Khimki Moscow Region is set to play its eighth EuroLeague campaign, which testifies to the heights the club has climbed since its founding just over two decades ago. And for the first time, it will also play the EuroLeague for a fourth consecutive season. Khimki first opened its doors in 1997 and it took only six years to qualify for the Russian League semifinals and the first of three straight Russian Cup semifinal appearances. In 2006, Khimki reached the Russian League and Russian Cup finals, but fell to CSKA Moscow in both, while Joventut Badalona beat Khimki in the 2006 FIBA EuroCup final. The club’s hard work paid off when it downed CSKA in the 2007 Russian Cup final for its first crown of any kind. That season, Khimki also reached the first of three consecutive Russian League finals and made its ULEB Cup debut, in which it reached the Last 16. Khimki made more big strides in 2008-09 by reaching the EuroCup championship game, but fell short against Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius. In its EuroLeague debut a year later, Khimki showed it was no average newcomer and reached the Top 16. The club added more silverware to the trophy room by winning the VTB United League in 2011 at CSKA’s expense and a year later downed Valencia Basket in the EuroCup Finals for its first continental title behind the play of Zoran Planinic, Vitaly Fridzon and Kreso Loncar. The following season, Khimki’s third EuroLeague campaign finished a win short of a place in the playoffs, but it was also the first of the two straight title-free seasons. However, Khimki learned from its mistakes in the 2014-15 season. The team won its regular season and Last 32 groups and swept three of its four elimination round series – including the EuroCup Finals against Herbalife Gran Canaria. It was an outstanding season in which Tyrese Rice was chosen as the EuroCup MVP and also earned EuroCup Finals MVP honors. Petteri Koponen joined Rice on the All-EuroCup First Team and Rimas Kurtinaitis became the first head coach to win the competition three times. That season Khimki also reached the VTB League finals where it lost to CSKA. In 2016-17, Alexey Shved was named 7DAYS EuroCup MVP and Khimki reached the EuroCup Quarterfinals and VTB finals. Back in the EuroLeague for the 2017-18 season, Khimki made the playoffs before losing to CSKA Moscow. Shved had another amazing year including a record for points scored in a season and an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection. Injuries cost the team a shot at the EuroLeague playoffs in the 2018-19 season, but the team regrouped to reach the VTB finals and earned the right to remain in the EuroLeague. Everything looked good for Khimki in the 2019-10 campaign: with new players such as Jonas Jerebko, Devin Booker and Stefan Jovic, Khimki was in playoff zone in the EuroLeague and first in the VTB League standings when both competitions were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Khimki will try again in the 2020-21 season, in which the Russian powerhouse will aim to make history.
Trophy Case
| Eurocup: 2011-12, 2014-15 |
| Russian National Cup: 2008 |