Legia Warszawa Sekcja Koszykówki (in English: Legia Warsaw Basketball Section) is a Polish men's basketball club, based in Warsaw. The team currently plays in the PLK, the Polish first division. The club was established in 1929 as the basketball section of the military multi-sport club of Legia Warsaw. Legia became the leading team in Polish basketball in the 1950s and 1960s with seven national championships and two national cups.
It is one of the sports sections of Legia brand, with the most famous being a football team.
History First steps to glory The basketball section of Legia Warsaw was founded in 1929. The first game of the team was on December 8, 1929, when the team won 31–5 over Jutrznia.
The team was re-activated in 1947, after absence during World War II, by students from the Stefana Batorego. The team won the national high school championship, and after several more promotions, it returned to the highest-level league in 1951.
Legia played its first international match on September 6, 1953, facing UDA Praha. In 1956, the first national championship in club history was won after finishing first with a 14–4 record. A year after winning that competition, Legia's basketball players once again won the Polish championship. Then it took five overtimes to determine the winner in the Legia – ŁKS game. The Łódź Sports Club, competing at the time as Włókniarz Łódź, ultimately defeated Legia 77–75. For Legia, it was the only loss out of five games in this phase of the competition, and secured the Polish championship.
Legia's basketball players were the first Polish team to represent the country in European cup competitions. Their second consecutive Polish championship in 1957 secured team's participation in the FIBA European Champions Cup the following year. In the second round, Legia faced the best team in Europe at that time Rīgas ASK. Although the victory in Warsaw did not allow them to advance to the semifinals, it was a huge surprise for the basketball community in Europe. Legia became powerhouse in Poland, winning 7 national titles in 13 years in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as 2 Polish cups.
Financial difficulties lead to downfall Unfortunately, in the 2002–03 season, Legia, instead of building on their momentum, ended their adventure in the top league for many years. This was due to the club's severe financial problems, which prevented them from paying the players' contractual obligations. Most of the basketball players left the club, and Legia finished the season with juniors. The youth players were unable to save Legia's position in the top league.
In the following season, after many troubles, Legia finally played in the First League with a very strong squad that was expected to fight for a return to the national elite. Unfortunately, Legia performed below expectations – they advanced to the playoffs from the eighth place and lost 0–3 to Turów Zgorzelec in the first round of the playoffs. Warsaw continued to struggle with financial problems, resulting in the team not registering for the First League. Legia spent the 2003–04 season in the Second League, which was the third tier of national championship, and even at this level had to fight against relegation.
On May 15, 2014, the team was brought under a new legal form when the joint-stock company "Legia Warszawa Sekcja Koszykówki" was founded; the main shareholders of the club are Legia Warszawa SA and Robert Chabelski. In 2017, Legia was promoted to the PLK after being absent for 14 years.
Regaining its status in Poland In 2020–21 season for the first time since promoted back to the PLK, Legia finished the season with a positive record, winning 24 of 37 games and finishing fourth. That let the team to participate in FIBA Europe Cup. 2021–22 season was successful both internationally and locally, reaching the FIBA Europe Cup quarterfinal and PLK final for the first time since 1969. The European run continued when Legia participated in 2022–23 Basketball Champions League and 2023–24 FIBA Europe Cup.
In 2024 Legia won the Polish Basketball Cup for the first time in 44 years.
After the end of the 2023–24 PLK season, in which they finished fifth, club started a rebuilding process. First step was to hire a new sports director in Aaron Cel.Aaron Cel w Zarządzie koszykarskiej Legii Later that summer it was announced that a new coach would take over the team as Legia signed a contract with Croatian specialist Ivica Skelin.Ivica Skelin trenerem Legii Warszawa Long-time captain of Legia, Dariusz Wyka, left the team.Legia Warszawa bez kapitana. Rewolucja jest nam potrzebna After not getting a place in any of the more prestigious European competitions, Legia joined up-and-coming ENBL.Polish Cup winners ready to shine: welcome, Legia Warszawa
In February 2025, Legia surprisingly changed coaches as Heiko Rannula was appointed the new head coach.Ekstraklasa basketball. Estonian Heiko Rannula appointed Legia Warsaw coach He led the team to its first Polish Championship in 56 years.Legia is the champion! - they played in the championship season
Arena Legia basketball players played in the former riding school hall which was adapted from a former riding school in the 1950s for the needs of indoor sports. At the start of the 1992–93 season Legia basketball team moved to the current Hala OSiR Bemowo facility. The hall in which basketball players play today was converted from a former aircraft hangar to the needs of indoor sports.
For European games Legia has used the Arena COS Torwar.
Roster Current roster
Depth chart
First Team staff {| class="wikitable" |- !Position !Staff |- |Head coach|| Heiko Rannula |- |Assistant coach|| Maciej Jamrozik |- |Assistant coach|| Maciej Jankowski |- |Physical Trainer|| Samuel Covelli |- |Physical Trainer|| Radosław Senski |- |Physiotherapist|| Jakub Nowosad |- |Manager|| Maciej Jankowski |- |Doctor|| Mateusz Dawidziuk
Personnel
Honours Total titles: 11
Domestic competitions Polish Championship: Winners (9): 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1969, 2025, 2026 Runners-up (1): 2022 Polish Cup: Winners (3): 1968, 1970, 2024 I Liga Winners (1): 2017
Season by season SeasonTierLeagueRecordPolish Cup 2011–1243 Liga1st 2012–1332 Liga 2013–1432 Liga 2014–152I Liga4th 2015–162I Liga2nd 2016–172I Liga1st 2017–181PLK16thQuarterfinalist 2018–191PLK8th 2019–201PLK14thQuarterfinalist 2020–211PLK4thQuarterfinalist 2021–221PLK Runners-up 2022–231PLK4th 2023–241PLK5th 2024–251PLK ChampionQuarterfinalist 2025–261PLK ChampionQuarterfinalist
Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
International record Season Achievement Notes Euroleague 1958 Quarter-finals eliminated by Rīgas ASK, 59–93 (L) in Riga and 63–61 (W) in Warsaw 1960–61 Quarter-finals eliminated by CSKA Moscow, 72–98 (L) in Warsaw and 73–85 (L) in Moscow 1961–62 Quarter-finals eliminated by Real Madrid, 73–62 (W) in Warsaw and 71–100 (L) in Madrid 1963–64 Quarter-finals eliminated by Real Madrid, 90–102 (L) in Warsaw and 86–92 (L) in Madrid Saporta Cup 1968–69 Quarter-finals eliminated by Slavia Prague, 82–113 (L) in Prague and 80–91 (L) in Warsaw 1970–71 Quarter-finals eliminated by Fides Napoli, 75–84 (L) in Warsaw and 73–96 (L) in Naples FIBA Europe Cup 2021–22 Quarter-finals eliminated by Reggiana, 68–71 (L) in Warsaw and 80–75 after overtime (L) in Reggio Emilia 2023–24 Quarter-finals eliminated by Bilbao Basket, 83–64 (W) in Warsaw and 53–81 (L) in Bilbao Basketball Champions League 2022–23 Group stage eliminated in the Group stage European North Basketball League 2024–25 Quarter-finals eliminated by CSO Voluntari, 81–95 (L) in Warsaw and 87–102 (L) in Voluntari
Notable players Notable players
Lukasz Koszarek Marcel Ponitka Cezary Trybański Andrzej Pluta Jr. Jānis Bērziņš / Geoff Groselle Ojārs Siliņš Kameron McGusty
Coaches
Notable former coaches
Tadeusz Ulatowski 1951–1959 Władysław Maleszewski 1959–1967 Stefan Majer 1967–1971, 1981–1982 Andrzej Pstrokonski 1971–1975 Wladyslaw Pawlak 1975–1981 Adam Wielgosz 1982–1984 Richard Pietruszak 1984–1986 Jan Kwasiborski 1986–1988 Marek Jablonski 1988–1990 Adam Wielgosz 1990–1991 Alexander Salnikov 1991–1992 Jan Kwasiborski 1992–1996 Robert Chabelski 1996–1998, 2004–2012 Marek Jablonski 1998–2001 Jacek Gembal 2001–2004 Piotr Bakun 2012–2018 Tane Spasev 2018–2020 Wojciech Kaminski 2020–2024 Ivica Skelin 2024–2025 Heiko Rannula 2025–present
References
External links Official website