Hamburg Towers is the only newcomer to the 7DAYS EuroCup in the 2021-22 campaign. It is another step forwards for a young club that was still competing in the German second division in 2019. Hamburg comes off its best season ever, which allowed the German powerhouse to be invited to the EuroCup, and should make the most of this opportunity.
The club was founded in February 2013, when former EuroCup star Pascal Roller and and entrepreneur Wolfgang Sahm announced a plan to bring back professional basketball to Hamburg for the first time in over a decade. Even when the goal was to get a wild card to go straight to the German League, Hamburg started to compete in the German second division. The club made its debut in the 2014-15 season, playing its first game against Giessen 46ers on September 29, 2014. It finished eighth overall with a 15-15 record, reaching the playoffs, but lost against s.Oliver Baskets Wuerzburg in the quarterfinals.
Hamburg kept competing in the German second division for the next four seasons, growing a solid youth structure. The club ranked fifth overall in the 2015-16 regular season but fell out of the playoffs territory in each of the next two campaigns. Everything clicked in the 2018-19 season, always with former player Marvin Willoughby as the team's sports director, Hamburg put together a competitive roster led by Beau Beech and Jannik Freese. It ranked fourth at the end of the regular season with a 19-11 record, but went past Rostock Seawolves, Niners Chemnitz and Nuernberg Falcons to win the German second division and promote to the country's elite. Hamburg had a rough German League debut, ranking last with a 3-17 record. The German League was expanded to 18 teams in the 2020-21 season, and that allowed Hamburg to keep its place in the German elite.
The club brought in Pedro Calles, one of the best young coaches in Europe, replacing Mike Taylor, and found the right chemistry with players like Maik-Kalev Kotsar, Kameron Taylor, T.J. Shorts and Jordan Swing. Coach Calles made everything click, as Hamburg beat ALBA Berlin and Brose Baskets twice, split victories with FC Bayern Munich and qualified to the playoffs, ranking seventh overall with a 21-13 record. ALBA stood on its way to success, sweeping Hamburg in the best-of-five quarterfinal playoffs.
As such, Hamburg is making its European competitions debut next season, taking its ambitious project to a whole new level. Expect Hamburg to keep growing, as it took the right steps to do so.