The Devoted Ones

22/Feb/18 13:39

Players come and go on every team, but there are some players who are not big fans of changes. Eurohoops presents the Top 10 players who have played the most games with the same team in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

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.

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).

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.

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.

He spent a total of 10 seasons with Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv – from 2001 to 2009 and again in 2010-12 – and helped them make history with the back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2004 and 2005. Burstein was decisive in both of those Final Fours, averaging 11 points in each, as well as 4.0 and 2.5 assists, respectively. He was one of those players who kept their stats full but also made the entire team better.

With his historic three-pointer to force overtime in the last game before the 2004 Final Four, he was the spark in Maccabi’s historic back-to-back wins that season and in 2005. Those were two of his 10 seasons total, from 2001 to 2011, with the club. In his most productive season, 2006-07, he averaged 10.4 points. The three-point shot was the hallmark of his game and he still ranks 31st place all-time in terms of his accuracy (42.8%) from long range. His defensive skills weren’t too bad, either, as he remains 37th in steals (162) among all EuroLeague players this century.

One of the Army Team’s most loyal “soldiers” and has already entered his 12th season with CSKA, sometimes with a smaller role and other times with a bigger one, but always as important part of their ambitions. Vorontsevich did not play at the Final Four when they won the title in 2008, but he was indispensable in their return to the top in 2016, one of his most productive seasons in the competition. He ranks 27th all-time in both three-pointers made (223) and defensive rebounds (523) and is 33rd in total rebounds (726).

A silent power, but a power all the same, CSKA Moscow’s captain has contributed so much to his team being mentioned in every conversation about the greatest teams in the history of the competition. In 12 seasons together, they count 11 appearances in the Final Four, three championship games and two titles (2008 and 2016). The last time, Khryapa’s contribution was decisive, with his follow-up shot taking the title game to overtime, where CSKA won. That rebound is one of 1,066 that have placed Khryapa in 10th place on the all-time list. He is ranked even higher in career blocks (161, seventh place) and steals (241, eighth place), which explains another of his many distinctions, winning the 2010 Best Defender Trophy as voted by EuroLeague head coaches.

Tags Andrey Vorontsevich Barcelona CSKA Moscow Dimitris Diamantidis Jaycee Carroll Juan Carlos Navarro Maccabi Tel Aviv Olympiacos Panathinaikos Real Madrid Sergio Llull Unicaja Vangelis Mantzaris Victor Khryapa