Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., commonly known as CB Canarias, also known as La Laguna Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top-level league in Spain, the Liga ACB and in European-wide competitions, the team plays in the EuroCup. Their home arena is the Santiago Martín.
Canarias became a prominent club on the domestic scene during the 2010s, after securing promotion to the Liga ACB in 2014. Under the FIBA system, Canarias won two BCL championships (in 2017 and 2023) as well as three Intercontinental Cups (2017, 2020, 2023).
History The team was founded in 1994, after the old CB Canarias club, that huge financial problems at that time, merged with other teams of the Spanish island of Tenerife, to create the new Tenerife Canarias club, which only played two seasons in the Liga EBA competition, at the time when that league was the second tier level of Spanish club basketball.
People who were in disagreement with that merger then created the new CB 1939 Canarias club, which inherited the colors and the logo of the club. In 2012, Iberostar Canarias was promoted to Spain's top-tier level Liga ACB competition, after the team won the championship of the LEB Oro. However, the club couldn't actually promote, due to the club's inability to fulfill the requirements needed to join the league that are requested by the league's organizer, the ACB.Comunicado del CB 1939 Canarias CB 1939 Canarias website. 12 June 2012 One month later, on 20 July 2012, CB 1939 Canarias finally achieved the league promotion, after Lucentum Alicante's vacated place in the league was granted to CB 1939 Canarias.La ACB adquiere la plaza vacante del Lucentum y la asigna al CB Canarias ACB.com 20 July 2012
Alejandro Martínez, became the team's head coach in 2003, and he managed to lead the team to multiple league promotions, going up from the LEB Plata (Spanish third tier), to the top-tier level Liga ACB. He resigned from the team's head coaching position in 2015.
Golden era and international championships
In the 2016–17 season, Canarias returned to the European scene after 28 years. On 29 March 2017, Canarias qualified for the 2017 Final Four of FIBA's Basketball Champions League (BCL), which happened 36 years after the club's first league promotion up to Spain's previous top-level competition, the Liga Nacional, in 1981. The 2017 Champions League Final Four was played at Canaria's home arena, the Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín. Canarias won the BCL championship, after beating the Turkish Super League club Banvit in the Final. The championship marked the first major title in the club's history.
On 24 September 2017, Canarias participated in the 2017 FIBA Intercontinental Cup, as the defending champions of the Basketball Champions League. The club won the FIBA Intercontinental Cup title, after beating the defending champions of the FIBA Americas League, the Venezuelan club Guaros de Lara, by a score of 76–71. Three years later, Canarias also won the 2020 FIBA Intercontinental Cup title, after they defeated the defending champions of the Basketball Champions League, the Italian club Virtus Bologna, by a score of 80–72.
In March 2020, the club stopped the 2019–20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.El CB Canarias se detiene por el coronavirus elDiario.es, 13 March 2020. Accessed 13 July 2020. The following season, the 2020–21 season, was the most successful season in the ACB in the team's history. After finishing third in the regular season, Canarias beat San Pablo Burgos before being eliminated in the semi-finals by Barcelona. In the 2021–22 season, Canarias won their second BCL championship after defeating fellow Spanish team Manresa in the final in Bilbao.
Sponsorship naming Partly due to sponsorship reasons, the team has been known by several names over the years:
Home arena
CB Canarias 1939 plays its home games at the Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín arena, which is located in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The arena was opened in 1999, and it has a seating capacity of 5,100 people for basketball games. CB Canarias 1939 has used Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín as its home arena, since 2010.
It has hosted major sporting events, such as the 2017 Basketball Champions League Final Four, the 2017 FIBA Intercontinental Cup, the 2018 FIBA Women's World Cup, and the 2020 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Players
Current roster
Depth chart
Head coaches Alejandro Martínez: 2003–2015 Txus Vidorreta: 2015–2017, 2018–2026 Nenad Marković: 2017 Fotios Katsikaris: 2017–2018 Jaka Lakovič: 2026–present
Season by season SeasonTierDivisionPos.Copa del ReyOther cupsEuropean competitions CB Canarias1974–75 22ª División 14–21975–76 22ª División 7th 12–2–101976–77 22ª División 4th 16–1–111977–78 22ª División 8th 14–2–143 Korać Cup 0–21978–79 21ª División B 5th 12–101979–80 21ª División B 6th 21–1–81980–81 21ª División B3rd 16–1–91981–82 11ª División12th 4–2–20Round of 161982–83 21ª División B3rd 20–1–51983–84 1Liga ACB 11th 12–181984–85 2Liga ACB15th 10–181985–86 21ª División B1st 24–41986–87 1Liga ACB 6th 15–18QuarterfinalistCopa Príncipe 1987–88 1Liga ACB 6th 15–18QuarterfinalistCopa Príncipe QF1988–89 1Liga ACB 19th 12–29Round of 163 Korać Cup 3–11989–90 1Liga ACB 16th 12–19First round1990–91 1Liga ACB24th 10–26Second round1991–92 21ª División 5th 22–221992–93 21ª División 5th 20–201993–94 21ª División 3rd 27–11 CB 1939 Canarias1994–95 42ª División 5th 5–71995–96 42ª División3rd 22–71996–97 42ª División 3rd 16–61997–98 42ª División1st 23–41998–99 3Liga EBA 19–111999–00 3Liga EBA 17–92000–01 4Liga EBA 24–72001–02 4Liga EBA 33–42002–03 3LEB 2 10th 13–172003–04 3LEB 2 13th 11–192004–05 3LEB 2 4th 22–162005–06 3LEB 2 14th 13–212006–07 3LEB 22nd 35–8Copa LEB 2 RU2007–08 2LEB Oro 7th 17–192008–09 2LEB Oro 13th 15–192009–10 2LEB Oro 5th 26–162010–11 2LEB Oro 7th 20–192011–12 2LEB Oro1st 26–8Copa Príncipe C2012–13 1Liga ACB 10th 17–172013–14 1Liga ACB 11th 14–21Quarterfinalist2014–15 1Liga ACB 11th 16–182015–16 1Liga ACB 9th 16–182016–17 1Liga ACB 5th 23–12Quarterfinalist3 Champions League C 15–1–42017–18 1Liga ACB 8th 19–17SemifinalistIntercontinental Cup C3 Champions League 13–32018–19 1Liga ACB 9th 17–17Semifinalist3 Champions League RU 15–52019–20 1Liga ACB 7th 16–11QuarterfinalistIntercontinental Cup C3 Champions League 13–52020–21 1Liga ACB 3rd 30–11SemifinalistSupercopa SF3 Champions League 9–42021–22 1Liga ACB 6th 22–15SemifinalistSupercopa SF3 Champions League C 16–32022–23 1Liga ACB 6th 24–12Runner-upIntercontinental Cup C3 Champions League 3rd 12–52023–24 1Liga ACB 6th 21–15Semifinalist3 Champions League RU 11–62024–25 1Liga ACB 3rd 27–12Semifinalist3 Champions League 4th 14–2 2025–26 1Liga ACB 4th 20–20QuarterfinalistSupercopa SF3 Champions League 4th 10–7
Honours and awards Honours
National competitions LEB Oro
Champions (1): 2011–12
Copa Príncipe de Asturias: Champions (1): 2012 Trofeo Gobierno de Canarias Champions (2): 2009, 2011
International competitions Basketball Champions League Champions (2): 2016–17, 2021–22 Runners-up (2): 2018–19, 2023–24 Third place (1): 2022–23 FIBA Intercontinental Cup Champions (3): 2017, 2020, 2023
Friendly competitions Las Palmas, Spain Invitational Game 2018
Individual awards Liga ACB MVP
Giorgi Shermadini – 2021 Marcelo Huertas – 2025
All-Liga ACB First Team
Giorgi Shermadini – 2020, 2021, 2022 Marcelo Huertas – 2021, 2022
All-Liga ACB Second Team
Marcelo Huertas – 2020 Javier Beirán – 2019
LEB Oro MVP Jakim Donaldson – 2009, 2010 Ricardo Guillén – 2011 All LEB Oro First Team Ricardo Guillén – 2011
Notes
References
External links Iberostar Tenerife official website at CBCanarias.net Iberostar Tenerife at ChampionsLeague.Basketball Iberostar Tenerife at Eurobasket.com Iberostar Tenerife at ACB.com Iberostar Tenerife at ACB.com (archive)