, Round 17
 * Nick Weiler-Babb – 2020–21, Regular Season, Round 22–23
 * Jalen Reynolds – 2020–21, Regular Season, Round 24
 * Serge Ibaka – 2023–24, Regular Season, Round 11
 * Devin Booker – 2017–18
 * Maxi Kleber – 2016–17
 * Deon Thompson – 2015–16, Quarterfinals, Game 1
 * Danilo Barthel – 2017–18, Regular Season, Round 8
 * Devin Booker – 2017–18, Top 16, Round 3
 * Danilo Barthel – 2017–18, Top 16, Round 5
 * Greg Monroe – 2019

Esports
Bayern Munich was featured in the NBA 2K15, 2K16 & 2K17 video games.

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.