Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional basketball club based in 's-Hertogenbosch. The club plays in the BNXT League since 2021 and in the top basketball division in the Netherlands since 1972. Founded as EBBC in 1951, the club had several sponsored names the following decades.
Den Bosch has won a record seventeen Dutch championships, a record nine Dutch Cups and two Dutch Supercup titles. The team has also been a regular at European competitions, most recently the FIBA Europe Cup. Heroes plays their home games at the Maaspoort, which has a capacity of approximately 2,700 people.Zaal en ruimtes msedb.nl
History On 18 October 1952, Eerste Bossche Basketball Club (EBBC) was founded by Cees Vossen, Tom van der Leur, Hans van Oorschot and Frans van de Wiel. In 1962, Den Bosch played in the top division Eredivisie for the first time, but not very successful. Subsequently, the team was relegated again. In 1979, EBBC won its first title. In 1980, the team became Nashua Den Bosch after its new main sponsor. Its increased budget led to six consecutive Dutch titles between 1982 and 1987.
Nashua Den Bosch in the 1980s
In December 1979, Nashua signed as the club's new main sponsor. In the next 10 years, Nashua won 9 national championships and was close to the European top clubs. Star players such as Tom Barker, Dan Cramer, Mitchell Plaat, David Lawrence, Henk Pieterse, Paul Thompson and Mike Reddick played for Nashua in this decade.
Den Bosch changed its home arena to the newly built Maaspoort, increasing its home capacity from 1,200 to 3,500. Nashua played in the 1979 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
EiffelTowers (2005–2013) Decades later, in June 2005, Den Bosch merged with EiffelTowers Nijmegen to form EiffelTowers Den Bosch. Following the merger the club had one of the largest budgets in the Netherlands, and with that they were able to attract high-quality players. In their first season they had immediate success by winning the Dutch League title. The year after that (2006–07) EiffelTowers The Bosch would win the title again after a clean sweep against the Matrixx Magixx, after losing only four games in the regular season. The two following years, Den Bosch reached the finals, but lost twice to Amsterdam.
In 2012, EiffelTowers won its fifteenth Dutch championship, after beating ZZ Leiden 1–4 in a best-of-seven-series.
SPM Shoeters (2013–2016)
After 13 years playing as the EiffelTowers, in 2013, the club changed its name to SPM Shoeters as a reference to its new main sponsor SPM Shoes and Boots, a shoe producer based in Waalwijk. Along with the name change the club changed the team colors to black, after playing in red since 2000.
In the 2014–15 season, Shoeters won its sixteenth DBL championship after Donar was beaten 4–1 in the Finals. The team also performed excellently in the EuroChallenge that season, reaching the Top 16. Star of the season for Den Bosch was Brandyn Curry, who was named DBL Playoffs MVP.
After the 2015–16 season, it was revealed that Shoeters was dealing with serious financial problems which had the team on the edge of bankruptcy.Faillissement SPM Shoeters dreigt, basketbalclub Den Bosch heeft grote geldschulden
New Heroes (2016–2019) In October 2016, the team was bought by Triple Double BV, a sports marketing enterprise. Owner of the company Bob van Oosterhout took over the club which was no longer in danger of dissolution. On 6 November 2016, Den Bosch found a new main sponsor and subsequently was named New Heroes Basketball after signing a three-year deal with the local online training platform New Heroes. In its first season as New Heroes, the club finished fourth in the DBL and was swept by Donar in the semi-finals.
In the 2017–18 season, Croatian coach Silvano Poropat signed a two-year contract. Under Poropat, Heroes finished fourth once again but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Rotterdam Basketbal. Following the disappointing season, Poropat and Heroes parted ways.
On 31 May 2018, Kees Akerboom Jr. announced his retirement at age 34. Akerboom, who played 11 seasons for the club, had his jersey number 12 retired.
For the 2018–19 season, Ivica Skelin was appointed as head coach. This season, New Heroes played in the FIBA Europe Cup after a European absence of 3 years. In Group D, Heroes had a 3–3 record and finished in third place. In the DBL playoffs, Den Bosch was once again eliminated in the semifinals, this time by Landstede.
Heroes Den Bosch (2019–present) On 21 August 2019, the club announced it was changing its name to Heroes Den Bosch and it is not planning to change the club name anymore. In June, Heroes signed Jean-Marc Jaumin as its new head coach.
On 15 June 2021, Heroes signed three-time DBL champion Erik Braal as head coach. In the 2021–22 season, the DBL merged with the PBL into the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands are combined. On 29 May 2022, Heroes ended a 7-year drought when it won its seventeenth national championship, beating ZZ Leiden in the finals series 3–2.
In the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons, Heroes won consecutive Dutch Cups.
Logos Heroes Den Bosch logos 2009–2013 2013–2016 2017–2019 2019–now
Home arenas
After many successful seasons by Nashua Den Bosch in the 1980s, a true basketball hall was built with the Maaspoort. The arena was opened on 3 September 1982 with a game against the NBA All-Stars.
De Vinkenkamp Maaspoort: 1982–present
Honours
Domestic Dutch National Champions (record) Winners (18): 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2021–22, 2024–25 Dutch Cup (record) Winners (9): 1992–93, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2023–24, 2024–25 Dutch SuperCup Winners (4): 2013, 2015, 2022, 2025 Ricoh Cup Winners (1): 2000
European FIBA Saporta CupErelijst spmshoeters.nl Runner-up (1): 1978–79
Worldwide FIBA Intercontinental Cup Runners-up (1): 1982
Friendly Haarlem Basketball Week Winners (1): 2006
All-time records
Most Dutch Basketball League champions (17 championships) Most games played: Kees Akerboom, Jr. (671 games)
Players Retired numbers
Heroes Den Bosch retired numbersNoPlayerPositionTenureRetirement date 5 Jan Dekker G 1976–1983 9 Jos Kuipers PF/C 1981–1984, 1986–1999 9 December 2021 12 Kees Akerboom Sr. G 1975–1986 12 Kees Akerboom Jr. SG 2001–2004, 2006–2018 23 September 2018
Current roster
Depth chart
Notable players
Season by season SeasonTierLeagueDutch CupEuropean competitions1996–97 1 DBL 1st 2 Saporta Cup 1997–98 1 DBL 4th 2 Saporta Cup 1998–99 1 DBL 4th 1999–00 1 DBL 5th Winner2000–01 1 DBL 3rd 2001–02 1 DBL 6thWinner2002–03 1 DBL 5th 2003–04 1 DBL 2nd 2004–05 1 DBL 5th EiffelTowers Den Bosch2005–06 1 DBL 1st Eighthfinalist 4 EuroCup Challenge 2006–07 1 DBL 1st Eighthfinalist 2 ULEB Cup 2007–08 1 DBL 2ndWinner 2 ULEB Cup 2008–09 1 DBL 2ndWinner 3 EuroChallenge 2009–10 1 DBL 5th Quarterfinalist 3 EuroChallenge 2010–11 1 DBL 3rd Semifinalist2011–12 1 DBL 1st Quarterfinalist 2012–13 1 DBL 3rd Winner SPM Shoeters 2013–14 1 DBL 2nd Semifinalist 3 EuroChallenge 2014–15 1 DBL1stRunners-up 3 EuroChallenge 2015–16 1 DBL4thChampions Heroes Den Bosch 2016–17 1 DBL4th Eighthfinalist 2017–18 1 DBL 5th Semifinalist 2018–19 1 DBL 4th Quarterfinalist 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2019–20 1 DBL 3rd Fourth round 2020–21 1 DBL 2nd Quarterfinalist 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2021–22 1 BNXT League (National) 5th 1st Runners-up 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2022–23 1 BNXT League (National) 5th 3rd Quarterfinalist 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2023–24 1 BNXT League (National) 2nd 2nd Champions 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2024–25 1BNXT League NL 1st Champions3 Champions League BNXT 8th 2025–26 1BNXT League NL 3rdSemifinalist3 Champions League BNXT 6th
European record Season Competition Round Club Home AwayAgg2013–14EuroChallengeRegular season Antwerp Giants83–7672–773rd in Group A JDA Dijon66–7064–83 Rakvere Tarvas78–7170–572014–15EuroChallengeRegular season Brindisi71–6962–762nd in Group Ulm87–7682–91 Södertälje Kings115–108 (OT)72–88Second round Avtodor107–108 (OT)85–894th in Group K Skyliners Frankfurt92–94 (OT)70–75 Tartu University78–7764–71 2018–19 FIBA Europe Cup Second qualifying round Balkan 76–86 68–66 144–152 Regular season Avtodor 93–97 79–89 3rd place in Group Ironi Nes Ziona 102–87 85–91 JIP Pardubice 91–58 68–642020–21FIBA Europe CupRegular season Parma63–85 (N)2nd place in Group F Donar99–98 (OT, N) BorisfenDNPRound of 16 Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski83–92 (N) 2021–22 FIBA Europe Cup Regular season Benfica 76–78 78–73 3rd in Group C Opava 87–82 88–72 Parma 75–92 52–67 2022–23 FIBA Europe Cup Regular season FC Porto 82–64 71–68 1st in Group C Fribourg Olympic 87–82 78–83 Pärnu 87–55 67–75 Second round Gaziantep 63–82 72–93 4th in Group K Kalev/Cramo 86–72 63–73 Hakro Merlins Crailsheim 97–102 84–89 2023–24 FIBA Europe Cup Regular season Niners Chemnitz 66–77 61–88 4th in Group H PGE Spójnia Stargard 89–92 65–73 Peja 109–91 84–99 2024–25 Champions League Qualifying round Quarterfinals Petkim Spor 72–92 2025–26 Champions League Qualifying round Quarter-finals KB Trepça 66–77 Qualifying round Semi-finals Bakken Bears 89–92 Notes
List of head coaches
Coach Nationality Tenure Honours 1976–1977 1978–1980 1980–1982 1982–1985 Charis Saideris1989 1997–1998 2001–2005 2005–2009 2009–2010 (interim) 2010 2010–2013 2013–2016 2016–2017 2017–2018 2018–2019 2019–2021 2021–present
References
External links Official website Eurobasket.com Den Bosch Page