History

When listening about the success of Slovenian's athlets on the international stage, people still hardly belive that the county of only 2 milions inhabitants produced so many great names in its sporting history. But although being successful in almost every field, Slovenia still ranks basketball as one of the most popular sports in the country. It is Union Olimpija which may take a lot of credit for such a status of this game as it developed into one of the strongest sport's national institutions in the past few decades, paving the way for many basketball players from Slovenia and mostly Eastern Europe to the international scene. Known by its practicing regime, being treated as one of the most difficult in the whole Europe, the club became the central target of many young and unknown players who were searcing for a chance to prove themselve in a big club.

So it is not a coincidence that many Union Olimpija's ex players now play in the biggest clubs all over Europe as well as in NBA. It is Radislav Čurčić (Dallas), Marko Milič (Phoenix, now Scavolini), Primož Brezec (Indiana), Boštjan Nachbar (Houston), Jiri Welsch (Boston), Vladimir Stepania (Portland), Rašo Nesterović (San Antonio) and many others who tried their chance in the NBA with the latter being the most succesful among them, signing last summer for San Antonio which won the Champions ring last year. Among the current European stars it is worth mentioning Jurica Golemac, Boris Gorenc, Vlado Ilievski, Šarunas Jasikevičius, Ivica Jurković, Marko Milič, Marko Tušek, Sani Bečirovič, Beno Udrih ect. As a result of Olimpija's good scauting they all spent a season or more in Ljubljana at the begining of their international career. Among the legendary ones who won medals at the Olympic Games, European or World Championships it is worth remembering Ivo Daneu (8 medals), Vinko Jelovac (8), Jure Zdovc (4), Peter Vilfan (4), Aljoša Žorga (3)  …

Union Olimpija is a permanent member of Euroleague's familiy since the inaugural year as well as one of the founders of Goodyear League. But its biggest success came in 1994 when the team from Ljubljana won the European Cup in Lussane. After playing in the semi-final of the European Champions League in 1966/67, what is known to only few of youngsters that support Union Olimpija in the present, the second success in the strongest European League followed in 1997. It was that year that the team played at the Euroleague's Final Four in Rome 1997 and won the first Final Four tournament of Goodyear league in 2002. Called Union Olimpija today, the club changed the name many times throughout the past decades. It was founded as Svoboda in 1946, being renamed to Enotnost at the end of the year. Its current original name Olimpija, which was kept until the present, came in 1954 but got a lot of additional names in accordance with the club's sponsors (Brest Olimpija, Iskra Olimpija, Smelt Olimpija, Union Olimpija).

It did not take long for Olimpija to win the Yugoslavian National Championship which was one of the strongets in Europe in the second part of the previous century. The first title came in 1957 being followed also with the succes in 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1970. Since 1991, when Slovenia declared the indipendency, Union Olimpija is orientated against Europe and is one of the permanent members of Euroleague now. It is still not lost in obliviance how euforic fans were in 1997 when their favourite team placed to the Final Four in Rome. It was the second club's peak in the 90's, confirming the right way Union Olimpija took during that decade.

TROPHIES:

• European Cup Winners Cup (1): 1994
• Goodyear League (1): 2002.
• Slovenian National Championship (10): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002.
• Yugoslavian National Championship (6): 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1970.
• Slovenian National Cup (11 trophies): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.
• Slovenian Supercup (1): 2003.