EuroLeague Final Four

Main article: EuroLeague

The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, following the 2001 FIBA SuproLeague Final Four, which was the last final four held by FIBA Europe. In the original FIBA Europe competition, as seen below, the final four was used for the first time at the 1966 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four. The final four format was used again the next year, with the 1967 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four, but was then abandoned.

The final four finally returned as the format of choice, for the first time during its modern era, with the 1988 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four. It is known as the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four for name sponsorship reasons. Panathinaikos has been the most successful team at the EuroLeague Final Four, since the modern final four era began in the 1987–88 season, winning the title 7 times (1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2024). Panathinaikos are the most recent winners, having clinched their seventh Final Four title in 2024. ^[1]

The EuroLeague Final Four is broadcast on TV in up to 213 countries and territories. ^[2]

History

Names of the Final Four

• FIBA era (1958–2001):
  • FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four (1966–1967, 1988–1991)
  • FIBA European League Final Four ("FIBA EuroLeague Final Four") (1992–1996)
  • FIBA EuroLeague Final Four (1997–2000) ^[3]
  • FIBA SuproLeague Final Four (2001)
• Euroleague Basketball era (since 2000):
  • Euroleague Final Four (2002–2016)
  • EuroLeague Final Four (since 2017)

Historical changes

The first time the EuroLeague used a Final Four format to decide its league champion, was at the conclusion of the 1965–66 and 1966–67 seasons, when it held the 1966 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four, and the 1967 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four. Those first two final fours were won by Simmenthal Milano (1966) and Real Madrid (1967). FIBA Europe did not use the final four format again until the 1987–88 season, when it held the 1988 FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four, which was also won by Tracer Milano.

The EuroLeague Final Four has been held every year since, with FIBA Europe organizing it until 2001, and the Euroleague Basketball Company organizing it since 2002.

There were two separate competitions during the 2000–01 season. The SuproLeague, which was organized by FIBA, and the EuroLeague, which was organized by Euroleague Basketball Company. Euroleague Basketball Company's EuroLeague competition, in its inaugural year, used a playoff format, with the two professional teams from Bologna (Virtus and Fortitudo), AEK, and TAU reaching the tournament's semifinals. Virtus was the winner of the 2001 Euroleague Finals.

EuroLeague Final Four by season

Year	Host city	Champion	Runner-up	Third place	Fourth place
FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four (early events)
1966	Bologna	Simmenthal Milano	Slavia VŠ Praha	CSKA Moscow	AEK
1967	Madrid	Real Madrid	Simmenthal Milano	Slavia VŠ Praha	AŠK Olimpija
FIBA European Champions Cup Final Four
1988	Ghent	Tracer Milano	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Partizan	Aris
1989	Munich	Jugoplastika	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Aris	FC Barcelona
1990	Zaragoza	Jugoplastika	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana	Limoges CSP	Aris
1991	Paris	POP 84	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Scavolini Pesaro
FIBA European League Final Four
1992	Istanbul	Partizan	Montigalà Joventut	Philips Milano	Estudiantes Argentaria
1993	Piraeus	Limoges CSP	Benetton Treviso	PAOK	Real Madrid Teka
1994	Tel Aviv	7up Joventut	Olympiacos	Panathinaikos	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana
1995	Zaragoza	Real Madrid Teka	Olympiacos	Panathinaikos	Limoges CSP
1996	Paris	Panathinaikos	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana	CSKA Moscow	Real Madrid Teka
FIBA EuroLeague Final Four
1997	Rome	Olympiacos	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana	Smelt Olimpija	ASVEL
1998	Barcelona	Kinder Bologna	AEK	Benetton Treviso	Partizan Zepter
1999	Munich	Žalgiris	Kinder Bologna	Olympiacos	Teamsystem Bologna
2000	Thessaloniki	Panathinaikos	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Efes Pilsen	FC Barcelona
2001*	3-2 won Kinder	Kinder Bologna	Tau Cerámica	AEK / Paf Bologna	No third place game
FIBA SuproLeague Final Four
2001*	Paris	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Panathinaikos	Efes Pilsen	CSKA Moscow
Euroleague Final Four
2002	Bologna	Panathinaikos	Kinder Bologna	Benetton Treviso	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
2003	Barcelona	FC Barcelona	Benetton Treviso	Montepaschi Siena	CSKA Moscow
2004	Tel Aviv	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Skipper Bologna	CSKA Moscow	Montepaschi Siena
2005	Moscow	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Tau Cerámica	Panathinaikos	CSKA Moscow
2006	Prague	CSKA Moscow	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Tau Cerámica	Winterthur FC Barcelona
2007	Athens	Panathinaikos	CSKA Moscow	Unicaja	Tau Cerámica
2008	Madrid	CSKA Moscow	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Montepaschi Siena	Tau Cerámica
2009	Berlin	Panathinaikos	CSKA Moscow	Regal FC Barcelona	Olympiacos
2010	Paris	Regal FC Barcelona	Olympiacos	CSKA Moscow	Partizan
2011	Barcelona	Panathinaikos	Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv	Montepaschi Siena	Real Madrid
2012	Istanbul	Olympiacos	CSKA Moscow	FC Barcelona Regal	Panathinaikos
2013	London	Olympiacos	Real Madrid	CSKA Moscow	FC Barcelona Regal
2014	Milan	Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	CSKA Moscow
2015	Madrid	Real Madrid	Olympiacos	CSKA Moscow	Fenerbahçe
2016	Berlin	CSKA Moscow	Fenerbahçe	Lokomotiv Kuban	Laboral Kutxa
EuroLeague Final Four
2017	Istanbul	Fenerbahçe	Olympiacos	CSKA Moscow	Real Madrid
2018	Belgrade	Real Madrid	Fenerbahçe	Žalgiris	CSKA Moscow
2019	Vitoria-Gasteiz	CSKA Moscow	Anadolu Efes	Real Madrid	Fenerbahçe
2020	Cologne	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Cologne	Anadolu Efes	FC Barcelona	AX Armani Exchange Milan	CSKA Moscow
2022	Belgrade	Anadolu Efes	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	Olympiacos
2023	Kaunas	Real Madrid	Olympiacos	AS Monaco	FC Barcelona
2024	Berlin	Panathinaikos	Real Madrid	Olympiacos	Fenerbahçe

* The 2000–01 season was a transition year, with the best European teams split into two different major leagues, the SuproLeague 2000–01, held by FIBA, and the Euroleague 2000–01, held by Euroleague Basketball. That season's Euroleague Basketball tournament, the Euroleague 2000–01 season, did not end with a Final Four tournament. Instead, it ended with a 5-game playoff series. The EuroLeague now officially recognizes both the 2001 FIBA SuproLeague, and the 2001 Euroleague, in its statistics.

Statistics

Performance by club

• Including original FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague Final Four competitions.

Club	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Panathinaikos	7	1	3	1	12
Real Madrid	5	4	1	4	14
Maccabi Tel Aviv	4	6	1	1	12
CSKA Moscow	4	3	7	6	20
Olympiacos	3	6	2	2	13
Split [a]	3	–	–	–	3
FC Barcelona	2	5	4	6	17
Virtus Bologna [b]	2	2	–	–	4
Anadolu Efes	2	1	2	–	5
Fenerbahçe	1	2	–	3	6
Olimpia Milano [c]	2	1	2	–	5
Joventut Badalona	1	1	–	–	2
Partizan	1	–	1	2	4
Limoges CSP	1	–	1	1	3
Žalgiris	1	–	1	–	2
Treviso [d]	–	2	2	–	4
Baskonia [e]	–	2	1	3	6
AEK	–	1	–	1	2
Fortitudo Bologna [f]	–	1	–	1	2
Slavia VŠ Praha	–	1	1	–	2
Mens Sana 1871 [g]	–	–	3	1	4
Olimpija	–	–	1	1	2
Aris	–	–	1	2	3
PAOK	–	–	1	–	1
Málaga [h]	–	–	1	–	1
Lokomotiv Kuban	–	–	1	–	1
AS Monaco	–	–	1	–	1
Victoria Libertas [i]	–	–	–	1	1
Estudiantes	–	–	–	1	1
ASVEL	–	–	–	1	1
Total	39	39	38	38	154

Performance by nation

• Including original FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague Final Four competitions.

Nation (Domestic League)	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Greece (GBL)	10	8	7	6	31
Spain (LEB / ACB)	7	11	7	14	40
Israel (ISBL)	4	6	1	1	12
Russia (RSL / PBL / VTB)	4	3	7	6	20
SFR Yugoslavia (FFBL)	4	–	2	1	7
Italy (LBA)	3	6	7	3	19
Turkey (BSL)	3	3	2	3	11
France (Pro A)	1	–	2	2	5
Lithuania (LKL)	1	–	1	–	2
Czechoslovakia (CSBL)	–	1	–	1	2
Soviet Union (PBL)	–	–	1	–	1
Slovenia (SKL)	–	–	1	–	1
Serbia (ABA/KLS)	–	–	–	1	1
Total	36	36	36	36	144

Opening press conference venues

Year	Venue	Host city	Country
2008	Community of Madrid Sports Centre	Madrid	Spain
2009	O2 World	Berlin	Germany
2010	Hôtel de Ville	Paris	France
2011	Gothic Quarter (City hall)	Barcelona	Spain
2012	Çırağan Palace	Istanbul	Turkey
2013	London City Hall	London	England
2014	Piazza del Duomo	Milan	Italy
2015	Cybele Palace	Madrid	Spain
2016	Alexanderplatz	Berlin	Germany
2017	Çırağan Palace	Istanbul	Turkey
2018	Kalemegdan Fortress	Belgrade	Serbia
2019	Plaza Nueva	Vitoria-Gasteiz	Spain
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

EuroLeague Final Four MVPs

Main article: EuroLeague Final Four MVP

Season	Final Four MVP	Club	Ref.
1987–88	Bob McAdoo	Tracer Milano
1988–89	Dino Rađa	Jugoplastika
1989–90	Toni Kukoč	Jugoplastika
1990–91	Toni Kukoč (2)	POP 84
1991–92	Sasha Danilović	Partizan
1992–93	Toni Kukoč (3)	Benetton Treviso
1993–94	Žarko Paspalj	Olympiacos
1994–95	Arvydas Sabonis	Real Madrid Teka
1995–96	Dominique Wilkins	Panathinaikos
1996–97	David Rivers	Olympiacos
1997–98	Zoran Savić	Kinder Bologna
1998–99	Tyus Edney	Žalgiris
1999–00	Željko Rebrača	Panathinaikos
2000–01*	Ariel McDonald	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
2001–02	Dejan Bodiroga	Panathinaikos
2002–03	Dejan Bodiroga (2)	FC Barcelona
2003–04	Anthony Parker	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
2004–05	Šarūnas Jasikevičius	Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
2005–06	Theo Papaloukas	CSKA Moscow
2006–07	Dimitris Diamantidis	Panathinaikos
2007–08	Trajan Langdon	CSKA Moscow
2008–09	Vassilis Spanoulis	Panathinaikos
2009–10	Juan Carlos Navarro	Regal FC Barcelona
2010–11	Dimitris Diamantidis (2)	Panathinaikos
2011–12	Vassilis Spanoulis (2)	Olympiacos
2012–13	Vassilis Spanoulis (3)	Olympiacos
2013–14	Tyrese Rice	Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv	[4]
2014–15	Andrés Nocioni	Real Madrid	[5]
2015–16	Nando de Colo	CSKA Moscow	[6]
2016–17	Ekpe Udoh	Fenerbahçe	[7]
2017–18	Luka Dončić	Real Madrid	[8]
2018–19	Will Clyburn	CSKA Moscow	[9]
2019–20	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	Vasilije Micić	Anadolu Efes	[10]
2021–22	Vasilije Micić (2)	Anadolu Efes	[11]
2022–23	Edy Tavares	Real Madrid	[12]
2023–24	Kostas Sloukas	Panathinaikos

EuroLeague All-Final Four Team

Main article: EuroLeague All-Final Four Team

EuroLeague Final Four records

Main article: EuroLeague Final Four records

See also

• EuroLeague
• EuroLeague Finals

Notes

1. Playing under the name of "Jugoplastika" and "POP 84" due to sponsorship reasons.
2. Playing under the name of "Kinder Bologna" due to sponsorship reasons.
3. Playing under the name of "Tracer Milano", "Philips Milano" and "AX Armani Exchange Milan" due to sponsorship reasons.
4. Playing under the name of "Benetton Treviso" due to sponsorship reasons.
5. Playing under the name of "Tau Cerámica" and "Laboral Kutxa" due to sponsorship reasons.
6. Playing under the name of "Teamsystem Bologna" and "Skipper Bologna" due to sponsorship reasons.
7. Playing under the name of "Montepaschi Siena" due to sponsorship reasons.
8. Playing under the name of "Unicaja" due to sponsorship reasons.
9. Playing under the name of "Scavolini Pesaro" due to sponsorship reasons.

References

1. Eternal Llull gives to Real Madrid its 11th EuroLeague title
2. Record broadcast reach for 2017 Final Four!
3. The European Cup For Men's Champion Clubs – The Early Years
4. European club champions: 1958-2014.
5. Nocioni named bwin MVP of Euroleague Final Four.
6. De Colo celebrates title as Final Four MVP.
7. Udoh caps historic Final Four with MVP award.
8. Doncic chosen Final Four MVP.
9. Will Clyburn, CSKA: 'Heart had to carry me'.
10. Micic is chosen Final Four MVP
11. Micic repeats as Final Four MVP!
12. "Edy Tavares named EuroLeague Final Four MVP".

External links

• EuroLeague Official Website
• Euroleague's channel on YouTube