Bayer Giants Leverkusen

Bayer Giants Leverkusen
Leagues	ProA
Founded	1961 (1961)
History	TuS Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1961–1983 TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1983–2000 Bayer Giants Leverkusen 2000–present
Arena	Wilhelm Dopatka Halle
Capacity	3,500
Location	Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Championships	14 German Championships 10 German Cup 1 ProB
Website	www.bayer-basketball.de
Home Away

Bayer Giants Leverkusen is a professional basketball club, part of the TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen sports club based in Leverkusen, Germany. It currently plays in ProA, the second division of German basketball.

Based on the number of titles, Leverkusen is the most successful team in the history of German Basketball. In 2009, the Bayer company cut down sponsorship and the club went down to Germany's ProB (third division) to restructure. The license for the Basketball Bundesliga was transferred to the newly formed Giants Düsseldorf.

History

Founded as TuS Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 1961, the club moved up to first division Basketball Bundesliga in 1968. The club won 5 national championships and 4 German Cups as TuS 04 Leverkusen before it changed its name and continued its dominance as TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Until today, the club has won more national titles than any other German basketball team.

To the disdain of all of its supporters, in 2008 the Bayer company decided to make dramatic cuts in its sponsorship for the team and simply focus on its football operations and amateur athletics. This move forced the club's basketball team to cede its Basketball Bundesliga license to the newly formed Giants Düsseldorf and move down to Germany's 3rd Division Pro B to restructure.

Thousands of club supporters gathered in the streets of Leverkusen to protest the company's move.

In 2013, the club promoted to the ProA League.

Season by season

Nick Hornsby

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	German Cup	European competitions
1989–90	1	Bundesliga	1st	Champion	2 Cup Winners' Cup	R16
1990–91	1	Bundesliga	1st	Champion	1 Champions Cup	QF
1991–92	1	Bundesliga	1st		1 Euroleague	GS
1992–93	1	Bundesliga	1st	Champion	1 Euroleague	GS
1993–94	1	Bundesliga	1st	Semifinalist	1 Euroleague	GS
1994–95	1	Bundesliga	1st	Champion	1 Euroleague	GS
1995–96	1	Bundesliga	1st	Runner-up	1 Euroleague	GS
1996–97	1	Bundesliga	4th		1 Euroleague	GS
1997–98	1	Bundesliga	8th		2 EuroCup	R32
1998–99	1	Bundesliga	4th		3 Korać Cup	GS
1999–00	1	Bundesliga	2nd		3 Korać Cup	GS
2000–01	1	Bundesliga	3rd	Third position	1 SuproLeague	RS
2001–02	1	Bundesliga	5th		3 Korać Cup	R16
2002–03	1	Bundesliga	8th		4 Regional Challenge Cup North	RU
2003–04	1	Bundesliga	8th
2004–05	1	Bundesliga	13th
2005–06	1	Bundesliga	10th
2006–07	1	Bundesliga	8th
2007–08	1	Bundesliga	6th
2008–09	4	1st Regionalliga	1st
2009–10	3	ProB	7th
2010–11	3	ProB	8th
2011–12	3	ProB	11th
2012–13	3	ProB	5th
2013–14	2	ProA	13th
2014–15	2	ProA	14th
2015–16	2	ProA	15th
2016–17	3	ProB	4th
2017–18	3	ProB	8th
2018–19	3	ProB	1st
2019–20	2	ProA	5th
2020–21	2	ProA	5th
2021–22	2	ProA

Honours

• German Champions

Winners (14): 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996

• German Cup:

Winners (10): 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995

• ProB

Winners (1): 2013

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Bayer Giants Leverkusen roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name G/F 2 Merz, Robert 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 24 – (2000-02-21)21 February 2000 G 4 Litera, Lennart 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 20 – (2004-04-15)15 April 2004 F/C 12 Jostmann, Melvin 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 24 – (2000-07-12)12 July 2000 F 18 Fankhauser, Thomas 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 23 – (2001-08-26)26 August 2001 C 22 Heinzmann, Dennis 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) 33 – (1991-01-22)22 January 1991 F/C 55 Lungelu, Joel 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 21 – (2003-08-20)20 August 2003 PG 9 Stoll, Marius 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 25 – (1999-07-09)9 July 1999 G 21 Drijencic, Robert 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 28 – (1996-04-20)20 April 1996	Head coach Hansi Gnad Assistant coach(es) Jacques Schneider Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: June 12, 2022

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• Stephan Baeck 4 seasons: '83–'85, '90–'92
• Gunther Behnke 11 seasons: '81–'92
• John Ecker 12 seasons: '71–'83
• Hansi Gnad 4 seasons: '95–'97, '99–'01
• Demond Greene 3 seasons: '02–'05
• Henning Harnisch 8 seasons: '88–'96
• Steven Hutchinson 3 seasons: '99–'02
• Michael Koch 5 seasons: '91–'96
• Dieter Kuprella 9 seasons: '68–'77
• Michael Pappert 4 seasons: '85–'89
• Jochen Pollex 3 seasons: '69–'72
• Sven Schultze 3 seasons: '02–'05
• Norbert Thimm 10 seasons: '69–'72,'74–'81
• Christian Welp 5 seasons: '91–'96
• Denis Wucherer 9 seasons: '92–'98, '02–'05
• Kristjan Kangur 2 seasons: '04–'06
• John Best 3 seasons: '00–'03
• Chris Corchiani 1 season: '95–'96
• Tony Dawson 2 seasons: '95–'97
• Nate Fox 5 seasons: '02–'03, '05–'08
• Tom Garrick 2 seasons: '93–'95
• J. J. Mann 2 seasons: '20–'22
• Kevin Pritchard 1 season: '96–'97
• Rahsaan Smith 1 season: '97–'98
• Milt Wagner 1 season: '97–'98
• Clinton Wheeler 4 seasons: '89–'93

• Nick Hornsby (born 1995), American

Head coaches

Coach	Start	End
Hans-Jürgen Gnad	2018

External links

• Team Homepage (in German)