By Stelios Toromanidis / info@eurohoops.net
Since the 2000-2001 season, when the management of Europe’s top club competition changed and ended up in the hands of the teams themselves, a group of 11 organizations with a type A license was gradually created. For those that don’t know, this is a deal that ensures these clubs’ annual participation in the EuroLeague. Essentially, they are the backbone of the competition in this new league format, in which 16 teams take part. In fact, two years ago (in the summer of 2016) the “permanents” signed a new 10-year deal.
We are talking, of course, about the Spanish teams Barcelona, Real Madrid and Baskonia; the Greek teams Olympiacos and Panathinaikos; the Turkish Fenerbahce and Efes; the Russian CSKA Moscow; the Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv; the Lithuanian Zalgiris Kaunas; and the Italian Armani Milan, who were added to the group a bit later (2005).
All these years, there have been hundreds of athletes that have played in every one of these teams, but only a few have left or continue to leave an indelible mark and, as a result, they are a big part of the history of each of these 11 clubs.
Based on trophies, appearances in the Final Four and their general contribution, Eurohoops picked out and presents here the best lineups in the modern history of the EuroLeague (2000-today) for every one of the competition’s 11 “permanent” teams. At the same time, there are important stats relating to the clubs’ course so far in Europe’s top club competition.