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Basketball is popular on the continent, but it is still underdeveloped compared to soccer. If you want to create a billion-dollar league quickly, you do not start from scratch. You plug into Real Madrid, Paris-Saint Germain and AC Milan, just to name a few. “The clubs are still of the mind that the NBA needs them much more than the clubs need the NBA,” one source familiar with the negotiations said. “Half these clubs don’t really need a basketball team. If you really challenge them, I think they would love to have one in many ways but it’s not a necessity.”
Moncho Monsalve, who left an indelible mark on both Spanish and international basketball, passed away at the age of 81, leaving behind a legacy of championships and a profound tactical mind. His death marks the loss of a foundational pillar of the sport, recognized by titans of the game like Real Madrid and the Brazilian Basketball Confederation for his multifaceted contributions as both a relentless competitor on the court and a visionary strategist on the sidelines.
Madrid is set to host two global sports superstars on April 16, as Luka Doncic and Novak Djokovic are expected to attend the EuroLeague regular season clash between Real Madrid and Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, sources tell BasketNews. The game carries significant implications, with Real Madrid pushing for a top-two seed while Crvena Zvezda aiming to break into the top six for direct playoff qualification. Both global sports stars have strong ties to European basketball.
With his NBA out clause creating headlines, Mario Hezonja said for the first time that last season he had an NBA offer just before the start of the EuroLeague playoffs. As he said about the clause: “This is something very common that I believe a lot of players have. It’s extra on the contract, it doesn’t mean that it necesserily happening. Even last year, I went upstairs and shut it down. There was something, a lot of things, that were serious, and I didn’t want to leave the team just before the playoffs with Olympiacos. So this is not necessarily something that I will do, but it’s there”.
Meanwhile, according to EuroLeague sources, both Real Madrid, which endorsed Chus Bueno as the new CEO, and Fenerbahce are very close to signing the new 10-year licenses, further solidifying the position of the top European competition. Of course, this is a move that seemingly goes hand-in-hand with the upcoming talks with the NBA. FIBA, from their side, wants to have open dates on the European competitions calendars to accommodate the national teams’ “windows”, and also to have a clear path for qualification to the top-tier club competition that will also include the domestic leagues.
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Should teams that are not public limited sports companies (SADs) like Barça or Real Madrid create commercial companies to access financing from these funds? Chus Bueno: Barcelona and Real Madrid have financed themselves without becoming public limited companies. I don't think they need to. They've created different vehicles. Real Madrid created a company called Bernabéu SL to bring in money for the stadium. Barça has also created some companies. The thing is, like any club, you want to protect your equity and you want to look at operations differently than if you were the owner, a situation where you put up the money and have more independence. It creates a bit more doubt, fear, and confusion for club members when you're handing it over to a third party because the club used to belong to everyone. Each club must understand what it wants to be and align it with its members, who are the ones who have to decide. In Germany, for example, there are many clubs that have done this, but where 51% are members and 49% are sponsors or investors. And they've felt comfortable with this model.
As one of the most sought-after free agents in the summer of 2024, he was on the radar of numerous EuroLeague teams, as well as NBA clubs, he revealed in an interview with Basketball Sphere. Partizan, however, was not among them. “No, the only option I had was Los Angeles Clippers, going back to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Real Madrid and Fenerbahce. Those were the three or four teams I was looking at. I chose Fenerbahce.”
And speaking of changes, the most important fact after the appointment of Chus Bueno in this role is that Real Madrid‘s stance towards the EuroLeague has totally changed. The club has not made any official comment yet, neither in favor of the NBA Europe project, despite being a common secret that they are in contact with the NBA, or for the change of the EuroLeague management. However, according to many different sources, Real Madrid was actively involved in lobbying for Bueno to become the new CEO, and the course of action presented in the latest EuroLeague Board aligns with the plans of the Spanish club.
Demin’s opinion carries weight because he is an example of the loophole that players like Bailey and Bediako are saying is unfair to them. Current rules allow players such as Demin, who played professionally in Europe for Real Madrid, to come to the U.S. and play in college. Franz and Moritz Wagner both played for Alba Berlin before playing collegiately at Michigan. The same opportunity has not, traditionally, been afforded to American players who played in the NBA or G League. “I just feel like there’s a reason why they call you a pro,” said the Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells, who played at both Sonoma State and Washington State. “And when you’re in college, you’re not a pro.”
Metabilia, a company that partners with NFL and NBA teams to sell game-used and autographed memorabilia, uses tamper-proof stickers outfitted with a tiny epoxy disc containing diamond nanoparticles. "It's invisible to the normal eye, it's its own fingerprint," said Nicole Johnson, the co-founder of Metabilia. "It's indestructible." Another company, MatchWornShirt, partners with soccer clubs -- including Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan and Bayern Munich -- and a number of NBA teams to auction game-worn, signed jerseys to collectors, straight off players. The company uses a chip embedded in jerseys that uploads a digital certificate of authenticity and match-worn information to customers' cell phones.
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Egor Demin on playing in college: I got offers from Russia from the VTB league and had some offers over Europe and colleges. And I'm like, well, I don't want to go to college. I don't think I would fit. I don't think it's something I’d like to do. And I was thinking like if I’m staying in Europe, it would be Real Madrid. It's one of the best organizations in Europe. So, why would I leave? But then trying to analyze everything, what's the best kind of case scenarios for me, I figured that college probably would be the best, because I can play against older guys but not as much. Not against the grown men who's professionals already for like 10, 15 years in Europe. I can find the place that I really fit into. Out of all the colleges they were offering me I could really just be like, "Okay, this place is best because of this, and really see where I want to go more." And BYU was… I didn't know if it's going to be a perfect fit, but it was a lot of advantage from them, just from a standpoint of having an NBA coach.
What did you think about the Real Madrid experience? Egor Denim: It was awesome, man. It was It was great. I think it helped me a lot being there as a teenager. I went there when I was 15. We laugh at it. What we called it a ’golden cage’ cuz you basically get everything you need to live good and you have you have all the help around you, but there's not that much of a freedom. We were living in the residence basically like with all the athletes, it was like maybe 20 players of basketball and everybody else's soccer and it was like closed territory. Like a campus sort of thing, and we couldn't go out just whenever we wanted. We could go out like once a week and we got to tell our like our boss like, ‘Hey, we're going here. We're going with these people. I can't go by myself. I should go with like somebody.’ And it's been pretty hard sometimes. Obviously annoying like, ‘Hey, we want to have some freedom.’ But I think that helped me a lot.
Sport5 reports that Hapoel Tel Aviv are in negotiations with Guerschon Yabusele over a potential deal. The forward is described as a high-profile target, with multiple European clubs keeping close tabs on his case. The report frames it as a “big move” Hapoel want to complete in the next few days. It also notes Panathinaikos AKTOR among the teams linked to the former Real Madrid Baloncesto player.
EuroLeague shareholders met on Friday to vote for the new CEO of the competition, replacing Paulius Motiejunas in the role. Having the support of Real Madrid, among others, Chus Bueno was voted in as the new EuroLeague CEO. The interest shown by the Spanish giant after two years of distance from EuroLeague decision-making is also seen as a signal of its future intentions regarding the competition.