The Bakken Bears are a Danish professional basketball club based in Aarhus. The club plays in the Basketligaen, the top-tier basketball league in Denmark.
Founded in 1953, the club has won the Basketligaen 20 times, holding the record for the most championships, and has also won 11 Danish Cups. Along with their domestic play, the club is a regular in European competitions. The Bears are a three-time semifinalist of the FIBA Europe Cup.
History
Bakken Bears was formed in 1953 under the name of Aarhus Basketball Forening, or simply ABF. From 1962, the club was known as Skovbakken Basketball. Bears has been in the top Danish league almost every year since then and won its first title in 1958.. Since then, the club has won a number of domestic titles and is now the most winning sports team in the history of the city of Aarhus.
In the years 2005 to 2009, Bakken Bears was a part of Aarhus Elite A/S, an elite sports organization in Aarhus that includes ia. AGF Football (soccer). In the last months of 2009 a group of local businessmen, sponsors and fans bought the team.
When Bakken Bears hosted Team FOG Næstved in Game 1 of the league semifinals in March 2009, 4,816 spectators watched the game in Aarhus Arena, which set an all-time attendance record for basketball in Denmark.
In the summer of 2018, the Bears' development team EBAA entered the Basketligaen as well.
On 27 March 2018, Bakken Bears qualified for the first time ever for a semifinal of a European competition, by eliminating ESSM Le Portel in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Europe Cup. They then lost the semifinal to Italian S.S. Felice Scandone.
Players Current roster
Notable players
Individual awards
Basketligaen MVP Eric Bell – 2003 DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell – 2017 Ryan Evans – 2019
Basketligaen Finals MVP Chris Christoffersen – 2013 Kenny Barker – 2014 DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell – 2017 Jeffrey Crockett – 2018 Tobin Carberry – 2019 Michel Diouf – 2021 Marvelle Harris – 2022
Honours Domestic competitions Basketligaen Winners (21) : 1957–58, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23 Runners-up (8) : 1962–63, 1964–65, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2005–2006, 2009–10, 2014–15 Danish Cup Winners (13): 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023 Runners-up (7) : 1980, 1995, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2022
European competitions FIBA Europe Cup Semi-finalist (3): 2017–18, 2019–20, 2021–22
European North Basketball League Champions (1): 2024
Season by season SeasonTierLeagueDanish CupEuropean competitions 2010–111 Basketligaen 1st Champion 2011–121 Basketligaen 1stRunner-up 2012–131 Basketligaen 1st Champion 2013–141 Basketligaen 1stRunner-up 3 EuroChallenge 2014–151 Basketligaen 2nd Round of 16 3 EuroChallenge 2015–161 Basketligaen 2nd Champion 3 FIBA Europe Cup 2016–171 Basketligaen 1st Semifinalist 3 Champions League 2017–181Basketligaen 1st Champion 3 Champions League 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2018–191Basketligaen 1stQuarterfinalist 3 Champions League 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2019–201Basketligaen1stChampion2020–211Basketligaen1stChampion2021–221Basketligaen1stRunner-up4 FIBA Europe Cup 2022–231Basketligaen1stChampions3 Champions League 2023–241Basketligaen1stRunner-upR European North Basketball League2024–251Basketligaen1stRunner-upR European North Basketball League2025–261BasketligaenQuarterfinalist3 Champions League4 FIBA Europe Cup
Head coaches Steffen Wich
References
External links Official Website Eurobasket.com Bakken Bears Page