KK Cibona Zagreb defended Croatian League championship last season, lifting the title for the 17th time, and enters 2013-14 season with great expectations and the highest goals. The crown jewel of Croatian club basketball is ready to start its climb back to the top levels of European basketball, and there is a familiar face on the bench to lead the process. Neven Spahija has returned to the club where he started his coaching career in 2000-01, hoping to build on the success from last season, when Cibona won Croatian Cup by edging city-rival Cedevita Zagreb in overtime, then cruised undefeated through the Croatian League playoffs, sweeping KK Zadar in the best-of-five title series. A pair of trophies is what Cibona fans got used to over the years, as the club boasts a long and rich basketball tradition, including five continental titles and two Euroleague crowns. Founded in 1946, Cibona won its first trophy - the Yugoslav Cup - in 1969 and added a Korac Cup in 1972 with Nikola Plecas and Damir Rukavina as its main players. Led by Hall of Fame center Kresimir Cosic, Cibona lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup trophy in 1982 by downing Real Madrid in the final, in addition to three Yugoslavian championships and five Yugoslavian Cup titles between 1980 and 1985. The late Drazen Petrovic soon helped Cibona become the best team in Europe along with older brother Aco and players like Mihovil Nakic, Zoran Cutura, Franjo Arapovic and Danko Cvjeticanin. Drazen Petrovic scored 26 of his 36 points in the second half of the 1985 Euroleague final as Cibona downed Madrid 87-78 to claim its first Euroleague title. The younger Petrovic then led the team to a second title in 1986 by beating Zalgiris 94-82 in Budapest, Hungary. Cibona added a second Cup Winners' Cup title in 1987 by beating Scavolini Pesaro and made it the Korac Cup finals in 1988 before Drazen Petrovic left the team for good. However after the Croatian League opened in the early 1990s, Cibona built another dynasty with 11 consecutive national titles and five Croatian Cups through 2002. Cibona soon started to reach the Euroleague Top 16 on regular basis, often bringing a lot of drama to the final games of the regular season. After a few quiet seasons, Cibona bounced back in 2009 and 2010 by winning both the Croatian League and Cup titles and making it to the Euroleague Top 16 each season. However, the following year began a decline that caused the club to see its streak of 20 straight seasons in Europe’s premier basketball competition – the Turkish Airlines Euroleague – end. Cibona slumped through a winless 2011-12 Eurocup campaign, but rebounded nicely in Croatia with a 14-0 regular season en route to its 16th league championship. Last season, Cibona again failed to pick up a single victory in Eurocup, but won the Croatian double. Now, with an experienced head coach at the helm, and with teen sensation Dario Saric on the floor, the club's ambitions have risen again, and there is every reason for Cibona fans to expect great things to come.

Euroleague: 1985, 1986
Cup of Cups: 1982, 1987
Korac Cup: 1972
Euroleague Opening Tournament: 2001
ABA Liga: 2013-14
Croatian National League: 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2012-13, 2018-19
Croatian National Cup: 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2013
Yugoslav National League: 1981-82, 1983-84, 1984-85
Yugoslav National Cup: 1969, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988