By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
During the Basketball Champions League infancy, a club with big legacy helped the competition grow. The 2018 Final Four in Athens and AEK’s triumph was one of the first marks that the BCL is for teal. It was just the second season of the competition and having a packed OAKA celebrating for the “Queen” was not a small feat.
Since then a lot of things happened, AEK made headlines for FIBA bans, while trying to remain competitive and a BCL contender. It proved not an easy task until this season.
With a respectable coach like Joan Plaza on the bench and names like Jordan McRae, Justin Tillman, Chasson Randle, Langston Hall, Mindaugas Kuzminskas and of course Ben McLemore and Mfiondu Kabengele straight from the NBA, this version of AEK was something special for the get-go.
The roster was unreal, specially compared to recent past and you can already argue that this will go down as one of the best rosters ever in the history of the club.
And the most important thing is that AEK delivers. With a 4-0 record so far and a home game against Sassari coming up, AEK BETSSON BC, as it’s the full name of the basketball team this year, has a great chance to jump to 5-0 and qualify directly to the Round of 16, setting their sights as high as it gets.
After all, AEK has moved to an new arena in Ano Liossa, which was already used as the home court of the Greek national team during last season’s FIBA Windows and was a candidate to host last season’s BCL Final Four.
With AEK having at least a fighting chance for the title, being again a Final Four host candidate can’t be excluded and the club has proven that they have the know-how and the assets to deliver a top-notch event.
With owner Makis Aggelopoulos completing this summer a decade on the helm of the club, one more run to the BCL trophy, and more over winning it once again, will bring things full circle for one of the clubs with the biggest basketball legacy in the competition.