Śląsk Wrocław (basketball)

WKS Śląsk Wrocław is a Polish professional basketball club based in Wrocław. Founded in 1948, Śląsk is the most decorated Polish basketball club, with 18 Polish League and 14 Polish cup championships. The club plays in the Polish Basketball League (PLK), the highest-tier level in Polish men's basketball. The home court is Hala Orbita, but many games are played in Centennial Hall.

WKS Śląsk Wrocław
Nickname	WKS Wojskowi (Military)
Leagues	Polish Basketball League EuroCup
Founded	1948; 75 years ago (1948)
History	Śląsk Wrocław (1948–present)
Arena	Hala Orbita, Centennial Hall
Capacity	3,000, 5,800
Location	Wrocław, Poland
Team colors	Green, white, red
President	Michał Lizak
Head coach	Oliver Vidin
Team captain	Artsiom Parakhouski
Championships	18 Polish Championships 14 Polish Cups 2 Polish Supercups
Website	wks-slask.eu
Home Away Third

History

Since the basketball section was founded in 1948, Śląsk Wrocław has been the most decorated and most recognizable club in Polish basketball. The team has won the Polish league championships 18 times so far. Most recognized period of Śląsk's history is the "Great Śląsk Era" when the team won five championship titles in a row (1998-2002).

Most of those successes where achieved with coach Andrej Urlep. The notable players playing for Śląsk Wrocław over the years were: Mieczysław Łopatka (1960s), Edward Jurkiewicz (1970s and 1980s), Jerzy Binkowski (1980s, 1990s), Dariusz Zelig (1980s, 1990s), Maciej Zieliński (1980s, 1990s, 2000s), Adam Wójcik and Dominik Tomczyk.

In 2008 the club has gone into serious financial difficulties, which resulted in withdrawing the team from Polish Basketball League. After years of rebuilding attempts, the club is now back playing in the Polish Basketball League top division.^[1][2]

In the 2020–21 PLK season, the team finished third. Śląsk defeated Legia Warszawa 86:85 in overtime of the decisive game 3 of the bronze medal series. The result exceeded expectations as it was the club's first league podium finish in 11 years. Key players of that team included Aleksander Dziewa, Kyle Gibson, Elijah Stewart and Strahinja Jovanović.^[3]

The following season the club returned to the top of the domestic competition becoming Polish champions, twenty years after the last championship won in 2002. Travis Trice won MVP awards for both the regular season and the finals.

Season by season (since 1990)

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Polish Cup	European competitions
1990–91	1	PLK	Champion		2 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup	T16	0-2
1991–92	1	PLK	Champion	Winner	1 FIBA European League / 2 European Cup	R3	1-3
1992–93	1	PLK	Champion		1 FIBA EuroLeague	R2	2-2
1993–94	1	PLK	Champion		1 FIBA EuroLeague	R1	0-2
1994–95	1	PLK	5th		1 FIBA EuroLeague	R1	0-2
1995–96	1	PLK	Champion		3 FIBA Korać Cup	R1	1-1
1996–97	1	PLK	4th	Winner	2 FIBA EuroCup	QF	9-7
1997–98	1	PLK	Champion		2 FIBA EuroCup	QF	9-6
1998–99	1	PLK	Champion		2 FIBA Saporta Cup	R32	5-7
1999–00	1	PLK	Champion		2 FIBA Saporta Cup	QF	10-6
2000–01	1	PLK	Champion		1 FIBA SuproLeague	T16	7-13
2001–02	1	PLK	Champion		1 Euroleague	RS	4–10
2002–03	1	PLK	3nd		1 Euroleague	RS	5–9
2003–04	1	PLK	2nd	Winner	1 Euroleague	RS	6–8
2004–05	1	PLK	5th	Winner	2 ULEB Cup	T16	6–6
2005–06	1	PLK	5th		3 FIBA EuroCup	T16	6–6
2006–07	1	PLK	3rd
2007–08	1	PLK	3rd^[a]	Runner-up	2 ULEB Cup	T32	5–7
2008–09	3	II Liga	11th
2009–10	3	II Liga	12th
2010–11	3	II Liga	12th
2011–12	3	II Liga	1st
2012–13	2	I Liga	1st
2013–14	1	PLK	9th	Winner
2014–15	1	PLK	5th	Quarterfinalist
2015–16	1	PLK	14th^[b]		3 FIBA Europe Cup	R32	4–8
2016–17	3	II Liga	1st
2017–18	2	I Liga	9th
2018–19	2	I Liga	2nd
2019–20	1	PLK	7th^[c]
2020–21	1	PLK	3rd	Quarterfinalist
2021–22	1	PLK	Champion	Semifinalist	2 EuroCup	T16	3–14
2022–23	1	PLK	2nd	Quarterfinalist	2 EuroCup	RS	1–17

1. Withdrew from the PLK after bankruptcy.
2. Withdrew from the PLK due to financial problems.
3. Season shortened due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Players

 

Hala Orbita

Current roster

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

Śląsk Wrocław roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name PG 0   Evans, Jawun 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 27 – (1996-07-26)26 July 1996 G 2   Wiśniewski, Aleksander 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 20 – (2003-01-13)13 January 2003 PG 3   Gravett, Hassani 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 27 – (1996-07-16)16 July 1996 G/F 5   Zębski, Mateusz 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 31 – (1992-05-13)13 May 1992 G/F 6   Gołębiowski, Daniel   1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 25 – (1998-02-06)6 February 1998 C 7   Parakhouski, Artsiom (C) 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 35 – (1987-10-06)6 October 1987 PF 8   Nowicki, Szymon 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 18 – (2005-06-02)2 June 2005 PG 10   Kolenda, Łukasz 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 24 – (1999-07-28)28 July 1999 C 11   Miletić, Dušan 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 25 – (1998-07-30)30 July 1998 F 12   Kulvietis, Saulius 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 32 – (1991-02-14)14 February 1991 PF 19   Adamczak, Mikołaj 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 20 – (2002-12-18)18 December 2002 F 22   Sitnik, Michał 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 23 – (2000-09-15)15 September 2000 F 35   Nizioł, Jakub 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 27 – (1996-05-08)8 May 1996	Head coach   Oliver Vidin Assistant coach(es)   Wojciech Walich   Adrian Mroczek-Truskowski   Maksym Papacz Legend (C) Team captain   Injured Roster Updated: September 24, 2023

Retired numbers

Śląsk Wrocław retired numbers
N°	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
9		Maciej Zieliński	F	1987–1992, 1995–2006

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality 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.

•   Mieczysław Łopatka
•   Dariusz Zelig
•   Maciej Zieliński
•   Dominik Tomczyk
•   Adam Wójcik
•   Alan Gregov
•   Raimonds Miglinieks
•   Roberts Štelmahers
•   Dainius Adomaitis
•   Gintaras Einikis
•   Tomas Pačėsas
•   Andrius Giedraitis
•   Andrey Fetisov
•   Sean Marks
•   Keith Williams
•  /  Joe McNaull
•   LaBradford Smith
•   Harold Jamison
•   Charles O'Bannon
•   Michael Hawkins
•   Michael Wright
•   Lynn Greer
•   Dean Oliver
•   Travis Trice

Achievements

• Polish League (18):
  • Winner (18): 1965, 1970, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2022
  • Runners-up (7): 1963, 1964, 1972, 1978, 1989, 2004, 2023
  • Third place (15): 1960, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1990, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2021
• 1 Liga (1):
  • Winner (1): 2012–13
• Polish Cup (14):
  • 1957, 1959, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2014
• Polish Supercup (2):
  • 1999, 2000

See also

• Śląsk Wrocław
• Śląsk Wrocław (handball)

References

1. "Jak to było?" (in Polish). WKS Śląsk Wrocław. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
2. "Slask Wroclaw". 7DAYS EuroCup. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
3. EBL: Aleksander Dziewa: To nieopisana radość. Nikt w Polsce na nas nie stawiał Mariusz Hawryszczuk (Polsat Sport), 25 April 2021. Accessed 20 May 2021.(in Polish)

External links

• Official site