The calendar year of 2022 has been packed with single-season and all-time Turkish Airlines EuroLeague records and milestones, as well as the best-ever single-game three-point performance by the two-time reigning champions.
The best of 2022: Records and milestones
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John Brown, single-season steals record
The first big record of 2022 happened on February 4, when John Brown of UNICS Kazan uniform broke the longest-standing single-season record in the competition, the one for total steals. He surpassed the mark set by the great Manu Ginobili, who had 64 steals in the inaugural 2000-01 season, and Brown finished his shortened rookie 2021-22 campaign with 69 steals.
Hines became offensive rebounding king
A four-time EuroLeague champ Kyle Hines claimed a historic individual record on February 8 by passing a retired Real Madrid legend Felipe Reyes for the all-time lead in offensive rebounds. Reyes stood as the all-time leader with 705, and Hines pulled down 5 offensive rebound in AX Armani Exchange Milan's road win over Zalgiris Kaunas to take over the all-time lead.
Efes set the single-game triples record
Anadolu Efes Istanbul set a new EuroLeague record with 22 three-pointers made in its impressive 109-77 win over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on February 24. Efes's total was one more than the previous record of 21 held by Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. Efes made its 22 on 34 attempts for a club-record 64.7% three-point accuracy. Adrien Moerman shot 5-for-7 from long range, Vasilije Micic was 4-for-5, Shane Larkin 4-for-6, James Anderson 3-for-3, Elijah Bryant 2-for-2 and Tibor Pleiss 1-for-1.
Calathes becomes assists king
On March 3, Nick Calathes became the competition's career leader in assists when he moved past his former teammate, Vassilis Spanoulis, for the all-time lead. The second of Calathes's 6 assists in FC Barcelona's win over AS Monaco that night gave him 1,608 for his career. Calathes accomplished the feat in 269 games, which is 89 fewer than it took Spanoulis, then continued padding his all-time lead for the remainder of the 2021-22 season and early in this one. He now has 1,802 assists and also leads for highest career average, 6.1 assists per game.
Jankunas passes 2,000 mark in rebounds
Just a couple of weeks before he retired, Zalgiris power forward Paulius Jankunas became the first man ever to reach 2,000 career rebounds. Jankunas did it on March 17 with his only rebound in a home loss against Efes. He finished his career with 2,010 rebounds, which still stands as the all-time lead, nearly 300 rebounds more than the next best active player.
Dunston first to 300 blocks
On the first day of April, Efes center Bryant Dunston made EuroLeague history by becoming the first player ever with 300 career blocks. Dunston entered the game with 299 for his career, and made shot-blocking history with the first of his 3 blocks in a home win over ALBA Berlin.
Calathes beats Final Four assists mark
Calathes added another record to his impressive resume when he totaled 22 assists at the 2022 Final Four. He had 9 assists in Barcelona's semifinal loss against Real Madrid, then dished 13 in a win over Olympiacos Piraeus in the third-place game. His 22 assists in a single Final Four topped the previous mark of 21 set by Facundo Campazzo of Real Madrid at the 2019 Final Four in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
Mirotic had a single-season PIR record
FC Barcelona forward Nikola Mirotic was the EuroLeague's full-season MVP, finishing with an accumulated PIR of 765 across his 38 games in the competition, an all-time record. The previously mark was held by former Real Madrid guard Luka Doncic, who had a PIR of 711 in the 2017-18 season. Interestingly, Efes guard Shane Larkin also beat Doncic's mark with a PIR of 728 in 39 games in the 2021-22 season.
Larkin played the most minutes ever
No player in a single season spent more time on the floor than Larkin did last season. On the way to helping Efes successfully defends its EuroLeague crown, Larkin played 1,243 minutes and 51 seconds. It was 44 minutes more than the previous best, set by his teammate Vasilije Micic in the 2020-21 campaign.
Los Blancos, the rebounding masters
Real Madrid's attempt to win a record 11th EuroLeague crown was stopped in the championship game, but the 2021-22 season saw Los Blancos set a pair of single-season rebounding records. Real set a new mark for total rebounds in one season with 1,455, and became EuroLeague's first team ever to eclipse the four-digit mark in defensive rebounds for a season, grabbing a total of 1,007.
Tavares becomes new shot-block king
In the final double-round week of the 2022, Real Madrid's All-EuroLeague center Walter Tavares overtook the all-time lead for blocked shots. Tavares first set his career-high with 6 blocks in a road win over FC Bayern Munich on December 13, only to add 4 more blocks just 48 hours later in a loss at against Zalgiris. With those 10 blocks, the 30-year old reached 321 in his 176-game EuroLeague career, moving past Dunston and his 317 blocks.
De Colo's 4,000-point milestone
The latest milestone of the 2022 calendar year belongs to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne star guard Nando De Colo who became just the third player to break the 4,000-point barrier in the competition. He reached his 4,000th point in a 77-75 come-from behind win over Olympiacos Piraeus on a driving layup early in the fourth quarter, as he continues closing in on the top two all-time scorers, Vassilis Spanoulis (4,455 points) and Juan Carlos Navarro (4,152).