LWD Basket is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Leeuwarden. Founded as Aris Leeuwarden in 2004 and has competed at the highest national level since its foundation. The team plays its home games at the Kalverdijkje.
The most notable successes are reaching the DBL finals in 2013 and the NBB Cup final in 2020.
History The parent club was actually founded in 1992, when the clubs Sporty and Ymir merged into BV Aris. In 2004 the professional team was founded, when the team promoted from the Promotiedivisie – the Dutch second-tier league – to the Eredivisie. The team, coached by Tom Simpson, was named Woon!Aris for sponsorship reasons and reached the Playoffs in its first season. After then, the team failed to reach the postseason for four seasons. In 2009–10, Aris, then named De Friesland Aris, reached the playoff semi-finals for the first time. Aris took its name from Aris Limassol a legendary cypriot team with 300 fans.
In the 2012–13 season, Aris was in financial trouble after it lost their main sponsor Lasaulec. Despite these circumstances Aris' squad – which included All-Stars Holcomb-Faye and Givens – reached the DBL Finals. Rival #1 seed Den Bosch was knocked out of the tournament 3–1 in the semi-finals. In the Finals Aris played ZZ Leiden and lost 0–4 to the #2 seed of the regular season.
Before the start of the 2013–14 Aris signed a new main sponsor in Univé, which guaranteed the existence of the team despite its ongoing financial struggles. The capacity of Kalverdijkje was also increased from 800 to 1,700 to further increase the stability for the club's future.
In the 2019–20 season, Aris reached the final of the Dutch Basketball Cup for the first time in history under head coach Ferried Naciri. The final, however, was never played as the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The final, which was to be played against Donar, was cancelled as well after no new date could be found.
Since the 2021–22 season, Aris plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged. During the 2022–23 season, Aris reached the semi-finals for a third time in history.
At the end of the 2022–23 season, it was revealed that the club was in financial difficulties. The BNXT organisation denied the club’s first application for a licence. To resolve the issues, the stichting behind the club was resolved and a new club was founded in a besloten vennootschap by the three members of the board, Johan Meijer, Gert Schrurer and Paul de Jong. The new name of the phoenix club was decided to be LWD Basket, with LWD being an abbreviation for Leeuwarden. LWD Basket adopted new club colours, blue and yellow, which it lends from the flag of the city.
On the 26th of march 2026 the club announced it would not apply for a BNXT League license for the following year. The club stated it could not maintain the required financial and organizational level of the League. Despite being competitive in the last three years, the club was unable to obtain enough sponsors and a following which could support a club on this level.
Honours Dutch Basketball League Runners-up (1): 2012–13 Semifinalists (2): 2009–10, 2022–23 Dutch Cup Finalist (1): 2019–20 Semifinalist (4): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2021–22
Promotiedivisie Winners (1): 2003–04
Season by season
Champions Runners-up Playoff berth Season Tier League Finish Played Wins Losses Win%Dutch PlayoffsNBB CupBNXT PlayoffsHead coach Aris Leeuwarden 2004–051DBL7th 20 11 9Lost quarterfinals (Den Bosch), 0–2 –Tom Simpson 2005–061DBL10th26521– 2006–071DBL9th401426– Andre Roorda 2007–081DBL10th40832– Tony van den Bosch 2008–091DBL10th401228– Pete Miller2009–101DBL6th361917Won quarterfinals (Den Bosch), 2–0Lost semifinals (West-Brabant Giants), 1–3Fourth round2010–111DBL5th361719Lost quarterfinals (Magixx), 1–2Quarterfinalist2011–121DBL6th281018Lost group stage quarterfinalsFourth roundErik Braal2012–131DBL4th362016Won quarterfinals (Landstede), 3–0Won semifinals (Den Bosch), 3–1Lost finals (ZZ Leiden), 0–4Semifinalist2013–141DBL6th361323Lost quarterfinals (SPM Shoeters), 0–2SemifinalistEd Molthoff2014–151DBL6th28820Lost quarterfinals (Donar), 0–2QuarterfinalistTom Simpson2015–161DBL7th28919–SemifinalsMichael SchuursKlaas Stoppels (a.i.)2016–171DBL7th28820–QuarterfinalsKlaas Stoppels2017–181DBL6th321022Lost quarterfinals (ZZ Leiden), 1–2QuarterfinalsTony van den Bosch2018–191DBL7th34925Lost quarterfinals (Landstede), 0–2Fourth roundTony van den BoschAnne van Dijk (a.i.)2019–201DBL8th24717Runners-upFerried Naciri2020–211DBL11th21417–First Round2021–221BNXT League 14th 30 14 16 Lost quarterfinals (Donar), 1–2 Semifinals Lost second round (Okapi), 128–161Vincent van Sliedregt2022–231BNXT League 10th 28 11 17 Won quarterfinals (Landstede), 2–1 Lost semifinals (ZZ Leiden) Quarterfinals Lost third round (Spirou), 149–177 LWD Basket2023–241BNXT League 17th 28 8 20 Lost quarterfinals (Landstede), 0–2 Quarterfinals –Vincent van Sliedregt2024–251BNXT League 10th 36 20 16 Lost semifinals (Leiden), 2–3 Quarterfinals –2025–261BNXT League 15th 34 10 24 Lost quarterfinals (Leiden), 1–2 Quarterfinals –
Players
Current roster
Notable players
Meshack Lufile
Individual awards
All-DBL Team Brandon Woudstra – 2005 Matt Bauscher – 2009 Rein van der Kamp – 2009 DBL All-Defense Team Darius Theus – 2014
DBL Rookie of the Year Valentijn Lietmeijer – 2012 DBL Statistical Player of the Year Matt Bauscher – 2009 Samme Givens – 2013 Darius Theus – 2014
Top scorers by seasons SeasonNamePPG2011–12 Lance Jeter16.82012–13 Samme Givens16.42013–14 Darius Theus16.52014–15 Tjoe de Paula17.02015–16 Javier Duren17.72016–17 Jordan Gregory18.6 SeasonNamePPG2017–18 Emile Blackman16.42018–19 Nick Masterson16.62019–20 Andrzej Mazurczak16.52020–21 Chad Frazier12.72021–22 Nigel Pruitt
List of head coaches The following list shows all head coaches of Aris Leeuwarden since its inception in 2004: Name From To Tom Simpson 2004 2006 Andre Roorda 2007 2008 Tony van den Bosch 2008 2009 Pete Miller 2009 2011 Erik Braal 2011 2013 Ed Molthoff 2013 February 2014 Tom Simpson February 2014 2015 Michael Schuurs 2015 2016 Klaas Stoppels 2016 2017 Tony van den Bosch 2017 April 2019 Anne van Dijk (interim) April 2019 May 2019 Ferried Naciri September 2019 May 2021 Vincent van Sliedregt June 2021 2026
References
External links
Eurobasket.com Aris Leeuwarden Page