22 and 24/02/1996 The Palacio de Deportes, inaugurated in 1994, hosted a major tournament for the first time two years later. It was the Copa del Rey, a competition that made Murcia the capital of Spanish basketball.
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In 1996, the then called CB Murcia, played what was their first participation in the Copa del Rey. Murcia hosted the Spanish basketball festival and TDK Manresa was crowned on the brand new track of the Palacio de los Deportes, which hosted an event of such magnitude for the first time since its inauguration in 1994. The eight teams that accompanied the Murcia team were: FC Barcelona Banca Catalana, Real Madrid Teka, Unicaja, Amway Zaragoza, León Caja España, Caja San Fernando and TDK Manresa.
That CB Murcia was trained by José María Oleart and its ranks included Jordi Soler, Juan Eduardo Piñero, José María Pedrera, Howard Wright, Ramón Moya, Maiol Cisteró, Xavi Sánchez, Quini García, Bobby Martin, Roberto Torres, José Posada and Duane Eddie Washington.
The competition started on February 22 with a match between CB Murcia and Unicaja. The Palacio de los Deportes was full to see the debut of their team in the Cup. The four quarters were very even, this was reflected in the scoreboard with one minute remaining, 73 – 69. The people of Malaga sought extra time, and they achieved it . But the Murcians, with the push of the more than 7,000 fans who filled the stands, qualified for the semifinals, after winning 93 – 87.
Two days later, on February 24, Oleart’s men took to the track to face Joan Creus’s TDK Manresa, who had eliminated León in the quarterfinals. The Cup was looking for a finalist and in a very close game the Catalans prevailed, thanks to a great Ismael Santos (18 points and a PIR of 20). The match ended 78 – 81. In the match for third and fourth place, CB Murcia faced Real Madrid. The whites won by 68 – 74 against a CB Murcia that closed what was their participation in the Copa del Rey.
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