Ex-champions Mike Batiste, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Matjaz Smodis all looked back at the what it meant to win the title and their fondest Final Four memories.

 Ambassadors look back at their Final Four experiences 

Among the people who are most attracted to attending the Final Four are the very players who have been on center stage at the same event in the past. Many have come back from around the world as Final Four Ambassadors to support in One Team and sustainability initiatives in Kaunas this weekend. But they are also ex-champions, and this week Mike Batiste, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Matjaz Smodis all looked back at the what it meant to win the title and their fondest Final Four memories.

Ambassadors look back at their Final Four experiences

The 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone is full of things to do, and one of the main attractions on Saturday evening was the skills contest, in which a select few players took part in the dunk contest and the three-point contest. 

Skills contest: Joventut's Karim Lopez, Zalgiris's Jokubas Rudaitis come out on top

The 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone is full of things to do, and one of the main attractions on Saturday evening was the skills contest, in which a select few players took part in the dunk contest and the three-point contest.

 

Karim Lopez of U18 Joventut Badalona ended up coming out on top in the dunk contest, beating out Neoklis Avdalas of U18 Panathinaikos Athens. After three dunk attempts between the two, it was the 16-year-old Lopez who wowed the judges enough to take home the prize for the best dunk. The deciding dunk proved to be a 270-degree dunk, which was declared the winner by the two judges: Zalgiris Kaunas legend Paulius Jankunas and current Zalgiris guard Ignas Brazdeikis.

 

There was more competition in the three-point contest, with seven players taking part: Dimitrios Zervos of U18 Panathinaikos, Andrej Kostic of U18 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, Kasparas Jakucionis of U18 FC Barcelona, Ognjen Srzentic of U18 Mega MIS Belgrade, Bernat Morales of U18 Joventut, Aleksandar Gavalyugov of U18 Next Generation Select Team and Jokubas Rudaitis of U18 Zalgiris. The 2023 three-point contest champion ended up being Rudaitis of Zalgiris, as he scored 9 points in the final round, beating the score of Zervos of Panathinaikos.

Joventut's Karim Lopez, Zalgiris's Jokubas Rudaitis win at ANGT skills contest

### Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Real Madrid

Two of the goliaths of European basketball [will battle for continental glory when the Reds and Los Blancos square off at Zalgirio Arena](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/olympiacos-piraeus-real-madrid/E2022/330/). These teams boast some of the top players in the competition with Olympiacos led by freshly-crowned MVP Sasha Vezenkov and three-time champion Kostas Sloukas. Real counters with All-EuroLeague First Team Members Walter Tavares, who is also the EuroLeague Best Defender, and Dzanan Musa.

Olympiacos swept the regular-season meetings between these teams this season with an 87-89 victory in Round 3 in the Spanish capital as Vezenkov went for 23 points and 12 boards and a 73-60 triumph in Greece in what was Real's lowest-scoring output of the season.

These teams both are blessed with experienced stars and have faced adversity. Olympiacos rallied from 12 points down at halftime with a record-setting third quarter in Friday’s first semifinal against AS Monaco. Real has now won four elimination games in a row after becoming the first team in competition history to erase a 0-2 deficit in the playoffs and trailing by 9 late in the second quarter of the semifinal. They have both had great seasons, but only one will be celebrating on Sunday night.

A date with destiny in Sunday's Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game

### AS Monaco vs. FC Barcelona

[The third-place game](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/as-monaco-fc-barcelona/E2022/329/) will feature two teams with much different relationships to the Final Four. Monaco is debuting at the event and a victory would be another cherished milestone in a historic season for the club. Barca is at its third consecutive Final Four. Historically, this has been a one-sided matchup; Barcelona is 4-0 in games against Monaco, including an 80-70 victory in Round 25 behind 15 points from Tomas Satoransky.

At a glance: Championship Sunday 

Olympiacos Piraeus v Real Madrid (2023-05-21T17:00:00.000Z)

AS Monaco v FC Barcelona (2023-05-21T14:00:00.000Z)

 Did you know? Olympiacos Piraeus 

..[.Olympiacos](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/teams/olympiacos-piraeus/roster/oly/?season=2022-23) is at its 9th EuroLeague Championship Game? It previously reached this stage in 1994, 1995, 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017. Olympiacos has the chance to win its fourth EuroLeague title.

...**Olympiacos** is one of the five teams that have successfully defended the EuroLeague crown in the Final Four era? Olympiacos won back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2012 and 2013. Olimpia Milano (1987, 1988), KK Split (1989, 1990, 1991) , Maccabi Tel Aviv (2004, 2005) and Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2022, 2023) are also in this exclusive list.

...two  current Olympiacos players have won back-to-back EuroLeague titles together? [Kostas Sloukas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kostas-sloukas/001926/) and [Kostas Papanikolaou](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kostas-papanikolaou/001255/) won the competition in 2012 and 2013.

...**Papanikolaou** and **Sloukas** played at the 2017 EuroLeague Championship Game?  Sloukas helped Fenerbahce win the title against Olympiacos. Sloukas was with Olympiacos in the 2015 EuroLeague Championship Game, too. This is their fourth Championsjip Game together?

... **Papanikolaou** is one of five Rising Star Trophy winners at this year’s Championship Game? He is joined by Rudy Fernandez of Real Madrid. He is in his fourth EuroLeague championship game with Olympiacos after previous appearances in 2012, 2013 and 2017.

... **Sloukas** has the chance to win his fourth Euroleague title? Sloukas won titles with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013 and lifted the trophy again with Fenerbahce in 2017.

...**Sloukas** is 7-2 in the EuroLeague Semifinals? Sloukas registered six consecutive wins (Olympiacos 2012, 2013, 2015; Fenerbahce 2016, 2017, 2018), but lost against Anadolu Efes with Fenerbahce in 2019 and with Olympiacos in 2022. He just got back in the winning track!

…**Sloukas** is the second player to reach a seventh EuroLeague Championship Game? Matjaz Smodis played seven finals with Virtus, Fortitudo and CSKA. Derrick Sharp played six EuroLeague finals and the 2001 SuproLeague final with Maccabi.

...**Sloukas** can join a list of four-time winners with different teams? Dino Meneghin (five titles with Varese, two with Milan), leads the table. Fausto Bargna (two with Cantu, two with Milan), Kyle Hines (two with Olympiacos, two with CSKA) and Sarunas Jasikevicius (one with Barcelona, two with Maccabi, one with Panathinaikos) belong to this list.

…**Sloukas** is in his ninth Final Four? He is tied with Theo Papaloukas, Kyle Hines, Andrey Vorontsevich and Sergio Llull for second place in the most Final Four appearances list. Victor Khryapa leads with 12 Final Four appearances!

…head coach [Georgios Bartzokas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/teams/olympiacos-piraeus/oly/bartzokas-georgios/?season=E2022) is in his second Championship Game? He won the EuroLeague title with Olympiacos Piraeus in 2013.

…**Bartzokas** is one of two Greek coaches to win the EuroLeague. He led Olympiacos to the 2013 crown. Dimitris Itoudis (CSKA 2015, 2018) is the other.

…[Alec Peters](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/alec-peters/008829/) and [Joel Bolomboy](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/joel-bolomboy/009035/) won the EuroLeague together with CSKA Moscow in 2019, and can do it again with Olympiacos in 2023.

Game Videos

Game News

Did you know? Olympiacos Piraeus

...[Real Madrid](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/teams/real-madrid/roster/mad/?season=2022-23) has the chance to win its 11th EuroLeague title? It leads the all-time standings with 10 titles, but only three of them have come in the last 35 years. Real has won the competition in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1995, 2015 and 2018.

...**Real** is making its 20th EuroLeague Championship Game? Maccabi ranks second with 14 EuroLeague Championship Game appearances, plus the 2001 SuproLeague final. Real played seven EuroLeague finals in the 1960s, four in the 1970s, two in the 1980s, one in the 1990s, four in the 2010s and two in the 2020s.

...**Real** has the chance to lift its 17th continental trophy? In addition to its 10 EuroLeague titles, Madrid has won four Saporta Cups, a Korac Cup and a ULEB Cup – currently 7DAYS EuroCup.

... [Rudy Fernandez](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/rudy-fernandez/bmt/) belongs to a select group of players to have won both the EuroLeague and the EuroCup titles? Fernandez won the EuroCup with DKV Joventut Badalona in 2008 and two EuroLeague crowns with Real in 2015 and 2018. The list includes two other Spanish players: Felipe Reyes and Ricky Rubio, and also features stars like Nando De Colo, Nick Calathes or Romain Sato.

...**Fernandez,** [Sergio Rodriguez](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/sergio-rodriguez/cvm/) and [Sergio Llull](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/sergio-llull/tgb/) belong to a group of 24 players who have won the EuroLeague, EuroBasket and World Championship titles? Llull, Rodriguez and Fernandez are three of the five players on the list not hailing from the former Soviet Union or former Yugoslavia; Felipe Reyes and Juan Carlos Navarro are the others. The list includes all-time greats such as Arvydas Sabonis, Drazen Petrovic and Toni Kukoc.

...**Fernandez** headlines the short list of players to have won a World Championship, EuroBasket, EuroLeague and EuroCup?  He is joined only by Dejan Tomasevic and Reyes.

... **Llull** and **Fernandez** are in the sixth EuroLeague Championship Game with Real? They have been to the Championship Game in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2022.

.. **Rodriguez** is in his fifth EuroLeaguie Championship game? It made it with Real in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and with CSKA Moscow in 2018.

...**Fernandez, Rodriguez** and **Llull** already  won the EuroLeague title with Madrid in 2015 and are still with the team? Rodriguez came back and is in his second stint with the club.

...[Adam Hanga](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/adam-hanga/005099/) can become the first Hungarian player to win the EuroLeague title? Kornel David came closest when he reached the championship game with Tau Ceramica in 2005.

…**Hanga** is the first player to make it to the Final Four with three different Spanish teams? Hanga played the 2016 Final Four with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and also made it with FC Barcelona in 2021. He looks for his first EuroLeague title.

...**Llull** ranks third on the Final Four's career scoring list? Llull has 191 points and could climb at least one spot in Kaunas. Nikos Galis leads the list with 231 points followed by J.R. Holden (194),.

...**Llull** ranks first in assists in Final Four history? He dished 62 assists! Rodriguez ranks third with 56 assists.

**…Rodriguez** is the only Spanish-born player to win the EuroLeague with a non-Spanish team (CSKA, 2019)? He is also the only Spanish player to win the EuroLeague with different teams.

...**Fernandez, Rodriguez** and **Llull** can win their third EuroLeague title? The last Spanish players to win three EuroLeague titles were Rafael Rullan, Juan Antonio Corbalan and Luis Maria Prada with Real in 1974, 1978 and 1980.

…[Alberto Abalde ](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/alberto-abalde/003733/)and [Eli Ndiaye ](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/eli-ndiaye/009213/)can join an exclusive list of Adidas Next Generation Tournament MVPs who also won the EuroLeague title? Abalde was the ANGT MVP in 2013 with Joventut Badalona. Ndiaye was chosen as the 2022 ANGT MVP with Real. Luka Doncic is the only player to get both – he was the ANGT MVP in 2015 and won the EuroLeague in 2018 with Real.

…[Gabriel Deck](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/gabriel-deck/009005/) can join a list of Argentineans that won the EuroLeague title? The list features Hugo Sconochini (Virtus 1998, 2001), Facu Campazzo (Real 2015, 2018), Manu Ginobili (Virtus 2001), Pepe Sanchez (Panathinaikos 2002) and Andres Nocioni (Real 2015). Nicolas Laprovittola of FC Barcelona can also join this list in 2023. Deck is currently injured but would be considered as EuroLeague champion.

 Did you know? Real Madrid

The EuroLeague FanZone was the place to be early on Saturday with EuroLeague stars from the Final Four teams visiting and interacting with basketball fans from all over Europe, who have been flocking in big numbers to Unity Square in Kaunas.

The FanZone's main court [hosted a One Team Session with Final Four players](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/one-team/news/one-teams-impact-seen-through-sessions-with-euroleague-stars-final-four-ambassadors-at-fanzone/), a traditional event that has taken place for more than a decade during Final Four weekend, and it was no different in Kaunas.

One Team Ambassadors from the Final Four teams – EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov and his Olympiacos Piraeus teammate Kostas Papanikolaou, FC Barcelona's Oscar da Silva and Oriol Pauli, Real Madrid's Adam Hanga and AS Monaco's Yakuba Ouattara – shared the basketball court with Zalgiris Kaunas One Team participants for a session that included some One Team drills, and a 6-on-6 game between EuroLeague stars and the children.

What made this even different than most of the others was that the kids in Kaunas had a chance to share the court with a freshly crowned EuroLeague MVP.

"I think this is above everything," Vezenkov said with a smile, trying to sign as many autographs and take as many photos as time allowed after the event.

"I think it is amazing just to have an opportunity to share our experience with the kids and to give them smiles", said Ouattara, who admitted it is also a perfect opportunity to forget about last night's semifinal loss. "For 45 minutes here, you just get away from the frustration and forget what happened \[last night\]."

Sunny Saturday morning also brought to the FanZone the Reds' Thomas Walkup, Barcelona's Sertac Sanli, Real's Carlos Alocen and Monaco's Kaunas native Donatas Motiejunas.

"Motiejunas is a big star, we are happy for him to be here in the Final Four, and it is great that you can meet players like Motiejunas here at the Fan Zone", said Pijus Daukas who had his father Donatas take a photo of him with Motiejunas.

They watched the game at home, but have been spending a lot of time at the Fan Zone, where Pijus is participating in the 3-on-3 tournament.

"For us Lithuanians, basketball is a second religion, so that explains it all", Donatas Daukas added as they moved to try to catch Walkup, a former Zalgiris player.

"I think this is a perfect place for a Final Four", Walkup said while talking to the local youngsters and their parents as he was moving through the Fan Zone.

There will be plenty more events coming up later on Saturday, including a slam dunk contest and a pair of concerts by Beatrich and DJ Jovani, and throughout Sunday.

Final Four players meet fans in EuroLeague FanZone

One Team, Euroleague Basketball's Corporate Social Responsibility program, was front and center at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone with a pair of sessions that included some of the EuroLeague's biggest stars. 

On Friday, May 19, the afternoon of the EuroLeague Final Four semifinals, a group of Final Four Ambassadors, which included past greats of the game, met athletes from Special Olympics Lithuania at the FanZone main court for a session open to the public. The session was led by Zalgiris Kaunas's One Team coaches with the support of Euroleague Basketball and consisted of several activities focused on life skills, culminating in an animated 3-on-3 inclusive game. 

"Zalgiris Kaunas is a club that is strongly meshed with the community and through One Team we have found more ways to strengthen that connection with families," Final Four Ambassador and Zalgiris assistant general manager Paulius Jankunas said. "Not only does the One Team program have such a strong positive impact on the participants, it is incredibly rewarding for the players, too."

"Events such as these are among the highlights of the Final Four," Final Four Ambassador and Kaunas native Jonas Maciulis added. "It brings me personally great pleasure to see smiles on the faces of these children and I am very proud to be able to take part in it."

The following morning, One Team Ambassadors from the participating Final Four teams congregated at the FanZone for a session with the Zalgiris Kaunas One Team participants. 

“I am very honored to be part of this organization and try to develop and try to give some special moments to these kids," Adam Hanga of Real Madrid said. "I have kids of my own, so I know how important this is. It takes us out of thinking about basketball and thinking about the most important thing in our life, which is the kids, their lives, and how they are going to approach life. And how we can help them. Especially like this today, it can give them a lot of hope and some positive energy. One Team does an incredible job throughout the years."

Together they celebrated the positive impact the One Team continues to have on Euroleague club’s local communities. The sessions saw the One Team Ambassadors take part in several activities and games alongside the local participants. 

"I think this is above everything," concurred EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov of Olympiacos Piraeus. "The last couple of years One Team gave Kostas \[Papanikolaou\] and me an opportunity to have this interaction throughout the season with the kids. I think it is the most important for the kids to have fun, to smile, to find motivation through us and with us, to play this sport and we are very happy to give them this joy and happiness. One Team does a great job, and I am sure it will be even better and better and more and more in the next years."

One Team's impact seen through sessions with EuroLeague stars, Final Four Ambassadors at FanZone 

"If you live in the past, you cannot live anything new. Basically, I don’t live in the past." Olympiacos Piraeus head coach Georgios Bartzokas said when asked about the first time he faced Real Madrid in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game. It was May 2013 and Bartzokas remembers it well. 

"I have great memories from this final because we won the title and it was a kind of dominating basketball in the semifinals against CSKA and against Real Madrid in the final for three quarters because we were losing by a 17-18-point difference and finally we made 90 points in three quarters," Bartzokas recalled during the Saturday afternoon press conference looking ahead to the 2023 title bout between the same teams. 

"I cannot say that I am feeling it's destiny. I cannot say that. Basketball changes every day," he continued. "Nowadays it is completely different. If you see a game from 2013 and a game of the same level in 2023, you will realize easily that basketball changes every day…

"We are 10 years older and we are kind of different persons. I want to really enjoy the momentum, the timing, this big battle against such a great club like Real Madrid."

Bartzokas is one of six protagonists from that 2013 game who will compete for the 2023 crown. With Bartzokas are Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Pananikolaou. For Real Madrid, Sergio Llull, Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez are with the team. 

Because of that, Bartzokas stressed that "we are talking about completely different situations, completely different teams."

"We are talking about big clubs in European basketball. Everyone knows what Real and Olympiacos mean. It going to be a "battle" but in athletic terms. I have a lot of respect for Chus Mateo and for Real Madrid, but we have faith in our work and our effort all season and it will be very interesting to see what happens tomorrow."

10 years after beating Real for the crown, Bartzokas is focused on the present

The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four Championship Game Press Conference took place at Zalgirio Arena. Real Madrid was represented by star center Walter Tavares and head coach Chus Mateo, both of whom great respect to Olympiacos Piraeus, its final opponent in the current Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season when the two teams dispute  the trophy on Sunday evening.

Both of them praised the fact that Olympiacos kept a core of players for many years as one of the big keys to be successful.

"It is an honor to compete against a team like Olympiacos, which is a basketball machine," Coach Mateo said. "They play amazing, they are very solid, and they know each other really well for a long time."

"I am going to try to enjoy every minute of this Final Four against a great opponent like Olympiacos," Tavares said. "They have been consistent throughout the whole year, we have followed them very well. They play great and have been together for so much time."

Coach Mateo went on to praise Olympiacos boss Georgios Bartzokas. "It is a pleasure and honor for me to be the opponent of Coach Bartzokas, someone who I think of as a reference in European basketball, a gentleman of the benches. For me, it is good to play against him."

Tavares and Mateo were asked about Moustapha Fall, and both had really positive words about him. It is a key matchup in the championship game and everyone is aware of it.

"Fall is an excellent player not just because of the way he scores and plays defense, but also for what he generates. He is a very good passer that knows the game really well. We are facing one of the best players in Europe, without any kind of doubt, and as big as Edy \[Tavares\] is, of course," Coach Mateo said. "For us, Edy is absolutely critical. It will be a great basketball game for fans watching it, and a good matchup. I hope it falls our way."

"I know Fall is a great player that will make things hard for me. I believe that more or less we have the same size," Tavares added. "I feel good against a player that players like me, that does things as I do them. It will be a pleasure to play against him, as always, and I will do my best to stop him."

Mateo also spoke well about Olympiacos's most experienced players, Kostas Sloukas, who was also present in the press conference room, and team captain Kostas Papanikolaou.

"Olympiacos is an extraordinary team with player with a lot of players with great character who have been competing together at a really high level," he said. "Sloukas, who is here, is an example of that, an extraordinary player with competitive nature. Papanikolaou and he played really well and perfectly know what this games are about."

Ambassadors look back at their Final Four experiences

Joventut's Karim Lopez, Zalgiris's Jokubas Rudaitis win at ANGT skills contest

At a glance: Championship Sunday

Did you know? Olympiacos Piraeus

Did you know? Real Madrid

Final Four players meet fans in EuroLeague FanZone

One Team's impact seen through sessions with EuroLeague stars, Final Four Ambassadors at FanZone

10 years after beating Real for the crown, Bartzokas is focused on the present

Chus Mateo, Walter Tavares praise title-game foe Olympiacos