Badalona has had a basketball team since 30 March 1930, when Joventut was founded as
Penya Spirit of Badalona. Apart from basketball, the club initially had teams involved in several sports including
cycling,
table tennis, and
football. In 1932, the club changed its name to
Centre Esportiu Badaloní and in 1939, it
was forced to become
Club Juventud de Badalona. By 1940, basketball was established as the club's main sport and green and black were adopted as the club's colours. As one of the founding clubs of the
Spanish league, Joventut became also one of the top teams in Spain since the 1950s, developing a great rivalry with
Real Madrid and with the other neighbouring teams like
FC Barcelona, playing memorable duels. Joventut won their first
Spanish Cup in 1948 and their two first leagues in
1967 and
1978. In 1981, Joventut started its golden era by winning their first European title: the
FIBA Korać Cup in
1981, by defeating
Carrera Venezia in the final played in
Barcelona by 105–104 after a game winning shot by Joe Galvin at the buzzer. Joventut repeated title in
1990, this time beating
Scavolini Pesaro in the double-legged final. One year later, in 1991, Joventut achieved their third league, the first under the
ACB and repeated title in the following season, after losing the final of the
FIBA European League against
Partizan, that won thanks to a
buzzer beater of
Saša Đorđević. However, in 1994, Joventut won the title after winning the
Final Four played in
Tel Aviv against
Olympiacos with
Zeljko Obradovic as coach. After two years of decline, Joventut clinched their
seventh national cup and in the 2000s, started a new golden era with players like
Rudy Fernández, and
Ricky Rubio developed in the youth teams of the club. During their years at Badalona, Joventut won a
FIBA Europe Cup in
2006, by beating
Khimki in the final, a
ULEB Cup in 2008, beating
Akasvayu Girona in the finals, and the eighth Copa del Rey, also in 2008. Joventut Badalona is one of the only two teams, along with
Real Madrid, to have played every year in the top league. In the
2017–18 season, Joventut was close of the dissolution, but the shareholders voted to save the club. Finally, it could finish the season in the 15th season and avoided the relegation, despite ending in the worst position ever. Since then, Joventut has returned to the elite of Spanish basketball with several
ACB and
King's Cup semifinals, also being contenders in the
Eurocup. == Sponsorship naming ==