Kada govorimo o najboljima u hrvatskoj košarci, KK Split Croatia Osiguranje predstavlja i sinonim je top kvalitete. Jedinstven po mnogo čemu, KK SPLIT CO u svojih 60 godina postojanja je osvajač 3 titule evropskih prvaka, 2 puta pobjednik Kupa Radivoja Koraća, 7 puta prvak države, te 10 puta osvajač nacionalnog kupa. Nema puno klubova u Evropi koji se mogu pohvaliti s ovakvim dostignućima.

Košarkaška tradicija u Splitu je duga više od 60 godina. U početku je košarka igrana među mladima sunčanog Splita za dušu, za zabavu. U Dalmaciji je priroda darovala mladiće sa visinom, snagom, građom i iznimnim talentom za timske sportove, tj. talentom za igru.

Kao što svaki napredak ima svoju logiku sa vremenom je košarka rasla od amatarskog posla do vrlo ozbiljnog projekta i tako je došlo do stvaranja KK SPLIT.

Prva titula je došla šezdesetih godina kada se klub zvao KK JUGOPLASTIKA, po imenu sponzora u to vrijeme. Klub je stigao do svog prvog finala Kupa Prvaka 1972 godine. U finalu u Tel Avivu, talijanski prvak Ignis je bio bolji doslovno za jedan šut, ali je klub s ovim finalom najavio velike mogućnosti u Evropi u narednom periodu. To se i obistinilo.

Četiri godine kasnije JUGOPLASTIKA osvaja svoju prvu evropsku titulu, Kup Radivoja Koraća. Naredne godine je ponovila taj uspjeh.

Dominantne godine «žute boje» u evropskoj košarci su počele 1988. sa jednom novom, atomskom generacijom. Neočekivano, u Minhenu 1989. Kukoč, Rađa, Perasović, Sobin i drugi osvajuju krov Evrope i tako za stepenicu više nadmašuju onu sjajnu generaciju ispred sebe iz Tel Aviva (Tvrdić, Skansi, Šolman, Jerkov, Prug i dr.).

«Žuti» postaju iznenađenje evropske košarke. MACCABI je «platio» u finalu konačni račun. Sljedeće godine «žuti» po drugi put osvajaju Kup prvaka u Zaragozi, protiv domaćina Barcelone. Ovo je definitivno bila potvrda prave, istinske kvalitete. Ali to nije bio kraj. U Parizu 1991. po treći put zaredom se penju na vrh evropske košarke, pod imenom tadašnjeg sponzora POP 84. Ovom titulom su postali suvereni vladari evropske košarke, jedinstveni u njenoj povijesti.

Nedugo zatim dolazi vrijeme rata u Hrvatskoj, rezultati su promjenjivi, ali je KK SPLIT uvijek prisutan na evropskoj košarkaškoj sceni. Sve ovo se događa kada klub mijenja sponzore pa se zove SLOBODNA DALMACIJA, CROATIA OSIGURANJE i SPLIT -CROATIA OSIGURANJE.

Što je toliko posebno oko KK SPLIT CROATIA OSIGURANJA? Vrlo je teško naći klub u evropskim i svjetskim razmjerima koji je toliko proizveo istinskih zvijezda i velikih igrača. Svi oni su prve košarkaške korake napravili u «košarkaškom hramu» na Gripama. Klub je poznat po radu u svojoj omladinskoj školi koja broji oko 400 djece svake godine. To je razlog zašto mnogi košarkaški eksperti kažu da je naš klub «košarkaški AJAX».

Nikad do sada jedan evropski klub nije dao 5 NBA igrača visoke kvalitete. Rađa, Kukoč, Tabak, Šundov i Roko Ukić, su poznati diljem Amerike, te cijeli košarkaški svijet zna za njih. Svi oni su abecedu košarke učili na Gripama.

Danas, nove evropske i svjetske zvijezde se rađaju na parketu Gripa. Na primjer, Nikola Vujčić je jedan od najboljih igrača Evrope, bivši član MACCABI TEL AVIVA, Evropskog prvaka 2004. i 2005.g. U ovom momentu naš klub ima najbolju juniorsku momčad u Hrvatskoj i to nam daje za pravo očekivati najbolje rezultate u budućnosti.

Imena koja će biti upamćena u svijetu košarke su: Ukić, Sobin, Delaš, Babić, Katić, Najev i generacije koje dolaze iza njih – dječaci rođeni 1992. i mlađi.

Ovo je sve potvrda dobrog i ispravnog rada u klubu što je i jamstvo za dobre rezultate u budućnosti i zadržavanje vrijedne robne marke na sportskom, odnosno košarkaškom tržištu.

Naravno da ne treba posebno naglašavati da su igrači KK SPLITA uvijek bili okosnica hrvatskih nacionalnih selekcija u svim uzrasnim kategorijama.

Srdačno,

KK SPLIT CROATIA OSIGURANJE

Predsjednik kluba

Ilija Naletilić



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Let us introduce to our club history:

When we talk of Croatian basketball, when we talk of the best, “Split - Croatia insurance” represents the synonym of top quality. This exemplary club from Split, the beautiful historic city on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic, has sixty years of existence and achievements to boast with: three European Championship titles, two titles in the “Radivoje Korać Cup”, six State Championship titles and eight National Cup titles. Not many clubs in Europe could say the same for themselves.

The basketball tradition in Split is more than half a century old. In the beginning, “basket” was played by youngsters from sunny Split “for kicks”, just for fun. In Dalmatia, the coastal part of Croatia, nature has gifted young boys with height, strengths and exeptional talent for the team sports. For games! Since each evolution has its own logic, with time the basketball grew from amateurism into serious work and thus produced a club about thirty years ago called “Split” at first, which grew, developed, improved. With its strength grew its fame in Europe. First titles were won back in the sixties under the name of “Jugoplastika” its sponsor at the time. The club reached its first European Championship finals in 1972. In Tel Aviv it clashed with the current European champion, the Italian “Ignis” in the finals of the Cup of Champions. Only a single shot forced the club to satisfy itself with a vicechampion title, but it announced their entrance onto the big European scene. Four years later, they win their first European title in the “Radivoje Korać Cup”. They repeated the success a year later. The dominating years of the yellow color in European club basketball started in 1989 with the maturity of a new, atom age generation. The basketball players from Split managed to reach the European top in Muenich, in the Final four. Kukoč, Rađa, Perasović, Sobin and the others made the one extra step not made by the first famous generation of Skansi, Šolman, the

Tvrdić brothers, Prug and others from Tel Aviv. The Yellows became the surprise of European basketball. “Macabi” paid the final bill. But next year, in 1990 these same kids repeated the triumph in the Final four in Zaragosa in Spain, when they defeated “Barcelona” on their own field, it ceased to be a surprise. It was a confirmation of the highest quality! But this was not the end of the Kukoč and Rađa generation. In Paris, on the eve of the assault on Croatia, the eve of a bloody unfair war, the basketball players from Split, now under the name of “POP 84” did their hat trick, and for the third time in a row, conquered the highest title of the old continent. They became sovereign rulers of basket and entered the annals of European basketball. Years of war came next, the best players leaved, but the old recipe continued under the name of ”Slobodna Dalmacija”, “Croatia insurance” and ”Split - Croatia insurance”.

This is the only European team which has participated in European Cups for over a decade. The results diminished due to a generation changeover, but always on the scene.

What is so special about “Split - Croatia insurance”? It is difficult to find a club like the Split club among the European clubs, a club which has always developed its own aces. They all made their first basketball steps in Gripe, their home court. “Split - Croatia insurance” is famous for its school of basketball which gathers about 500 boys each year. This is why, not without reason, experts call this club “the basketball Ajax”. Surely at this moment, and never before, no other club in Europe ever gave the NBA four players of such high quality. Rađa Kukoč, Tabak, Šundov and Ukić are famous all over America, the whole world knows about them. All five of them learned the alphabet of this beautiful game in their home club. Today, new European and world stars are raised on the parquet of the Split court. For example, Nikola Vujčić is in the best 10 players in Europe at last decade. We have in this moment one of the best kadet and junior team in Croatia and we expect the great results and best players in future! Names to be remembered: Babić, Katić, Najev, all kids born 1991. and younger… All this points to expert work done in the club, in the organization of the school of basketball as a sample which guarantees that “Split - Croatia insurance” will remain a big European club. It will be a club which will, as always, leave its stamp on the Croatian national team, which will be a trade mark of highest quality.

Our club, our team from 1988. to 1991. is announced as the best basketball team of XX Century. 

Sincerely yours,

Ilija Naletilić
President of Club