Zwolle

The Landstede Sportcentrum seats 1,200, a size that keeps The Hammers close to the sort of crowd that notices a missed free throw. It has stayed the club's ground since the move that brought the team to Zwolle in 1996, a year after it had started life in Meppel under the name Cees Lubbers The Hammers.

Two banners hang for players rather than seasons: Nigel van Oostrum's number 7 and Noah Dahlman's number 42, both retired by a club whose honours board is otherwise thin. The Dutch Basketball League title has come twice, in 2018–19 and again in 2025–26, either side of a spell in which Zwolle kept finishing as Cup runners-up without ever taking the trophy itself. Two Supercups, in 2017 and 2019, sit alongside those league wins.

Games against Donar Groningen and Heroes Den Bosch carry the weight of the rivalries that matter most here, sharpened by European runs in the Korać Cup, the FIBA Europe Cup and the Champions League that gave Zwolle nights beyond the domestic circuit. Josh Magette's stint in the backcourt is remembered for the kind of scoring nights that made the small hall feel short of seats.

All of it traces back to Meppel, to a club still finding its name before it ever found its home.