The essence of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague can be found when watching Vassilis Spanoulis of Olympiacos Piraeus and Sergio Llull of Real Madrid play. These superstars of the game bring passion, spontaneity, devotion and world-class skills to the court every time they put on their respective uniforms. Each has his name etched in the history books for their parts in historic victories, often with their hands directly involved in game-winning plays.
In recent years, Spanoulis and Llull have mostly met on the big stage, including twice in the EuroLeague championship game. Spanoulis starred in the Reds’ come-from-behind victory in the 2013 final in London with three-pointers on three successive possessions early in the third quarter to put Olympiacos ahead en route to a 100-88 victory and a successful title repeat. He finished with 22 points to lead his team and earn his third Final Four MVP trophy. One year later, Olympiacos‘s bid for a threepeat came to an end at the hands of Madrid and Llull in the 2014 playoffs. Los Blancos made good use of their home-court advantage to win the best-of-five series in the maximum games with Llull outdueling Spanoulis in the finale. The Madrid maestro made 4-of-6 threes for 20 points and 4 assists in an 83-69 victory. In 2015, the teams were back battling for the crown in the EuroLeague championship game in the Spanish capital. After each had starring roles in semifinals victories, Llull scored 12 points in just 21 minutes as his team marched to a 78-59 victory for his first EuroLeague title and Madrid’s first in two decades.
Spanoulis, 34, played four seasons for Panathinaikos Athens before joining Olympiacos in 2010 . He is a three-time EuroLeague champion and was named Final Four MVP on each of those occasions. He was also chosen as the EuroLeague MVP in 2013. Spanoulis is a seven-time All-EuroLeague selection, which is tied for the most in competition history. He enters this season ranked second in scoring (2,984 points) and third in assists (951 assists) in the competition all-time. Spanoulis was also a key force in a golden generation for the Greek national team, with whom he collected a silver medal from the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup and gold at EuroBasket 2005.
Llull, 28, enters his 10th season with Madrid, his sole EuroLeague team. he was an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in 2011 and won his first EuroLeague title in 2015. He needs only 15 points this season to become the 20th member of the EuroLeague’s 2,000-point club, of which he will be the youngest member. He is also ninth and climbing on the competition’s career assists charts, with 708. In addition to starting for Madrid, Llull has been a regular with Spain’s national team in recent years, with whom he has won the EuroBasket three times and collected a silver and bronze medal at the Olympic Games, among other accomplishments.