KK Mega Basket
Košarkaški klub Mega Basket, currently known as Mega Bemax due to sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association.
In addition to Belgrade, the club also played its home games in Kruševac, Smederevo, and Sremska Mitrovica. The club participates in the KLS and the ABA League. Since 2004, it has been controlled by Serbian sports agent Miško Ražnatović and his BeoBasket sports agency.
History
The Avala Ada era (1998–2004)
KK Avala Ada was established on 23 December 1998 by a group of basketball enthusiasts, all employed at the Avala Ada packaging factory. The club played in the lower ranks, functioning as part of the Avala Ada sports society that was formed at the same time. In the summer of 1999, the club won the Belgrade Local League, thus qualifying for the Serbian Second League. Playing the 1999–2000 season in the Second League, the club set an ambitious goal of gaining promotion on its first try and succeeded.The 2000–01 season was played in the Serbian First League, finishing third and barely missing the promotion. The following 2001–02 season, Avala Ada finished third again. In the 2002-03 season, the club again missed promotion based on the league standing but managed to qualify to federal First B League through playoffs in Novi Bečej, beating KK Vrbas and KK Zeta. Playing its first season, 2003–04, in the federal rank in the First B League, Avala Ada finished third thus missing promotion to the top league. Before the start of the 2004–05 season, the most significant development in the club's short history occurred - it was taken over by the BeoBasket Sports Agency led by Miško Ražnatović.
The Mega Basket era (2005–present)
At the end of the 2004–05 season, the club has qualified for the highest competition level in the country. In December 2005, the club changed its name to KK Mega Basket. At the same time, the club signed a sponsorship agreement with the Ishrana bakery company based in Smederevo, and in the period from 2005 to 2007, the club officially was named Mega Ishrana. Later, also due to sponsorship reasons, the club was called Mega Aqua Monta in the 2007–08 season, and Mega Hypo Leasing in the 2008–09 season.In August 2009, before the start of the 2009–10 season, another Belgrade-based club KK Vizura merged into KK Mega Hypo Leasing, and the club was renamed KK Mega Vizura. In 2016, Mega Leks won its first trophy ever when it beat KK Partizan 86–80 in the Serbian Cup Final.
On June 14, 2018, the club signed a contract on sports and technical cooperation with OKK Beograd. On August 11, 2018, the club played against the University of Kentucky men's basketball team.
Sponsorship naming
The club has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship:- Mega Ishrana
- Mega Aqua Monta
- Mega Hypo Leasing
- Mega Vizura
- Mega Leks
- Mega Bemax
Home arenas
- Šumice Hall, Belgrade
- Vizura Sports Center, Belgrade
- Kruševac Hall, Kruševac
- Smederevo Hall, Smederevo
- Pinki Hall, Sremska Mitrovica
- Mega Factory, Belgrade
- Ranko Žeravica Hall, Belgrade
Players
Current roster
Depth chart
Players in the [NBA draft]
Position | Player | Year | Round | Pick | Drafted by |
C | Milovan Raković# | 2007 | 2nd round | 60th | Dallas Mavericks, traded to Chicago Bulls |
C | Nikola Jokić* | 2014 | 2nd round | 41st | Denver Nuggets |
PG | Vasilije Micić# | 2014 | 2nd round | 52nd | Philadelphia 76ers |
SG | Nemanja Dangubić# | 2014 | 2nd round | 54th | Philadelphia 76ers, traded to Brooklyn Nets |
G/F | Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot | 2016 | 1st round | 24th | Philadelphia 76ers |
C | Ivica Zubac | 2016 | 2nd round | 32nd | Los Angeles Lakers |
G/F | Rade Zagorac# | 2016 | 2nd round | 35th | Boston Celtics, traded to Memphis Grizzlies |
SF | Vlatko Čančar | 2017 | 2nd round | 49th | Denver Nuggets |
PG | Ognjen Jaramaz# | 2017 | 2nd round | 58th | New York Knicks |
PF/C | Alpha Kaba# | 2017 | 2nd round | 60th | Atlanta Hawks |
C | Goga Bitadze | 2019 | 1st round | 18th | Indiana Pacers |
Coaches
; Avala Ada; Mega Basket
- Oliver Popović
- Mihailo Uvalin
- Dragiša Šarić
- Aleksandar Kesar
- Mihailo Uvalin
- Miodrag Rajković
- Vlada Vukoičić
- Dejan Milojević
- Vlada Jovanović
Season-by-season
Management
Current officeholders are:- President: Velimir Mihailović
- General manager: Goran Ćakić
Trophies and awards
Trophies
- Serbian League
- *Semifinals : 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19
- Serbian Cup
- Adriatic League
- *Runners-up : 2015–16
- Balkan League
- *3rd place : 2008–09
Individual awards
- Serbian First League MVP :
- * Boban Marjanović – 2013
- Serbian Super League MVP :
- * Boban Marjanović – 2013
- Serbian Cup MVP :
- * Vasilije Micić – 2014
- * Nikola Ivanović – 2016
- Adriatic League MVP :
- * Nikola Jokić – 2015
Notable players
- Danilo Anđušić
- Vukašin Aleksić
- Aleksandar Aranitović
- Saša Avramović
- Nemanja Dangubić
- Petar Despotović
- Tadija Dragićević
- Nikola Dragović
- Marko Đurković
- Nikola Janković
- Stevan Jelovac
- Nikola Jokić
- Dušan Katnić
- Marko Kešelj
- Nemanja Krstić
- Sava Lešić
- Boban Marjanović
- Vasilije Micić
- Nenad Miljenović
- Dejan Musli
- Ivan Paunić
- Aleksandar Rašić
- Jovo Stanojević
- Stefan Stojačić
- Novica Veličković
- Rade Zagorac
- Stefan Glogovac
- Aleksandar Lazić
- Ratko Varda
- Ivica Zubac
- Alpha Kaba
- Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot
- Adam Mokoka
- Goga Bitadze
- Kostja Mushidi
- Vlado Janković
- Dylan Ennis
- Nikola Ivanović
- Danilo Nikolić
- Nikola Peković
- Petar Popović
- Nemanja Radović
- Radosav Spasojević
- Mašan Vrbica
- Corey Webster
- Vlatko Čančar
- Duşan Çantekin
- Jeremiah Rivers