The 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four is officially underway! The 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four Tipoff Event got the Final Four started with some big news: Sasha Vezenkov of Olympiacos Piraeus has been officially crowned the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP. Vezenkov has been chosen as the competition's most valuable player after making it to the All-EuroLeague First Team in each of the two seasons.

Vezenkov was in an auditorium at Zalgirio Arena, and thought he would be interviewed by Sofia del Prado, and found an audience wearing masks with his face. He found out some of them were his parents and sister, who were asked to join him on the stage and break the news. Euroleague Basketball president Dejan Bodiroga handed him the MVP trophy. Vezenkov was taken to the Fan Zone, joining the tip-off event hosted by Joe Arlauckas, and was received with a big ovation.

FINAL FOUR BLOG

"I want to thank everybody who voted for me, and the whole organization of Olympiacos," Vezenkov said. "The presidents, the coach, the whole coaching staff, each player. We were 10 months together to reach the Final Four and be here." 

"It is a big honor and I am really happy but for me, nothing will change. I will be the same person every day, try to improve, try to work hard, try to make my team successful, because we play a team sport in which if your team is not at the highest level, you cannot be at the highest level. For me, this will be a motivation to keep working hard, to prove myself that this year is not just one year, that I can be consistent. In sports, consistency is the most difficult thing," he added. "I hope this is just the beginning."

Vezenkov crowned MVP in the Tipoff Event!

The 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four Tipoff Event, taking place at the Unity Square FanZone, officially gets the weekend’s festivities started. There will be an official press conference featuring all four coaches, as well as one player per team: Dzanan Musa of Real Madrid, Tomas Satoransky of FC Barcelona, Mike James of AS Monaco and Kostas Papanikolaou of Olympiacos Piraeus. Journalists and a limited number of lucky fans will be present at the event, and there will be some big news, we can guarantee that. 

The tipoff event will be the first of many activities taking place at the FanZone, which opens from 10:00 to 23:00 between Friday and Sunday. Final Four stars and EuroLeague Ambassadors will visit the Unity Square on Saturday, and there will be 3x3 tournaments, Slam Dunk and three-point contests, One Team sessions, performances by the Zalgiris Kaunas cheerleaders and much more. Don't miss the FanZone concerts on Saturday night, featuring Beatrich and DJ Jovani. But until then, the players and coaches take center stage at the FanZone to get this basketball party started. 

Follow the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four Tipoff Event here: 

The Tipoff Event is underway!

Kaunas Sports Hall is the home of great basketball once again. FC Barcelona and Panathinaikos Athens had the honor of playing the first basketball game since the famed hall was refurbished when they opened the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals on Thursday morning. 

Nearly two dozen scouts from around the world were on hand to catch the action. All of the basketball-related equipment for the event is state of the art with the hardwood floor coming from Zalgiris Kaunas, while Euroleague Basketball arranged for brand-new baskets and stanchions as well as scoreboards. 

While many well-known players and coaches can be expected to attend ANGT games this weekend, the biggest name at the opening game was Euroleague Basketball Legend Juan Carlos Navarro, who sat courtside in his role as Barcelona general manager. 

There will be three more games today and four on both Friday and Saturday before the top teams meet in Sunday’s championship game for the continental club junior crown. If you are in Lithuania, make sure to stop in at Kaunas Sports Hall to see the stars of tomorrow in action. 

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Icon in the house! <br><br>Juan Carlos Navarro watching on as the <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FCBbasket</a> younger generation play on Day One at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AdidasNGT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AdidasNGT</a> 🏀 <a href="https://t.co/N7sEznA8sS">pic.twitter.com/N7sEznA8sS</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1659084057748070400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

ANGT Finals start strong at renovated Kaunas Sports Hall

After last night's arrival of the four teams competing in the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four, today is the first full day of activities in Kaunas, Lithuania for Olympiacos Piraeus, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and AS Monaco. Before that, though, the junior teams get the party started as part of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals.

 

Once the first few games in the ANGT are in the books, the attention soon switches to the Final Four tipoff event, which is another highlight moment during the event's festivities. The regular-season MVP will be announced at the tipoff event, too!

Then, in the evening, the Final Four teams will have their team practices as they begin to refamiliarize themselves with playing at Zalgirio Arena, having played there at least once this season (or twice in the case of Barca, which beat Zalgiris Kaunas there in Game 3 of the playoffs). Everything is moving full steam ahead in Kaunas, one of the most passionate cities in the world for basketball, and a fantastic weekend of EuroLeague action is soon set to get underway!

The Day 2 festivities are already in full swing!

The 2023 Final Four can be considered officially underway in Kaunas, Lithuania, with the arrival of the Olympiacos Piraeus on Wednesday evening to the headquarters hotel for the teams. The Reds, who finished first in the regular season and clinched their Final Four spot with a Game 5 home win just eight days ago, will be aiming to go one step further than last season and lift their first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague crown in a decade.

Fast on the heels of Olympiacos, the other three Final Four teams – AS Monaco, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid – will be making their arrivals at Kaunas Airport to get settled and start attending to the growing throng of international media on hand for the festivities.

After the Final Four Tipoff Event at noon on Thursday local time, which you can follow live on EuroLeague digital platforms, the teams will get their first touch of the basketballs at Zalgirio Arena, the magnificent venue for Friday's semifinals and Sunday's crowning moment, the championship game. One of the great basketball cities on the planet, Kaunas, is all dressed up for its first Final Four, the teams are arriving, and the best weekend in the sport is on the way!

Team arrivals get the party started in Kaunas!

VR experiences all weekend at FanZone and on EuroLeagueTV

At the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Kaunas, Lithuania, basketball fans can get a taste of a first-class basketball experience without paying the thousands it costs for courtside seats. By heading to the VR stand at the [FanZone](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/the-euroleague-fanzone-comes-to-kaunas/), basketball enthusiasts can try out the state-of-the-art VR Experience, which is presented by Turkish Airlines, the EuroLeague's naming and innovation partner. From 10:00 am to 6:00 pm local time on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there is the chance to test this technology and watch highlights in VR from this season and last year's Final Four, all from a courtside seat that has a 360-degree view of the parquet.

What's more, you can switch the angle of the camera, going underneath the basket or from the control room, all in the blink of an eye.

Fans watching the Final Four from home will be able to watch both semifinals, the third-place game and the championship game in VR, courtesy of the [EuroLeagueTV VR app](https://euroleague.tv/signup).

Final Four Landscape

Come and join us through [www.euroleagueland.net](http://www.euroleagueland.net)

After the success of the Final Four Metaverse: EuroLeague Land last season, Euroleague Basketball and Turkish Airlines have partnered up again to bring it back for the 2023 Final Four in Kaunas. With a virtual trip to EuroLeague Land, fans of Europe's premier basketball competition can engage with all things basketball and EuroLeague, play games, earn points and win rewards!

By playing the mini-games in EuroLeague Land, fans can earn basketZ tokens, which they can use to build and personalize their own basketball courts. They can also interact with other fans as if they were at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone in Kaunas through chats and animations. Each participant in EuroLeague Land can customize his or her own 3D Avatar and then visit the different rooms to engage in a range of activities.

The longer you play and more basketZ you accrue, you improve your chances to unlock more rewards which will help you to build your dream court!

One of the highlights of Final Four Metaverse: EuroLeague Land will come on Saturday morning, May 20 at 11:30 CEST when players from the Final Four teams will enter the metaverse and interact with fans, too. Stay tuned to the EuroLeague's Instagram channel for more details.

EuroLeague Land is back for the 2023 Final Four!

The city of Kaunas and the fabulous Zalgirio Arena are the epicenter of European basketball for the next four days, as the 2023 Turkish Airlines Final Four comes to town. The good news for fans all across the world is that the action gets underway in just under 48 hours' time!

Wednesday has seen the final touches applied, both inside and outside the arena, as well as at Unity Square, the location of the FanZone. If you are a basketball fan, make sure to head to the FanZone to join thousands of fellow basketball lovers from all over the world.

The city itself is ready to welcome fans from all corners of the globe, and even though the games are two days away, you can already hear different languages being spoken on the streets and in local bars and restaurants, especially on Laisves Aleja, the city's most prominent pedestrian street.

Kaunas is also ready to welcome the four teams – Olympiacos Piraeus, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and AS Monaco – all of which are set to arrive in the city on Wednesday evening.

So, buckle up because, being here on the ground, there is a great amount of anticipation as this city and a country, which views the sport of basketball as a second religion, gets ready to host a memorable event: the 2023 EuroLeague Final Four.

Final touches applied to Zalgirio Arena and Kaunas

Later on Wednesday night, all four Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four clubs are expected to arrive in Kaunas, Lithuania in a two-hour period, 30 minutes spaced in between one another. Before jetting off, AS Monaco, Olympiacos Piraeus, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid all posted tweets ahead of their flights to Kaunas. They are just a few hours away from landing!

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">🔜 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F4GLORY?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F4GLORY</a> 🙌 Lᴇᴛ’s Gᴏ 🏁 <a href="https://t.co/Y07RjCSlo7">pic.twitter.com/Y07RjCSlo7</a></p>&mdash; AS Monaco Basket 🇲🇨 (@ASMonaco_Basket) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASMonaco_Basket/status/1658825616513200128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">✈️ Off to 📍 Kaunas! <br><br>For more 📸 <a href="https://t.co/8JBLBvQ7No">https://t.co/8JBLBvQ7No</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OlympiacosBC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OlympiacosBC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreOlympiacos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreOlympiacos</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWeFight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWeFight</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToKaunas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToKaunas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F4Glory?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F4Glory</a> <a href="https://t.co/6WX0agUVrH">pic.twitter.com/6WX0agUVrH</a></p>&mdash; OLYMPIACOS BC (@Olympiacos_BC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Olympiacos_BC/status/1658826856571830277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Cap a Kaunas 🇱🇹 <a href="https://t.co/Nz2xYuHC6Y">pic.twitter.com/Nz2xYuHC6Y</a></p>&mdash; Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket/status/1658839263222329346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">🛫 ¡Ponemos rumbo a Kaunas!<br>🔜 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F4GLORY?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F4GLORY</a> <a href="https://t.co/DszIrQzJPk">pic.twitter.com/DszIrQzJPk</a></p>&mdash; Real Madrid Basket (@RMBaloncesto) <a href="https://twitter.com/RMBaloncesto/status/1658842713159258112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>