Anadolu Efes S.K.

Anadolu Efes
Anadolu Efes
Leagues	BSL; EuroLeague
Founded	1976; 48 years ago
History	Efes Pilsen; (1976–2011); Anadolu Efes; (2011–present)
Arena	Basketbol Gelişim Merkezi
Capacity	10,000
Location	Istanbul, Turkey
Team colors	Navy, white, red, light blue;
Main sponsor	Efes Beverage Group
President	Tuncay Özilhan
General manager	Alper Yılmaz
Head coach	Tomislav Mijatović
Championships	2 EuroLeague; 1 FIBA Korać Cup; 16 Turkish Championships; 12 Turkish Cups; 14 Turkish President's Cups
Retired numbers	2 (7, 44)
Website	anadoluefessk.org
Home	Away

Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü, commonly referred to as Anadolu Efes or simply Efes, is a professional basketball team based in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 1976, the club was formerly known as Efes Pilsen until 2011. Efes is the 2021–22 Euroleague champion and on the first place of European Club Ranking after the Final Four 2020–21. Efes is also the most successful club in the history of the Turkish Super League (BSL), having won the league's championship 16 times. Efes has won a total of 42 domestic trophies, more than any other Turkish basketball club.

The home arena of Anadolu Efes S.K. is the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, which has a seating capacity of 16,000 for basketball games. The club has its own practice facility in the district of Bahçelievler, which was built in 1982. The team competes in the Turkish Super League and the EuroLeague. The team is owned by the Efes Beverage Group.

Anadolu Efes has developed a fierce rivalry with Fenerbahçe in recent years. The two clubs often meet in playoff series and cup finals.

History

The club was established in 1976 as Efes Pilsen S.K., by taking over the Turkish second-division club Kadıköyspor, which had failed due to financial problems.^[1] Its initial sponsor was its former longtime namesake, Efes Pilsen, a subsidiary of the Anadolu Group. It won the 1978 Turkish second division national championship undefeated, earning promotion to the Turkish first division, where it has continuously competed ever since. In its first top-flight season (1978–79), Efes Pilsen S.K. won the Turkish national league title, immediately establishing itself as one of the country's top clubs.

After finishing 2nd in the 1992–93 FIBA European Cup, Efes Pilsen S.K. won the 1995–96 FIBA Korać Cup, which marked the first-ever European-wide title won by a Turkish club in any team sport. Efes Pilsen S.K. (later renamed Anadolu Efes S.K.) has also become a fixture in the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague, making it to the competition's EuroLeague Final Four in 2000, and also to the FIBA SuproLeague's 2001 Final Four, and finishing 3rd on both occasions.^[2]

In 2011, the club changed its name to Anadolu Efes S.K., after the TAPDK (Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Authority) in Turkey prohibited the advertisement of tobacco and alcohol products in sports organizations.^[3]

In the 2017–18 season, Efes finished in the 16th and last place in the EuroLeague.

In the 2018–19 season, Efes had success in the EuroLeague as it managed to clinch the fourth-seed in the regular season. In the play-offs, the team beat FC Barcelona to advance to its first EuroLeague Final Four in 19 years.^[4] In the semi-final, Efes beat Fenerbahçe 92–73 to reach its first EuroLeague Final in history.^[5] In the championship game, Efes was defeated by CSKA Moscow, eventually finishing as the runner-up. In the same season, Efes won its first BSL championship since 2009. In Game 7 of the Finals against Fenerbahçe, Efes won 89–74 after Shane Larkin scored 38 points. Larkin was later named BSL Finals MVP.^[6]

In the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons Anadolu Efes won back-to-back EuroLeague Championships.

Home arenas

Abdi İpekçi Arena: 1986–2010, 2012–2017
Sinan Erdem Dome: 2010–2012, 2017–present

Abdi Ipekçi Arena interior during a match
Sinan Erdem Dome

For many years, Efes has used the Abdi İpekçi Arena, with a seating capacity of 12,270, to host its home games. Currently, Efes uses the 16,000 seat Sinan Erdem Dome for its home games.^[7]

Players

Current roster

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

Anadolu Efes roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Age
G	0	Larkin, Shane (C)	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	32 – (1992-10-02)2 October 1992
G	1	Beaubois, Rodrigue (C)	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	36 – (1988-02-24)24 February 1988
SF	3	Nwora, Jordan	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	102 kg (225 lb)	26 – (1998-09-09)9 September 1998
G/F	6	Bryant, Elijah	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	29 – (1995-04-19)19 April 1995
C	8	Altuntaş, Salih	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)		18 – (2006-02-27)27 February 2006
G	9	Tunca, Melih	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)		19 – (2005-10-13)13 October 2005
PG	10	Öncel, Rıdvan	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	83 kg (183 lb)	27 – (1997-02-21)21 February 1997
F/C	11	Šmits, Rolands	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	107 kg (236 lb)	29 – (1995-06-25)25 June 1995
PG	13	Thompson, Darius	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	29 – (1995-05-04)4 May 1995
F	14	Johnson, Stanley	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	110 kg (243 lb)	28 – (1996-05-29)29 May 1996
C	17	Poirier, Vincent	2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)	110 kg (243 lb)	31 – (1993-10-17)17 October 1993
PG	18	Özdemiroğlu, Doğuş	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	28 – (1996-04-17)17 April 1996
PF	19	Yıldızlı, Burak Can	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	30 – (1994-04-22)22 April 1994
PG	23	Hollatz, Justus	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	23 – (2001-04-21)21 April 2001
C	24	Osmani, Ercan	2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)	102 kg (225 lb)	26 – (1998-08-04)4 August 1998
C	25	Oturu, Daniel	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	109 kg (240 lb)	25 – (1999-09-20)20 September 1999
SF	33	Yılmaz, Erkan	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	26 – (1997-12-03)3 December 1997
PF	35	Willis, Derek	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	104 kg (229 lb)	29 – (1995-06-21)21 June 1995

Head coach

Tomislav Mijatović

Assistant coach(es)

Ümit Temoçin
Serhan Aydanarığ

Team manager

Alper Yılmaz

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DC) Dual citizenship
Injured

Roster

Updated: August 26, 2024

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Vincent Poirier	Daniel Oturu	Ercan Osmani	Salih Altuntaş
PF	Rolands Šmits	Derek Willis	Burak Can Yıldızlı
SF	Jordan Nwora	Stanley Johnson	Erkan Yılmaz
SG	Elijah Bryant	Rodrigue Beaubois	Justus Hollatz	Melih Tunca
PG	Darius Thompson	Shane Larkin	Doğuş Özdemiroğlu	Rıdvan Öncel

Naumoski's retired #7 Efes jersey.

Retired numbers

Anadolu Efes retired numbers
No	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure	Ceremony date
7		Petar Naumoski	PG	1992–1994, 1995–1999	9 February 2017^[8]
44		Krunoslav Simon	SG / SF	2017–2022	1 December 2022^[9]

Honours

Domestic competitions

Turkish Super League

Winners (16) (record): 1978–79, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2022–23

Runners-up (13): 1985–86, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2021–22, 2023–24

Turkish Cup

Winners (12) (record): 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2014–15, 2018, 2022

Runners-up (5): 2003–04, 2013–14, 2017, 2019, 2024

Turkish Presidential Cup

Winners (14) (record): 1986, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024

Runners-up (11): 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2016

European competitions

EuroLeague

Winners (2): 2020–21, 2021–22

Runners-up (1): 2018–19

3rd place (2): 1999–00, 2000–01

Final Four (5): 2000, 2001, 2019, 2021, 2022

FIBA Saporta Cup (defunct)

Runners-up (1): 1992–93

FIBA Korać Cup (defunct)

Winners (1): 1995–96

Other competitions

FIBA International Christmas Tournament (defunct)

3rd place (1): 1996

Sondrio, Italy Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2008

Bandirma Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2008

Sarajevo Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2010

Istanbul, Turkey Invitational Game

Winners (1): 2014

Crete Heraklion Basketball Tournament

Winners (1): 2016

TUBAD Basketball Tournament

Winners (1): 2018

Zadar Basketball Tournament

Winners: 2019

Gloria Cup

Winners (2): 2020, 2021

Notable players

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

Players at the NBA draft

⁺	Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game
^#	Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game

Position	Player	Year	Round	Pick	Drafted by
PF	Mirsad Türkcan	1998	1st round	18th	Houston Rockets
SF	Hedo Türkoğlu	2000	1st round	16th	Sacramento Kings
C/PF	Mehmet Okur⁺	2001	2nd round	38th	Detroit Pistons
SG/SF	Cenk Akyol^#	2005	2nd round	59th	Atlanta Hawks
SF	Cedi Osman	2015	2nd round	31st	Minnesota Timberwolves
SG/SF	Furkan Korkmaz	2016	1st round	26th	Philadelphia 76ers

Season by season

Season	Tier	Division	Pos.	Cup competitions	European Competitions
1976–77	2	TB2L
1977–78	2	TB2L	1st
1978–79	1	TBL	1st
1979–80	1	TBL	2nd		EuroLeague
1980–81	1	TBL	3rd		Cup Winners' Cup
1981–82	1	TBL	3rd		Korać Cup
1982–83	1	TBL	1st		Korać Cup
1983–84	1	TBL	1st		EuroLeague
1984–85	1	TBL	5th		EuroLeague
1985–86	1	TBL	2nd
1986–87	1	TBL	3rd		Cup Winners' Cup
1987–88	1	TBL	5th		Korać Cup
1988–89	1	TBL	3rd		Korać Cup
1989–90	1	TBL	4th		Korać Cup	QF
1990–91	1	TBL	5th		Korać Cup
1991–92	1	TBL	1st		Played Korać Cup
1992–93	1	TBL	1st		Saporta Cup	RU
1993–94	1	TBL	1st	Champion	EuroLeague	QF
1994–95	1	TBL	3rd		EuroLeague
1995–96	1	TBL	1st	Champion	Korać Cup	C
1996–97	1	TBL	1st	Champion	EuroLeague	QF
1997–98	1	TBL	2nd	Champion	EuroLeague	QF
1998–99	1	TBL	2nd		EuroLeague	QF
1999–00	1	TBL	2nd	Semifinalist	EuroLeague	SF^3rd
2000–01	1	TBL	2nd	Champion	SuproLeague	SF^3rd
2001–02	1	TBL	1st	Champion	EuroLeague	T16
2002–03	1	TBL	1st	Semifinalist	EuroLeague	T16
2003–04	1	TBL	1st	Runner-up	EuroLeague	T16
2004–05	1	TBL	1st	Quarterfinalist	EuroLeague	QF
2005–06	1	TBL	2nd	Champion	EuroLeague	QF
2006–07	1	TBL	2nd	Champion	EuroLeague	T16
2007–08	1	TBL	4th	Semifinalist	EuroLeague	T16
2008–09	1	TBL	1st	Champion	EuroLeague	RS
2009–10	1	TBL	2nd	Semifinalist	EuroLeague	T16
2010–11	1	TBL	4th	Quarterfinalist	EuroLeague	T16
2011–12	1	TBL	2nd	Semifinalist	EuroLeague	T16
2012–13	1	TBL	3rd	Quarterfinalist	EuroLeague	QF
2013–14	1	TBL	5th	Runner-up	EuroLeague	T16
2014–15	1	TBL	2nd	Champion	EuroLeague	QF
2015–16	1	BSL	2nd	Quarterfinalist	EuroLeague	T16
2016–17	1	BSL	3rd	Runner-up	EuroLeague	QF
2017–18	1	BSL	3rd	Champion	EuroLeague	RS
2018–19	1	BSL	1st	Runner-up	EuroLeague	RU
2019–20	1	BSL	–¹	Quarterfinalist	EuroLeague	RS¹
2020–21	1	BSL	1st	– ¹	EuroLeague	C
2021–22	1	BSL	2nd	Champion	EuroLeague	C
2022–23	1	BSL	1st	–	EuroLeague	RS
2023–24	1	BSL	2nd	Runner-up	EuroLeague	PI

^1 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

International record

Season	Achievement	Notes
EuroLeague
1993–94	Quarter-finals	eliminated 2–1 by FC Barcelona, 50–54 (L) in Barcelona, 73–64 (W) and 62–76 (L) in Istanbul
1996–97	Quarter-finals	eliminated 2–1 by ASVEL, 81–71 (W) in Istanbul, 70–80 (L) in Villeurbanne and 57–62 (L) in Istanbul
1997–98	Quarter-finals	eliminated 2–1 by Benetton Treviso, 57–67 (L) in Treviso, 59–58 (W) in Istanbul and 68–76 (L) in Treviso
1998–99	Quarter-finals	eliminated 2–0 by Žalgiris, 68–69 (L) in Kaunas and 70–84 (L) in Istanbul
1999–00	Final four	3rd place in Thessaloniki, lost to Panathinaikos 71–81 in the semi-final, defeated FC Barcelona 75–69 in the 3rd place game
2000–01	Final four	3rd place in Paris, lost to Panathinaikos 66–74 in the semi-final, defeated CSKA Moscow 91–85 in the 3rd place game
2004–05	Quarter-finals	eliminated 2–1 by Panathinaikos, 96–102 (L) in Athens, 75–63 (W) in Istanbul and 76–84 (L) in Athens
2005–06	Quarter-finals	eliminated 2–0 by CSKA Moscow, 57–66 (L) in Moscow and 71–75 (L) in Istanbul
2012–13	Quarter-finals	eliminated 3–2 by Olympiacos, 62–67 (L) and 53-71 (L) in Piraeus, 83–72 (W) and 74–73 (W) in Istanbul, 72–82 (L) in Piraeus
2014–15	Quarter-finals	eliminated 3–1 by Real Madrid, 71–80 (L) and 85–90 (L) in Madrid, 75–72 (W) and 63–76 (L) in Istanbul
2016–17	Quarter-finals	eliminated 3–2 by Olympiacos, 87–72 (L) and 73–71 (W) in Piraeus, 64–60 (W) and 62–74 (L) in Istanbul, 78–87 (L) in Piraeus
2018–19	Final	lost to CSKA Moscow 83–91 in the Final (Vitoria-Gasteiz)
2020–21	Champions	defeated FC Barcelona 86–81 in the Final (Cologne)
2021–22	Champions	defeated Real Madrid 58–57 in the Final (Belgrade)
FIBA Saporta Cup
1980–81	Quarter-finals	4th place in a group with FC Barcelona, Turisanda Varese and Parker Leiden
1986–87	Quarter-finals	3rd place in a group with Cibona, Scavolini Pesaro and Maes Pils
1992–93	Final	lost to Sato Aris 48–50 in the Final (Turin)
FIBA Korać Cup
1989–90	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Bosna, 91–107 (L) in Istanbul and 78–117 (L) in Sarajevo
1995–96	Champions	defeated Stefanel Milano, 76–68 (W) in Istanbul and 70–77 (L) in Milan in the double finals of Korać Cup

Matches against NBA teams

In 2006, Efes Pilsen became the first Turkish basketball club to be invited to play with NBA teams. They competed against the Denver Nuggets in Denver, Colorado on October 11, and against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, California on October 12.^[10] In 2007, Efes Pilsen hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Abdi İpekçi Arena.^[11]