By Utkan Şahin /info@eurohoops.net
Even in the extraordinarily tall world of basketball, some players in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague manage to be taller than Europe’s biggest and their majestic figures help them remain a sensation throughout their careers.
Eurohoops found the 10 biggest players in the history of the EuroLeague and looked at how they fared in their European careers through their stats.
WALTER TAVARES
Country: Cape Verde
Height: 2.20 m
EuroLeague Career: Real Madrid
EuroLeague Stats: 18 games, 7.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks
Walter Tavares, even though still a fresh EuroLeague face in his debut season, managed to get on the list.
He’s impossible to miss with his majestic height of 2.20 meters and his quick feet. He uses his speed to try to be everywhere on the court and he’s a good rim protector, as shown by his average of 1.6 blocks.
Tavares’s work rate, combined with those long limbs, is one of the most vital elements in Real Madrid‘s injury-riddled season.
It’s going to be fun watching him play as the pressure increases for Madrid in this season’s tough competition.
CONSTANTIN POPA
County: Romania/Israel
Height: 2.20 m
EuroLeague Career: Hapoel Jerusalem
EuroLeague Stats: 9 games, 4.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.9 blocks
While Tavares is chronologically the last entry of the list, Contanstin Popa is the first.
After coming of age in Romania as a professional player, Popa played in France and Israel. He finally made his way to Hapoel Jerusalem in 2000-01.
He used his size to his advantage. His hook shot, especially, was the biggest weapon in his arsenal. It was impossible to stop his hook with that height.
His short stint in the EuroLeague marked the end of his career.
ARVYDAS SABONIS
Country: Lithuania
Height: 2.20 m
EuroLeague Career: Zalgiris Kaunas
EuroLeague Stats: 16.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks
Arvydas Sabonis was not just a basketball legend, he changed the entire game with his height of 2.20 meters.
In his time, bigs were usually used as rebounders and post scorers. You didn’t see them shooting the ball or distributing passes at the top of the key really often.
Sabonis was one of the players who changed this pattern and opened the horizons for basketball’s giants.
He would most likely have become a star even with a height of 1.88, but his exceptional ball handling skills and his court vision, combined with his 2.20-meter height, made him unique and a legend in basketball history.
Even at the age of 40 and in the final season of his career, he was unstoppable at the EuroLeague level. The legendary Lithuanian averaged 16.7 points and 10.7 rebounds and was chosen as the MVP of both the regular season and the Top 16.
BRUNO SUNDOV
Country: Croatia
Height: 2.21 m
EuroLeague Career: Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, Cibona Zagreb
EuroLeague Stats: 8 games, 3.0 points, 1.5 rebounds
The Croatian center is known throughout the world not because of his height but because of the fact that he played for 20 different clubs in his long career.
In the EuroLeague, we watched him play in the colors of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv and Cibona. He won the title with Maccabi in 2004 and then played for Cibona in the 2008-09 season.
He possessed a surprising ability from the three-point line and he was one of the first prototypes of a “stretch big” player with his long-range shooting.