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jun 22 2026La Laguna Tenerife has officially announced the signing of head coach Jaka Lakovic. The Slovenian coach will take charge of the black-and-gold bench for the next two seasons with an option for a third. The new head of the Canary Islands club is very familiar with the Liga Endesa, where he has accumulated a total of 133 games as head coach; as well as the Eurocup, the new continental competition that the island team will compete in next season and where the Slovenian won a championship title and a runner-up finish, both coinciding with his time at Dreamland Gran Canaria.
Lakovic (Ljubljana, 7/9/1978) had an extensive and distinguished career as a player, both with his country's national team and at club level (he was a EuroLeague champion with Barcelona, where he played five seasons), before beginning his coaching career.
His time on the sidelines began precisely in the Barcelona youth team, where he served as an assistant, a role he would later hold at Bilbao Basket (2017-18), Joventut de Badalona (2018-19), and Slovenia's senior national team, with which he won the gold medal at the 2017 EuroBasket.
His first major experience as head coach (he had previously managed RETAbet Bilbao in four games) was on the bench of German side Ratiopharm Ulm between 2019 and 2022. There he reached the Bundesliga semifinals on two occasions, was a Eurocup quarterfinalist once and a Cup semifinalist once; before making the jump to Dreamland Gran Canaria in the summer of 2022, where he remained until matchday 25 of last season.
Under his leadership, in addition to the aforementioned Eurocup title and runner-up finish, the yellow team reached the Liga Endesa playoff finals in the 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 seasons; and qualified for the Copa del Rey in those same three seasons, reaching the semifinals in the 2025 edition.
Jaka's arrival at the black-and-gold project represents the addition of a proven head coach in the ACB and continental tournaments (118 games between Eurocup and BCL), with the firm intention of continuing to be a solid and competitive team on all possible fronts.
Welcome, Jaka!
