The Hague Royals

Dutch basketball club

The Hague Royals

Founded| May 2020
Dissolved| September 2023
History| The Hague Royals
2020–2023
Arena| Sportcampus Zuiderpark
Capacity| 3,500
Location| The Hague, Netherlands
Chairman| Mart Waterval
Head coach| Bert Samson
Team captain| Deividas Kumelis
2021–22 position| BNXT League, 21nd of 21
Website| thehagueroyals.nl

Home

Away

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The Hague Royals were a Dutch basketball club based in The Hague. Established in 2020, the team played in the highest level of basketball in the Netherlands for two seasons. Home games are played in the Sportcampus Zuiderpark, which has a capacity of 3,500 people.[1]

The Royals played in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons of the Dutch Basketball League (DBL) and later the BNXT League, the top flight divisions of Dutch basketball. They were denied a license in 2022 for the following season. After trying to revive the club, the Royals decided to dissolve the club in 2023.[2][3]

## History

[edit]

The home arena Sportcampus Zuiderpark

Before the establishment of the Royals, the last time a professional basketball team played at the highest level was C3 Cobra's the 2000–01 season. In May 2020, The Hague Royals announced its plans to play in the Dutch Basketball League (DBL) starting from the 2020–21 season.[4] The name Royals comes from the reputation of The Hague as the Hofstad, where the Dutch royal family is seated.

On 20 June 2020, Bert Samson was announced as the first head coach of the Royals.[5] On 10 August, the Royals signed Sam van Dijk as its first player ever.[6] On 27 August, the DBL granted the club a license for the 2020–21 season.[7] On 3 October, the Royals played their first ever DBL game, losing away against Aris Leeuwarden, 63–81.[8]

In the 2021–22 season, the Royals played in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.[9] The Royals ended 21st out of the 21 teams with one victory in the season. The Royals failed to obtain a club licence for the 2022–23 season, the club appealed the decision but without success.[3]

During the 2022–23 season, the club went into hiatus while the organisation aimed for a comeback the next season. In September 2023, the board announced the dissolution of the club after their application for a license in the 2023–24 season was once again rejected by the BNXT League.[2]

## Players

[edit]

The Royals playing Donar in the 2021–22 season

### Final roster

[edit]

The following was the Royals’ final roster in the 2021–22 season.

The Hague Royals roster

Players | Coaches
| Pos. | No. | Nat. | Name | Ht. |  | Age |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

G | 0 |  | Samson, Skip | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)  |  |  29 – (1995-12-31)31 December 1995  |
SG | 3 |  | Lopes, Casey | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)  |  |  28 – (1997-01-30)30 January 1997  |
PF/C | 4 |  | Camaj, Arben | 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)  |  |  |
PG | 9 |  | van der Salm, Rick | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)  |  |  25 – (2000-07-28)28 July 2000  |
PG | 10 |  | Kumelis, Deividas | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)  |  |  30 – (1995-05-06)6 May 1995  |
PF | 12 |  | Knepa, Marnexson | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)  |  |  29 – (1996-03-19)19 March 1996  |
PF | 15 |  | Ackermans, Tom | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)  |  |  25 – (2000-08-05)5 August 2000  |
C | 16 |  | Alkema, Vincent | 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in)  |  |  25 – (2000-01-01)1 January 2000  |
SF | 22 |  | Pandura, Piotr | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)  |  |  30 – (1995-02-15)15 February 1995  |
SG | 27 |  | te Velde, Jens | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)  |  |  30 – (1995-02-15)15 February 1995  |
SG | 33 |  | Vignisson, Snorri | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)  |  |  28 – (1997-04-22)22 April 1997  |

Head coach

* Bert Samson

Team manager

* Edgar da Costa

* * *

Legend

* (C) Team captain
* Injured

* * *

* Roster
* Transactions

Updated: 2021-10-05

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

### Depth chart

[edit]

Pos.  | Starting 5  | Bench 1  | Bench 2  |  |

|
|
|
|
|

C | Arben Camaj  | Vincent Alkema  |  |  |
PF | Bryce Smith  | Marnexson Knepa  |  |  |
SF | Tom Ackermans  | Piotr Pandura  |  |  |
SG | Jens te Velde  | Casey Lopes  |  |  |
PG | Deividas Kumelis  | Skip Samson  | Rick van der Salm  |  |

### Notable players

[edit]

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.

* Eric Kibi (1 season: 2020–21)

## Season by season

[edit]

Season  | Tier  | League  | Regular season  | Playoffs | Dutch Cup | Head coach

|
|
|
|
|
|

Finish  | Played  | Wins  | Losses  | Win%
The Hague Royals
2020–21 | 1  | DBL | 10th  | 21  | 6  | 15  | .286  | DNQ  | Quarter-finalist | Bert Samson
2021–22 | 1  | BNXT | 21st  | 30  | 1  | 29  | .033  | DNQ  | Quarter-finalist
Overall  | 51  | 7  | 44  | .137  |

## Sponsorship

[edit]

Period  | Kit manufacturer  | Shirt sponsor  | Ref.

|
|
|

2020–2021  | Burned  | None |
2021–2022  | Majr

## Head coaches

[edit]

Period  | Head coach

|

2020–2022  |  Bert Samson

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Topsporthal" (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 August 2020.
2. ^ a b "Bericht van het bestuur: beëindiging The Hague Royals" [Message from the board: termination of The Hague Royals] (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 15 October 2023.
3. ^ a b "Bericht van het bestuur: beroep Royals afgewezen". The Hague Royals (in Dutch). 20 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
4. ^ "The Hague Royals plan DBL start next season". The Hague Royals. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
5. ^ "Bert Samson first coach of The Hague Royals". The Hague Royals. 20 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
6. ^ "Sam van Dijk first Royals-player". The Hague Royals. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
7. ^ "The Hague Royals en Almere Sailors gaan de DBL in" (in Dutch). Dutch Basketball League. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
8. ^ "Aris begint seizoen met overwinning op The Hague Royals". Omroep Fryslân (in Dutch). 3 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
9. ^ "Licenties BNXT League 2021–2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

BNXT League

Seasons|

* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25

Playoffs|

| BNXT Finals|

* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

|

Netherlands|

* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Belgium|

* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Clubs|

| Belgium|

* Antwerp Giants
* Brussels Basketball
* BC Oostende
* Kangoeroes Mechelen
* Kortrijk Spurs
* Limburg United
* Leuven Bears
* Mons-Hainaut
* Okapi Aalst
* Spirou Charleroi

|

Netherlands|

* BAL
* Den Helder Suns
* Donar
* Heroes Den Bosch
* Landstede Hammers
* LWD Basket
* Rotterdam City
* ZZ Leiden

Former teams|

* Apollo Amsterdam
* Liège Basket
* QSTA United
* The Hague Royals

Awards|

* Most Valuable Player (MVP)
* Finals MVP
* National Finals MVP
* Dream Team
* Sixth Man of the Year
* Defensive Player of the Year
* Player of the Year
* Rising Star of the Year
* Coach of the Year

Associated competitions|

* BNXT Supercup

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Dutch Basketball League

Seasons|

* 1962–63
* 1963–64
* 1964–65
* 1965–66
* 1966–67
* 1967–68
* 1968–69
* 1969–70
* 1970–71
* 1971–72
* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
* 1976–77
* 1977–78
* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–2000
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21

Playoffs|

* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021

Clubs|

| 2020–21 season|

* Almere Sailors
* Aris Leeuwarden
* Apollo Amsterdam
* Donar
* Den Helder Suns
* BAL
* Feyenoord
* Heroes Den Bosch
* Landstede Hammers
* The Hague Royals
* Yoast United
* ZZ Leiden

|

Former|

* Arke Stars Enschede
* Akrides
* Amsterdam Basketball
* Amstelveen
* AMVJ
* Almere Pioneers
* BSW
* BV Groningen
* DAS Delft
* Den Helder
* Dutch Windmills
* EiffelTowers Nijmegen
* Flamingo's Haarlem
* Red Giants
* Herly Amsterdam
* Virtus Werkendam
* NAC Basketbal
* Orca's
* Punch
* Rowic
* Matrixx Magixx
* West-Brabant Giants
* RZ
* DED
* The Wolves
* SVE
* The Lions
* Blue Stars

Arenas|

* MartiniPlaza
* Maaspoort
* Apollohal
* Kalverdijkje
* Sporthal Boshoven
* Landstede Sportcentrum
* Sporthal Sportlaan
* Topsportcentrum Rotterdam
* Vijf Meihal
* Sportcampus Zuiderpark
* Topsportcentrum Almere
* De Schaapskooi

Awards|

* Most Valuable Player
* Playoffs MVP
* All-Star Team
* Coach of the Year
* Defensive Player of the Year
* Most Improved Player
* MVP Under U23
* Sixth Man of the Year
* Rookie of the Year
* All-Defense Team
* All-Rookie Team
* Statistical Player of the Year
* All-Star Game MVP
* All-Star Game U23 MVP

Statistical leaders|

* Scoring
* Rebounds
* Assists
* Steals
* Blocks

Associated competitions|

* Basketball Cup
* Dutch Supercup

* Category

*[Pos.]: Position(s)
*[No.]: Jersey number
*[Nat.]: Nationality
*[Ht.]: Height
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template