The upcoming 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season guarantees a large dose of thrills, excitement and elite basketball, but what we could also witness is some of the long-standings all-time records broken, and major milestones to be reached.
Storylines: Looming player and club milestones
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De Colo aims even higher
A former MVP and two-time EuroLeague champion, Nando De Colo made a blockbuster move back home to his native France to join LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Already the all-time leader in performance index rating (4,319), now De Colo needs just 175 points to become just third player to surpass 4,000 points. He would need 630 to catch all-time leader Vassilis Spanoulis (4,455), but that is a figure surpassed only twice in Euroleague history, by Vasilije Micic of Anadolu Efes Istanbul in 2020-21 and by Alexey Shved of Khimki Moscow Region in 2017-18. De Colo could also become first guard with 1,000 two-point shots made – he has 893 to start the season – and needs to make just 74 free throws to become the second player to reach 1,000.
Longevity and legacy for Hines
Four-time EuroLeague champ Kyle Hines has a chance to become the EuroLeague's all-time leader in games played this season. Hines has already appeared in 357 games during his 12 EuroLeague seasons with Brose Baskets, Olympiacos Piraeus, CSKA Moscow and EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. Hines enters the season tied for the fourth place all-time with Felipe Reyes. Also in front of him on that list are Vassilis Spanoulis (358) and Georgios Printezis (375). The all-time leader in games played is now-retired Zalgiris Kaunas legend Paulius Jankunas (392), which means Hines would need to appear in 35 games to at least tie for first place. Interestingly, Hines had played in 36 games or more in each of his last three full seasons. Stay tuned!
Shot-blocking chase for Dunston, Hines and Tavares
Anadolu Efes Istanbul center Bryant Dunston finished last season by lifting the EuroLeague trophy on the floor of Stark Arena in Belgrade. Dunston also finished last season as the EuroLeague's all-time in blocked shots with 309. His closest followers are Hines with 286 and Walter Tavares of Real Madrid, who is third with 284. Tavares registered at least 60 blocks in each of the last three seasons, while Bryant had 31 and 36 in the last two seasons, respectively. If the trend continues, Tavares could catch up to Dunston and move to the top of the heap.
Milestones for Barca and Zalgiris
In Round 18, when it visits Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Zalgiris Kaunas will play its 500th game in the EuroLeague since 2000, making it the 10th club to reach that figure. Before the end of the regular season, however, FC Barcelona will become the first team to reach 600 games played. Barca currently ranks first with 571. For that momentous occasion in mid-March of 2023, Barcelona will host Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. Meanwhile, Real Madrid has a chance to become the first team to reach 5,000 three-point shots made in the competition. To get there, Los Blancos need 353 triples to go down, but needed to play through the playoffs and Final Four last season to reach that figure.