By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Being devoted to one team is rare these days, but this doesn’t mean that there aren’t those who defy that trend. Eurohoops searched, found and presents here the 10 players who have accumulated the most games with the same team in the EuroLeague – proving their devotion, as the competition’s anthem says.
Berni Rodriguez
169 games with Unicaja Malaga
7.4 points | 1.8 rebounds | 2.1 assists | 0.7 steals | 0.0 blocks | 1.6 turnovers | 21.6 min
He came of age in Unicaja Malaga’s development programs and ended up playing with them for 11 seasons in the EuroLeague (2001-12), earning everyone’s respect with the consistency of his game. He was present at the team’s only appearance in a Final Four. In fact, Rodriguez played a leading role in that accomplishment, as 2007 was his best season in the competition and his only one with a double-digit point average (10.8).
Vangelis Mantzaris
172 games with Olympiacos Piraeus
4.8 points | 2.6 rebounds | 2.3 assists | 0.7 steals | 0.0 blocks | 0.9 turnovers | 21.6 min
Lady Luck was generous with Mantzaris, as in 2012, his very first season in the EuroLeague, he was able to win the trophy. The following season, even though he was once again the champion with his team’s rare back-to-back title, she wasn’t as generous, since a serious injury midway through that season kept him out of action. Mantzaris returned stronger for two more championship-game runs, in 2015 and 2017, and he continues to reinforce Olympiacos Piraeus’s effort to uphold this tradition. He’s ranked 35th in overall assists (389) and 44th in successful three-pointers (185) in EuroLeague history.
Jaycee Carroll
176 games with Real Madrid
9.7 points | 1.8 rebounds | 0.7 assists | 0.4 steals | 0.1 blocks | 0.7 turnovers | 17.9 min
He’s considered one of the best shooters in the history of the competition and he has the numbers to prove it. In seven seasons with Real Madrid, Carroll is already ranked 14th all-time among EuroLeague shooters in three-pointers made (295) with the 26th-highest percentage (43.3%) from the arc. He’s also 35th on the all-time list for points scored (1,711). Most important of all, his gifted right hand made the difference in the 2015 championship game, giving Madrid its first EuroLeague title in two decades in what was the highest point of Carroll’s career to date.