Baloncesto Málaga S.A.D., also known as Unicaja for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Málaga, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the Champions League. Founded in 1977, the team is sponsored by the Spanish bank Unicaja and has carried that sponsorship name since 1992. They play their home games at the Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena, shortly known as the "Martín Carpena". Unicaja has won one Liga ACB title, in 2006, as well as three Copas del Rey, one EuroCup, two Basketball Champions League, one FIBA Korać Cup and two FIBA Intercontinental Cup titles.
History Unicaja was originally founded in 1977, as CB Caja de Ronda.HISTORIA .History. In 1992, the club merged another ACB team in the city of Málaga, CB Maristas de Málaga, which was originally founded in 1953 as Ademar Basket Club. Over the years, the club has featured players like: Nacho Rodríguez, Berni Rodríguez, Carlos Cabezas, Jorge Garbajosa, Marcus Brown, Sergei Babkov, Michael Ansley, Louis Bullock, and Kenny Miller, as well as numerous other well-known players. The club won its first title, when it won the European-wide third tier level FIBA Korać Cup in the 2000–01 season. They then won the Spanish King's Cup title in 2005. The next year, in the 2005–06 season, Unicaja won its first-ever Spanish League championship.
The club finished its best years to date, by qualifying for the 2007 Euroleague Final Four, where it was defeated in the semifinals by CSKA Moscow, and thus finished in third place in the EuroLeague. In October 2007, Unicaja faced the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies in a friendly match, and they defeated the Grizzlies, by a score of 102–99. That was one of the 17 times that an NBA team has lost to a foreign club. Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro, two of the greatest Spanish basketball players of all time, played for Memphis in that historical game.Unicaja defeats Memphis Grizzlies in NBA Euroleague Live 2007 Interbasket. 9 October 2007
Unicaja participated in the European-wide top-tier level league, the EuroLeague, for 15 consecutive seasons (2001–02 season to 2015–16 season). However, in the summer of 2015, it lost its EuroLeague A-licence. Therefore, in the 2016–17 season, Unicaja participated in the second tier level EuroCup. The club immediately won the EuroCup title, in its first season in the league, after winning over Valencia Basket in the league's Finals.
From 2001–02 to 2020–21 seasons, the team competes in Euroleague Basketball competitions, until they switched to FIBA's Basketball Champions League since the 2021–22 season. In the 2023–24 season, Uncaja won the championship after defeating Canarias in the final, which took place in Belgrade. As European champions, Unicaja then played in the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore, and won its first world-level title.
In the following 2024–25 season, Unicaja once again won the BCL championship, after defeating Galatasaray in the final of the Final Four in Athens. They became the second team to win consecutive league titles, following San Pablo Burgos.
Logos
Home arenas
Pabellón Guadaljaire (1977–78) Pabellón Tiro Pichón (1978–81) Pabellón Ciudad Jardín (1981–99) Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena (1999–present)
Since 1999, Unicaja has played its home games at the Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena arena. The arena originally seated 9,743 spectators for basketball games, and was expanded in the year 2010, to a current seating capacity of 11,300 people for basketball games.
Players
Retired numbers Unicaja retired numbers No Player Position Tenure Ceremony date5Berni RodríguezSG1998–201226 June 201221 May 2017
Current roster
Depth chart
Notable players
Spain Álex Abrines Jonathan Barreiro Saúl Blanco Darío Brizuela Carlos Cabezas Iñaki De Miguel Alberto Díaz Dani Díez Jaime Fernández Xavi Fernández Germán Gabriel Jorge Garbajosa Ricardo Guillén Carlos Jiménez Tomás Jofresa Chuck Kornegay Pablo Laso Juan Antonio Orenga Alfonso Reyes Berni Rodríguez Mario Muñoz Oses Ignacio Rodríguez Mario Saint-Supéry Yankuba Sima Mike Smith Carlos Suárez Fran Vázquez Paco Vázquez Sergi Vidal Europe Marcus Faison Jean-Marc Jaumin JR Bremer Nihad Đedović Kendrick Perry Nedžad Sinanović Roderick Blakney Earl Calloway David Kravish Earl Rowland Davor Kus Oliver Lafayette Veljko Mršić Sandro Nicević Hrvoje Perić Krunoslav Simon Zan Tabak Luka Žorić Jiri Welsch Sasu Salin Joseph Gomis Edwin Jackson Mathias Lessort Florent Pietrus Stéphane Risacher Moustapha Sonko Frédéric Weis Giorgi Shermadini Shammond Williams Ademola Okulaja Dylan Osetkowski Robert Archibald Joel Freeland Darren Phillip Ioannis Giannoulis Georgios Printezis Kostas Vasileiadis Pavel Ermolinskij Jon Stefansson Gal Mekel Jeff Brooks Kaspars Berzins Kristaps Valters Gintaras Einikis Mindaugas Kuzminskas Domantas Sabonis Richard Hendrix Omar Cook Vladimir Golubović Kendrick Perry Aleksander Balcerowski Michał Chyliński Thomas Kelati Adam Waczyński Adam Wójcik Milan Gurović Stefan Marković Dragan Milosavljević Dejan Musli Nemanja Nedović Kosta Perović Bojan Popović Vladimir Štimac Uroš Tripković Zoran Dragić Erazem Lorbek Alen Omić Marko Tusek Richard Petruska Sergei Babkov Valeri Tikhonenko Volodymyr Gerun Eugene Jeter USA Tim Abromaitis Josh Adams Joe Arlauckas Victor Alexander James Augustine Mario Bennett Adrian Branch Marcus Brown Louis Bullock Tyson Carter Norris Cole Jack Cooley Juan Dixon Zabian Dowdell Jamie Feick Gerald Fitch Kyle Fogg Marcus Haislip Marc Iavaroni Tyler Kalinoski Tarence Kinsey Tony Massenburg Ray McCallum Jr. Kenny Miller Gary Neal DeMarcus Nelson Cameron Oliver Andy Panko Brian Roberts Lou Roe Sean Rooks Ralph Sampson Paul Shirley Reggie Slater Kameron Taylor Ray Tolbert Marcus Williams David Wood Rest of Americas Juan Ignacio Sánchez Walter Herrmann Vítor Faverani Rafael Hettsheimeir Augusto Lima Rafa Luz Paulo Prestes Melvin Ejim Kyle Wiltjer Juan José García José Ortiz Daniel Santiago Panchi Barrera Jayson Granger Africa Jean-Jacques Conceição Christian Eyenga Hamady Ndiaye Boniface Ndong
Head coaches
Alfonso Queipo de Llano: 1977–79, 1985–86 José María Martín Urbano : 1979–80, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990–92 Damián Caneda: 1980–81 Ramón Guardiola: 1981–82 Moncho Monsalve: 1982–84 Ignacio Pinedo: 1984–85 Arturo Ortega: 1986–87 Zoran Slavnić: 1987–88 Mario Pesquera: 1988–90 Javier Imbroda: 1992–98 Pedro Ramírez: 1998–99 Božidar Maljković: 1999–03 Paco Alonso: 2003 Chechu Mulero: 2003 Sergio Scariolo: 2003–08 Aito Garcia Reneses: 2008–2011 Chus Mateo: 2011–12 Luis Casimiro: 2012 Jasmin Repeša: 2012–13 Joan Plaza: 2013–2018 Luis Casimiro: 2018–2021 Fotios Katsikaris: 2021–2022 Ibon Navarro: 2022–2026 Txus Vidorreta: 2026–present
Season by season
Caja de Ronda SeasonTierDivisionPos.Copa del ReyOther cupsEuropean competitions1978–7921ª División B10th6–161979–8021ª División B9th13–171980–8121ª División B1st19–2–51981–8211ª División10th10–1–15Round of 161982–8311ª División12th6–20Quarterfinalist1983–841Liga ACB10th14–161984–851Liga ACB14th13–191985–8621ª División B4th18–151986–8721ª División B1st24–101987–881Liga ACB14th3–30Copa Príncipe1988–891Liga ACB5th23–15Quarterfinalist1989–901Liga ACB5th21–17Round of 163 Korać Cup1–11990–911Liga ACB10th19–21Third round3 Korać Cup0–21991–921Liga ACB14th16–23Second round
CB Maristas SeasonTierDivisionPos.Copa del Rey1981–8232ª División1st1982–8332ª División2nd1983–8432ª División2nd1984–8521ª División B16th6–201985–8632ª División2nd1986–8721ª División B18th12–221987–8821ª División B4th32–131988–891Liga ACB15th22–17First round1989–901Liga ACB13th18–22Round of 161990–911Liga ACB14th18–22Second round1991–921Liga ACB15th15–22First round
Unicaja SeasonTierDivisionPos.Copa del ReyOther cupsEuropean competitions1992–931Liga ACB6th19–14First round1993–941Liga ACB12th13–18Quarterfinalist1994–951Liga ACB2nd32–16First round1995–961Liga ACB6th27–14Quarterfinalist1 European League8–81996–971Liga ACB7th22–173 Korać CupQF9–31997–981Liga ACB8th20–173 Korać Cup7–31998–991Liga ACB9th18–16Quarterfinalist3 Korać Cup2–41999–001Liga ACB8th22–17Quarterfinalist3 Korać CupRU11–52000–011Liga ACB4th30–11Quarterfinalist3 Korać CupC14–22001–021Liga ACB2nd33–10Semifinalist1 Euroleague6–82002–031Liga ACB3rd29–15Semifinalist1 Euroleague8–122003–041Liga ACB4th23–191 Euroleague4–102004–051Liga ACB3rd27–16ChampionSupercopa3rd1 Euroleague6–82005–061Liga ACB1st35–10SemifinalistSupercopa4th1 Euroleague15–52006–071Liga ACB8th17–20QuarterfinalistSupercopaRU1 Euroleague3rd14–112007–081Liga ACB4th19–19Quarterfinalist1 Euroleague13–72008–091Liga ACB3rd27–11Runner-up1 Euroleague10–62009–101Liga ACB4th21–181 Euroleague9–72010–111Liga ACB8th19–171 Euroleague6–102011–121Liga ACB9th17–17Quarterfinalist1 Euroleague4–122012–131Liga ACB9th18–161 Euroleague15–92013–141Liga ACB4th26–15Quarterfinalist1 Euroleague11–132014–151Liga ACB3rd29–13Semifinalist1 Euroleague8–162015–161Liga ACB6th20–16SupercopaRU1 Euroleague11–132016–171Liga ACB4th24–14Quarterfinalist2 EuroCupC13–92017–181Liga ACB7th19–17QuarterfinalistSupercopaSF1 EuroLeague9th13–172018–191Liga ACB6th22-15Quarterfinalist2 EuroCupQF12–72019–201Liga ACB10th15–13Runner-up2 EuroCup—11–52020–211Liga ACB11th17–19Quarterfinalist2 EuroCup8–82021–221Liga ACB12th13–213 Champions LeagueQF6–62022–231Liga ACB3rd27–13Champion3 Champions League4th14–42023–241Liga ACB3rd32–9 QuarterfinalistSupercopaRU3 Champions LeagueC14–22024–251Liga ACB4th26–14ChampionIntercontinental CupC3 Champions League C15–1Supercopa C2025–261Liga ACB9th17–17QuarterfinalistIntercontinental CupC3 Champions League 3rd13–3SupercopaSF
Honours and other achievements Honours Type Competition Titles SeasonsInternationalEuroCup1 2016–17FIBA Korać Cup12000–01FIBA Champions League22023–24, 2024–25FIBA Intercontinental Cup2 2024, 2025DomesticSpanish League12005–06Spanish Cup32005, 2023, 2025Spanish Supercup12024
Other achievements International competitions EuroLeague Third place (1): 2006–07 FIBA Korać Cup Runners-up (1): 1999–00 FIBA Champions League Third place (1): 2025–26
Domestic competitions Spanish League Runners-up (2): 1994–95, 2001–02 Spanish Cup Runners-up (2): 2009, 2020 Spanish Supercup Runners-up (3): 2006, 2015, 2023 Liga de Verano ACB Palmarés de las Ligas de Verano ACB - ACB.Com Winners (4): 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002 Runners-up (1): 1999
Other competitions 2nd division championships: (2) 1ª División B: 1981, 1987 Andalusia Cup: (19) 1996, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026. Torrox, Spain Invitational Game 2008 Trofeo de Platja d'Aro 2008 Trofeo Pollinica 2008 Trofeo Ciudad de Cordoba, Spain 2009
Individual awards
ACB Finals MVP Michael Ansley – 1995 Jorge Garbajosa – 2006
Spanish Cup MVP Jorge Garbajosa – 2005 Tyson Carter – 2023 Kendrick Perry – 2025
ACB Slam Dunk Champion Florent Piétrus – 2006 James Gist – 2012
ACB Three Point Shootout Champion Paco Vázquez – 2001
All-EuroLeague Second Team Jorge Garbajosa – 2006
All-ACB First Team Jorge Garbajosa – 2005, 2006 Jayson Granger – 2015 Dylan Osetkowski – 2024
All-ACB Second Team Nemanja Nedović – 2017
EuroCup Finals MVP Alberto Díaz – 2017
Basketball Champions League Final Four MVP Kendrick Perry – 2024 Tyson Carter – 2025
Reserve team Baloncesto Málaga B, known as Unicaja Andalucía, is the reserve team and plays in the Tercera FEB. The Unicaja Alhaurín de la Torre U22 team was created in 2025 and plays in Liga U.
From 2007 to 2016, Baloncesto Málaga had an agreement with CB Axarquía, for them to play as the club's main farm team, while Baloncesto Málaga B, which currently plays also under the name Unicaja, was the club's third team until the end of this contract.
Women's team On 14 July 2017, the club announced the creation of a women's team.