Bayer Giants Leverkusen

Bayer Giants Leverkusen
Leagues	ProA
Founded	1961; 61 years ago (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 sports club based in Leverkusen, Germany. It currently plays in ProA, German second league.

Based on the number of titles, Leverkusen is the most successful team in the history of German Basketball.^[1] 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.^[2]

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 to restructure.

Thousands of club supporters gathered in the streets of Leverkusen to protest the company's move.^[3][4]

In 2013, the club promoted to the ProA League.

Season by season[]

Nick Hornsby

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[]

Bayer Giants Leverkusen roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name G 1 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 18 – (2003-07-19)19 July 2003 G/F 2 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 22 – (2000-02-21)21 February 2000 PG 3 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 24 – (1997-09-03)3 September 1997 G 4 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 17 – (2004-04-15)15 April 2004 PG 6 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 20 – (2001-04-27)27 April 2001 PF 11 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 23 – (1998-08-10)10 August 1998 F/C 12 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 21 – (2000-07-12)12 July 2000 SG 13 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 21 – (2000-12-08)8 December 2000 G/F 14 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 24 – (1997-06-02)2 June 1997 PG 15 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 24 – (1997-06-01)1 June 1997 F 18 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 20 – (2001-08-26)26 August 2001 F 20 Mann, J. J. 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 30 – (1991-06-12)12 June 1991 C 22 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) 31 – (1991-01-22)22 January 1991 SG 31 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 26 – (1995-12-23)23 December 1995 C 44 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 26 – (1995-11-14)14 November 1995 F/C 55 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 18 – (2003-08-20)20 August 2003	Head coach Hansi Gnad Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: October 19, 2021

Notable players[]

• Nick Hornsby (born 1995), American

Head coaches[]

Coach	Start	End
Hans-Jürgen Gnad	2018

References[]

External links[]

• Team Homepage (in German)