After a lot of near misses throughout his career, Khem Birch was able to lift a major trophy last Sunday after hoisting aloft the EuroLeague title.

Khem Birch finally a champion: ‘A long time coming’

Last Sunday night, [Khem Birch](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/khem-birch/007182/) was finally able to celebrate with his team at the end of a basketball championship run, as the 34-year-old [Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/ulk/) center was crowned a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion in Abu Dhabi.

“It was a long time coming,” Birch told Euroleague.net's Igor Petrinovic after the game.

“Every championship since high school, I lost. The EuroLeague in 2017. \[I lost\] even in the NBA Playoffs. So, God rewarded me.”

It sure was a long wait.

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A native of Canada, Birch played for Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts during his senior year in high school, losing a USA National Prep Championship final against St. Thomas More back in 2011.

In 2013, in his college days, Birch lost in the final of the Mountain West tournament while playing for UNLV against University of New Mexico, then tasted defeat in the first game of the NCAA Tournament against the University of California.

In his lone previous season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Birch helped Olympiacos Piraeus to reach the 2017 championship game, only to lose against Fenerbahce.

Birch also never got past the first round of the NBA Playoffs, getting eliminated with the Orlando Magic in 2019 and 2020, and in 2022 with the Toronto Raptors.

To set the record straight, this recent EuroLeague title was not the first trophy for Birch in his professional career, as he won the Turkish Cup with Fenerbahce earlier this season.

However, winning the EuroLeague pales in comparison with everything else. To do that, [Fenerbahce beat AS Monaco in Sunday’s championship game](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/fenerbahce-crowned-2025-champion-with-70-81-win-over-monaco/).

“It was for sure a great battle, and we found the way to rally. And for sure it was our defense,” he said.

Birch praised the team spirit Coach Jasikevicius has instilled and the teammates’ trust in each other, both of which were key in achieving EuroLeague glory.

“We've got a lot of depth, a lot of unselfishness. We followed Coach's plan and we won.”

However, for Birch, there was no escaping a bit of drama. The big man woke up with back pain on the morning of the game and wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to play.

“I remember when I had a playoff series in the NBA against the Sixers \[in 2022\], when I was with the Raptors, I had a torn meniscus and my back problem. So I know, this was nothing.”

To further prove that this back problem was “nothing” and he was not nervous if he would be able to go, Birch spent 20:16 minutes on the floor against Monaco, posting 6 rebounds, including 3 on the offensive end.

“Hey, I also received a Flight Time award, which means I was in the air the longest. I am too old to be nervous.”

So, finally on the winning team, Khem Birch feels like he might only be getting started.

“I think that after this, I will have the most confidence coming into these types of games.”

Game News

The Fenerbahce big man lifted the EuroLeague title after coming up short over and over again

AS Monaco v Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (2025-05-25T17:00:00.000Z)

FC Bayern Munich has confirmed that team captain Vladimir Lucic has signed a contract extension that will see him remain at the club until the summer of 2027.

Vladimir Lucic pens two-year extension at Bayern

[FC Bayern Munich](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fc-bayern-munich/mun/) has confirmed that team captain [Vladimir Lucic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/vladimir-lucic/001288/) has signed a contract extension that will see him remain at the club until the summer of 2027.

Lucic (35 years old, 2.04 meters) joined Bayern in 2016 and has become a fans' favorite during his time in Bavaria, appearing in 171 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games for the club since 2018 and also 25 BKT EuroCup fixtures between 2016 and 2018.

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In what was an injury-affected season for Lucic, he posted 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 16 games for Bayern, which reached the second round of the Play-In Showdown before exiting at the hands of Real Madrid. 

The veteran Serbian forward missed Rounds 3 through 22 with an injury, but his experience proved crucial for Bayern in the final stretch of the season as it finished ninth in the standings.

With Lucic still contributing at the highest level, coach Gordie Herbert will be leaning on his captain to lead the way as Bayern looks to build on its first season at SAP Garden and establish itself as one of the EuroLeague's dominant teams in the 2025-26 campaign.

More Bayern News

Top 10 photos of the EuroLeague Championship Game

Tens of thousands of fans took it to the streets of the largest Turkish city for a massive parade to greet the new Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon.

Fenerbahce enjoys massive championship parade

Tens of thousands of fans took it to the streets of Turkiye's largest city for a massive parade to greet the new Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions, [Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/ulk/), on Tuesday afternoon.

Having captured the club’s second-ever EuroLeague crown, coach Saras Jasikevicius's team rode an open-top bus through a long Bagdat Street, the main avenue in Bostanci neighborhood. The bus moved slowly through the street packed with the fans wearing yellow-and-navy colors and proudly waving the flags of their favorite, and once again championship-winning, team.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/UpaKbhDmlJ">https://t.co/UpaKbhDmlJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/vFKI2DQVez">pic.twitter.com/vFKI2DQVez</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1927443039548522874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Coach Jasikevicius and his players and staff looked on in awe of the amazing scenes, enjoying every second of the parade, showing off the coveted trophy they captured with [an 81-70 win over AS Monaco in Sunday’s EuroLeague Championship Game](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/fenerbahce-crowned-2025-champion-with-70-81-win-over-monaco/) in Abu Dhabi.

Fenerbahce became the eighth team in the modern EuroLeague to win the trophy twice, having also climbed the throne in 2017.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="lt" dir="ltr">Sarunas Jasikevicius. <a href="https://t.co/w89HnEZGBl">pic.twitter.com/w89HnEZGBl</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol/status/1927463694750843207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"We are the EuroLeague champions, we have won the biggest trophy in Europe," Final Four MVP[ Nigel Hayes-Davis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nigel-hayes-davis/008962/) said to the masses in Turkish. "But this is not just the victory of a trophy, it is a victory of attitude, of belief, of character. This success did not come only from a coach's tactics or the talent of the players. This level is not reached only through sporting success. This success is the work of a team that believes in us, a community that never gives up, and you, our great fans, who are always by our side."

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Parade ready ! 💛💙💛<a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBBasketbol</a> <a href="https://t.co/8gMiYPCog7">pic.twitter.com/8gMiYPCog7</a></p>&mdash; Bonzie Colson (@Bcolson_35) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bcolson_35/status/1927379633353228726?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">Bizimkiler! 💛💙🏆<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YellowLegacy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YellowLegacy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/5hz8t6OFDd">pic.twitter.com/5hz8t6OFDd</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol/status/1927468975404769525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">Sevdik Seni Her Şeyden Çok! 💛💙<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YellowLegacy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YellowLegacy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/bsnS6W2f8D">pic.twitter.com/bsnS6W2f8D</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol/status/1927396028241625220?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="cy" dir="ltr">BALDWIN IV!<a href="https://twitter.com/The_Fourth_Wade?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@The_Fourth_Wade</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YellowLegacy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YellowLegacy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/gvZG5v0WlW">pic.twitter.com/gvZG5v0WlW</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol/status/1927407916392296624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">Nicolo! 💪<a href="https://twitter.com/NikMelli?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NikMelli</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YellowLegacy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YellowLegacy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/JMFf2ImJ9M">pic.twitter.com/JMFf2ImJ9M</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol/status/1927422232181055600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">İstersen donatalım dört bir yanı bayraklarla! 🔥 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YellowLegacy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YellowLegacy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/wYV3LndZiK">pic.twitter.com/wYV3LndZiK</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe SK (@Fenerbahce) <a href="https://twitter.com/Fenerbahce/status/1927419761782108524?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


The new EuroLeague champion celebrated its trophy with its fans

Here are some facts about two-time Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul!

Facts of the Champions: Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

...Fenerbahce won its second EuroLeague championship! It previously lifted the trophy in 2017.

...Fenerbahce is the eighth team in modern EuroLeague history to lift multiple titles.

...Sarunas Jasikevicius became the fourth person to win the EuroLeague as a player and head coach. Jasikevicius won four EuroLeague championships as a player. Armenak Alachachan, Lolo Sainz and Stevislav Pesic are the only three members of this exclusive club. Saras is the first to do it in the modern EuroLeague.

...Melih Mahmutoglu is the only player to win two EuroLeague titles with Fenerbahce: 2017 and 2025! 

...Sertac Sanli is the only player to win the EuroLeague title with both Turkish powerhouses! He lifted the trophy with Anadolu Efes Istanbul in 2021 and did it again with Fenerbahce on Sunday.

...Scottie Wilbekin and Errick McCollum joined a list of EuroCup MVPs that also won the EuroLeague: Nick Calathes, Tyrese Rice, Alexey Shved and Jerian Grant are also part of his very exclusive club. 

...Wilbekin and McCollum joined a select group of players that won the EuroLeague and EuroCup titles. Only 24 players won both competitions. The list includes names such as Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio, Mathias Lessort, Nick Calathes, Nando De Colo and Milos Teodosic. 

...Nicolo Melli and Marko Guduric both lost a Euroleague final with Fenerbahce in 2018… and were back in a championship game seven years later to win their first EuroLeague crown!

...Khem Birch and DyShawn Pierre join Anthony Bennett in a list of Canadian players that won the EuroLeague title! All of them won with Fenerbahce! 

...Jilson Bango is the first Angolan-born player to win the EuroLeague. Only two Angolan players have taken part in the EuroLeague, both this season: Bango and Real Madrid’s Bruno Fernando.

...Arturs Zagars has just become the first Latvian player to win the EuroLeague this century. As many as 28 Latvian-born players have played the EuroLeague since the competition started in 2000 but none of them lifted the trophy – until Sunday! 


Here are some facts about two-time Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul!

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul clamped down on AS Monaco to take the club’s second championship with a defense-dominated 70-81 victory in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night.

Defense delivered another title to Fenerbahce

There’s an old saying you might just have heard once or twice over the years: "Offense wins games, but defense wins championships."

And that old truism was demonstrated once again as [Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/ulk/) clamped down on [AS Monaco](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/as-monaco/mco/) to take the club’s second championship with [a defense-dominated 70-81 victory](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/fenerbahce-crowned-2025-champion-with-70-81-win-over-monaco/) in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night.

After limiting [Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/panathinaikos-aktor-athens/pan/?season=2024-25)’s explosive offense to 76 points in [Friday’s semifinal](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/fenerbahce-downs-panathinaikos-82-76-advances-to-championship-game/), the Turkish team reached an ever higher defensive level in the title decider.

The numbers speak for themselves: Monaco could only make 16 of its 42 two-point attempts (38.1%), recorded more turnovers (14) than assists (13), and mustered a team PIR of just 61.

Fenerbahce’s defense was particularly fierce during the most important moments of the game. Monaco scored just one field goal in the last 4 minutes of the second quarter, as the Turkish team grabbed the momentum to take a lead it would hold for the vast majority of the second half.

Game Videos

And later, when the fourth quarter started with Fener leading by just 3, the Roca Team was held to just one field goal and 4 total points in the first 5:47 of the crucial final period, allowing Saras Jasikevicius’s men to establish a double-digit margin that would ultimately prove decisive.

[Wade Baldwin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/wade-baldwin-iv/009863/) – one of six Fener players to snare a steal on the night – believed that crucial run in the opening stages of the fourth quarter resulted from his team’s mental focus. “Monaco is going to play the way Monaco plays, they’re going to rough you up,” he said.

“We just stayed composed, we made good plays, got big rebounds and everybody stepped up defensively. That’s not an easy team to guard, but we did our job.”

Baldwin’s job was perhaps the most difficult of them all as he matched up against Monaco superstar [Mike James](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/mike-james/005985/), but he helped restrict the league’s all-time leading scorer to just 6 of 19 field goal attempts and only 2 assists.

Baldwin had words of immense respect for his adversary, saying: “The first name I heard \[when I came to Europe\] was Mike James. He’s considered one of the best American guards to play in EuroLeague. And to play against him in the final, to compete against him, to guard him, and to beat him…you can’t want anything more than that.”

Another crucial player for Fenerbahce’s defensive efforts was [Nicolo Melli](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/nicolo-melli/002849/), whose modest numbers (5 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal) don’t even come close to telling the story of his disruptive impact on Monaco’s offensive efforts.

And he said that he believes the team’s spirit made the difference: “We definitely won it with defense, but we also won it with character. We were down by \[9\] in the first half.

“These games are all about emotions, thoughts, feeling, momentum. But we were able to stay together and finished the half up, and after that I think we kept the control of the game in the second half.”

It’s a long-awaited first EuroLeague title for Melli, whose first spell with Fenerbahce started just after the team’s 2017 triumph.

And the 34-year-old was emotional as he reflected on the achievement, telling the EuroLeague YouTube channel’s postgame show: “Without being dramatic, I know what I’ve been through sport-wise, and being able to come back to Fener – where I always felt beloved – and being able to win the championship in the first year is just amazing.

“As players, we sacrifice a lot – time with the family, summers. You sacrifice for something, and today this something came.”

A sweet something that Fener and its fans will remember forever.

The Turkish team played with great discipline and physicality to subdue Monaco

Saras Jasikevicius has become the fourth person to lift the EuroLeague as a head coach and player.

Coach Jasikevicius enters EuroLeague history books, leads Fenerbahce to glory

Not many Turkish Airlines EuroLeague legends can boast having won the trophy both as a coach and player. In fact, only three had done it before Sunday’s Championship Game between [Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/ulk/) and [AS Monaco](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/as-monaco/mco/). That exclusive group which consisted of Armenak Alachachian, Lolo Sainz and Svetislav Pesic now has a new member in Fenerbahce boss [Saras Jasikevicius](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/saras-jasikevicius/adg/). 

Having won four EuroLeague championships with three teams as a player, Jasikevicius made history after Fenerbahce’s playoff sweep over Paris Basketball by becoming the first coach to reach five consecutive Final Fours.

Participation with Zalgiris Kaunas (2018) was followed by three straight Final Fours with FC Barcelona (2021, 2022, 2023) and two in row with Fenerbahce (2024, 2025). The Turkish side bounced back from last year’s semifinal defeat at the hands of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens by beating the Greens this season to reach the Championship Game. This time, Jasikevicius wouldn’t let the opportunity slip through his hands.

“It feels amazing. I’ve been chasing this trophy for a while now,” he told EuroLeague TV after the game. “I had a lot of heartbreaks. Stuck with it and these guys got the job done.”

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That winning smile 😃<br><br>🤳Saras Selfie <a href="https://t.co/rhygk7NUWd">pic.twitter.com/rhygk7NUWd</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1926748771334950956?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

His task this term has been anything but easy. [Scottie Wilbekin’](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/scottie-wilbekin/006661/)s season-ending injury two minutes into the season was followed by several setbacks that forced him to adapt and react. His team grew through adversity and finished the regular season in style. Fenerbahce hit the ground running in the new calendar year, winning 18 of its 22 games to earn Saras the 2024-25 Aleksander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.

“It was difficult at times,” Jasikevicius added. “We found a way to stick together. We went through the bad times and survived in some parts of the season. And I believe that from January on we played good basketball.”

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">KINGS OF EUROPE 🟡🔵<a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBBasketbol</a> <a href="https://t.co/aAylK2hs4p">pic.twitter.com/aAylK2hs4p</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1926739224851529762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That good basketball paid off as Fenerbahce secured its second-ever EuroLeague trophy. And Saras can now cherish the moment by celebrating his fifth championship.

“I got a big monkey off my shoulders,” he told the post-game press conference. “After being so close for so many years, consistently being here and not being able to get over the hump. 

"I can’t win championships as a player anymore. As Billy \[Spanoulis\] said, I wish I’d have the f\*\*\*ing ball in my hands this weekend, but we are on the sidelines. \[The feeling of winning it as a player and coach\] is the same. It’s the greatest feeling in the world to be a champion.”

He became the fourth person in EuroLeague history to lift the championship both as a player and coach

Coach Jasikevicius enters the EuroLeague history books

Wade Baldwin basks in EuroLeague glory

It took [Wade Baldwin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/wade-baldwin-iv/009863/) five clubs and six EuroLeague seasons just to get to the Final Four. And he did everything he could to make sure he cashed in this season with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.

Baldwin made it clear that he joined Fenerbahce with the goal of winning it all. And after he accomplished that goal on Sunday night at the 2025 Final Four at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, he was – however briefly – prepared to bask in the glory.

"We're all legends in the, in the Euroleague Basketball books," Baldwin said in the locker room amid the post-game celebrations. "We're 2025 champions, this Fenerbahce team. It's our second star. All of us gave tremendous effort. It's just a great feeling to be in the history books for this league."

A true student of the game, Baldwin came painstakingly close to Final Fours on several occasions, losing a fifth and deciding game in the playoffs with FC Bayern Munich in 2021 and with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in both 2023 and 2024. Because of those losses, Baldwin appreciates what it means to be a winner. Perhaps even more so this season after he missed time with injuries.  

"It's relentless," Baldwin said of the road to the crown. "You want to play your best basketball towards the end of season to raise titles. I wanna put my best foot forward in any minutes that I play and just play my game. All of us established roles on how we could be effective for this team, and everybody did a hell of a job doing it."

Baldwin said that defeating Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens in the semifinals and AS Monaco in the Championship Game required "mental toughness, extra effort, and following the game plan."

He summed it up as "just Fenerbahce basketball. And we've been trying to practice all year to perform like this in two of the biggest games of our season."

 Baldwin will celebrate heartily now – maybe even for a few days – as all EuroLeague champions do. But perhaps unlike most, he already has his eyes on the next prize.

"Now we're at the top of the food chain. So, we gotta enjoy this moment. The business of basketball will be the business of basketball, but we're gonna try to do it again next year."

The Fenerbahce guard has won his first continental crown 

In his first season as a coach in the EuroLeague, Vassilis Spanoulis did almost everything, but his AS Monaco team came up short against Fenerbahçe Beko in the Championship Game.

Monaco has laid the foundation for future success under Coach Spanoulis

In his first season as a coach in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Vassilis Spanoulis did almost everything.

After clinching home-court advantage in the EuroLeague Playoffs, he led his team to Final Four qualification by eliminating FC Barcelona in a five-game series. In the semifinal against his former team, Spanoulis put together a master plan to disrupt Olympiacos Piraeus’s ball circulation, forced them to a season-low in assists and eliminated the regular-season leader from the competition.

Having remained unbeaten in the EuroLeague Semifinals as both a player and coach, Spanoulis came close to becoming the first-ever coach to have won the championship in his first season since Zeljko Obradovic did so with Partizan Belgrade in 1992.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Merci aux <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RocaFans?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RocaFans</a> ❤️👏<br><br>Vous avez été incroyables tout au long de la saison et à ce Final Four 🙏🇲🇨<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DagheMunegu?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DagheMunegu</a> <a href="https://t.co/VnjR2TP4ti">pic.twitter.com/VnjR2TP4ti</a></p>&mdash; AS Monaco Basket 🇲🇨 (@ASMonaco_Basket) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASMonaco_Basket/status/1926726840183394535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

But it wasn’t meant to be despite [AS Monaco](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/as-monaco/mco/)’s efforts in [the Championship Game against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/fenerbahce-crowned-2025-champion-with-70-81-win-over-monaco/). Spanoulis’s side looked solid on defense but missed a spark on the other end in their bid to go all the way in their second-ever Final Four participation.

“Monaco could have won. They are a great team,” Fenerbahce head coach Saras Jasikevicius admitted after the game. “Their physicality is incredible, their guys left their hearts out there. Hats off to them.”

Having missed out on the trophy, Monaco is aware that there are a lot of positives to take from this season. As Spanoulis stressed in the post-game press conference, his team exceeded expectations this season, but they are yet to reach their full potential.

“We fought hard,” Spanoulis said. “For Monaco we broke the ceiling and \[overcame\] the expectations they had from us. We were just a bit away from the trophy. But this is life. You have to fight hard all your life to win trophies. Sometimes you win your first time, sometimes after two, five or ten times.”

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🙏🥺 Thank you, that was beautiful<br><br>Congratulations <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBBasketbol</a> for the title, it was a great battle 👏 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RocaTeam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RocaTeam</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DagheMunegu?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DagheMunegu</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F4GLORY?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F4GLORY</a> <a href="https://t.co/FTdVqwGRxf">pic.twitter.com/FTdVqwGRxf</a></p>&mdash; AS Monaco Basket 🇲🇨 (@ASMonaco_Basket) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASMonaco_Basket/status/1926721342155509847?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Spanoulis joined the club in November and in just a few months he managed to transmit his ideals to the players, turning Monaco’s offense from iso-heavy into a ball-circulation machine, with star [Mike James](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mike-james/005985/) averaging a league fourth-best 5.8 assists per game and the team ending the season with a sixth-best 19.1 dishes.

The Greek coach has laid the foundation to achieve what no one else has managed at Monaco: go all the way to EuroLeague glory. Having led the team to Championship Game participation in his first season coaching in the competition, the future looks bright for Spanoulis’s Monaco.

The Greek coach led his team to its first-ever Championship Game participation

Nigel Hayes-Davis played a full role in his team’s 70-81 title game victory over AS Monaco, earning the Final Four Most Valuable Player award 

MVP Hayes-Davis gets his deserved reward

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul forward [Nigel Hayes-Davis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/nigel-hayes-davis/008962/) has been one of the most inspirational and popular performers in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for several years, and now his dedication and all-round talents have been rewarded with a well-deserved championship.

Fittingly, Hayes-Davis played a full role in his team’s 70-81 title game victory over AS Monaco, earning the Final Four Most Valuable Player award by leading all scorers with 23 points, also adding 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot for a game-high PIR of 30.

Those numbers don't show the hustle plays he also produced throughout the game, throwing himself all over the floor to make saves, break up passes, play hard defense, fight for loose balls and grab tough rebounds.

So there's no doubt that Hayes-Davis fully merits all the accolades heading his way, but his immediate reaction was surprisingly understated.

Usually a charismatic and entertaining interviewee, on this occasion he appeared a little overwhelmed when he faced the EuroLeague TV cameras a few minutes after receiving his MVP award and personal championship trophy.

But he revealed there was a good reason for his relatively low-key reaction, explaining: “I’ve worked very hard in the last three or four years trying to be present, and I’ve played this moment out in my mind for the last month, this past year. So now that I’m here, it kind of feels like I’ve already done it.

“I don’t look as excited as I am, but I’m extremely happy, extremely proud. We worked very hard all year, a lot of ups and downs like every season, but it’s tremendous to be a champion.”

One striking stat from Hayes-Davis’s performance in the title game was his nerveless free throw shooting, making all 14 of his attempts from the foul line.

That was nothing new because he has been an outstanding free throw shooter all season, making 90.1% of his attempts (129 of 142). And he gave an intriguing insight into that aspect of his game, explaining: “I’ve really taken a step in how big mental preparation and manifestation is.

“I saw a video of \[Cristiano\] Ronaldo. He says a little phrase to himself before he takes a free-kick. Once I found out what he said, I just changed it from football terms to basketball terms.

"So if you watch me at the free throw line, I have the same speech routine I give myself. I go up and shoot the free throw, and I’m glad I made all of them today.

“The most important thing to my mother is that I make my free throws. If I miss them she’s pissed, so as long as I keep making them she’ll be happy!”

More on Nigel Hayes-Davis

A few minutes later, Hayes-Davis also joined the live postgame show on the EuroLeague YouTube channel, and for once strayed away from his usual modesty by allowing himself a few words of self-indulgent congratulations.

“You don’t always get what you work for,” he said. “Kids grow up hearing that you work hard and you get what you work for. That doesn’t always happen. But you keep working, you keep working, you keep working, and now I’m the best.

“I’m the MVP, I’m the champion. My hard work paid off, I earned it and I deserve it.”

And nobody will argue with that.

After six EuroLeague seasons, Hayes-Davis is a champion

MVP Nigel Hayes-Davis gets his deserved reward

After leading Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul to its second-ever Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title, Nigel Hayes-Davis has been crowned as the 2025 Final Four MVP.

Final Four MVP: Nigel Hayes-Davis, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

After leading [Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/ulk/) to its second-ever Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title, [Nigel Hayes-Davis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nigel-hayes-davis/008962/) has been crowned as the 2025 Final Four MVP.

Hayes-Davis was absolutely dominant in [Fenerbahce’s 70-81 Championship Game victory over AS Monaco](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/fenerbahce-crowned-2025-champion-with-70-81-win-over-monaco/) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, posting game highs of 23 points and 9 rebounds, as well as 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block, good for a game-high PIR of 30.

Even though he struggled somewhat from the field, shooting 4 for 13, he was a perfect 14 for 14 from the free-throw line as he continued to find ways to positively impact his team. This performance came after posting 7 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and zero turnovers as Fenerbahce eliminated last year's champion, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, in the semifinals.

Hayes-Davis now follows in the footsteps of [Ekpe Udoh](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/ekpe-udoh/006503/), who was the Final Four MVP when Fenerbahce became the EuroLeague champion for the first time in 2017.

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has become the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion for the second time in club history after defeating AS Monaco 70-81 in the 2025 Championship Game at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. 

Fenerbahce crowned champion with 70-81 win over Monaco

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has become the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion for the second time in club history after defeating AS Monaco 70-81 in the 2025 Championship Game at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. 

Monaco led the majority of a hard-fought first half, but Fener finished strong to take a 33-35 interval lead. It stayed close in the third quarter, but the Turkish team dominated the final period to take title glory. 

Nigel Hayes-Davis led the way with 23 points and 9 rebounds, with Marko Guduric scoring 19, while Devon Hall and Wade Baldwin netted 13 apiece. Alpha Diallo paced Monaco with 19 points, Mike James scored 17, Matthew Strazel had 13 and Daniel Theis contributed 12.

Guduric scored the opening basket with a driving layup, but Monaco responded with triples from Diallo and Strazel, along with 5 points from James. Diallo netted again to complete an 8-0 run, giving Monaco a 13-4 lead. Hayes-Davis scored 4 straight to reduce the gap, before James and Hall traded triples to make it 16-11. Theis and Baldwin exchanged inside scores, before Tarik Biberovic and Jaron Blossomgame netted from mid-range to make it 20-18 after ten minutes.

In a low-scoring start to the second quarter, Baldwin’s triple briefly gave Fener the lead, but Theis immediately hit back from deep. Diallo scored twice as Monaco extended the lead to 29-21 with a 9-0 run, which was snapped by Guduric’s layup. The red-hot Diallo and Nicolo Melli traded three-pointers, and Hayes-Davis made it closer with a smooth layup. Khem Birch’s tip-in and Hall’s fierce slam kept Fener moving, and Hall beat the halftime buzzer with a wild acrobatic put-back for a 33-35 lead.

Guduric drilled a three-pointer to open the second half, before Daniel Theis reignited Monaco with a layup-and-one. Hall and James traded driving layups to make it 38-40, and Hayes-Davis netted from mid-range to keep Fener ahead despite Strazel’s three-point play. Baldwin scored twice for a 43-48 lead, but Monaco went back ahead through triples from Blossomgame and Diallo. Guduric hit straight back with his own three-ball, and Hayes-Davis was also on target from deep for a 51-54 lead through three quarters.

The early minutes of the fourth were a defensive struggle, before Baldwin’s triple made it 51-59. Errick McCollum’s three-point play completed a 0-11 run, giving Fener the game’s first double-digit lead. Theis’s reverse layup boosted Monaco, but Guduric’s long two made it 55-65. Diallo’s dunk was bettered by Hall’s step-back three, before James’s jumper and Strazel’s free throws followed by a triple pulled it back to 64-69 with two minutes left. But Fener’s defense then took over again, and Guduric’s triple sealed the deal.

The Turkish team claimed the EuroLeague title for the second time after a dominant fourth quarter

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Fenerbahce crowned 2025 champion with 70-81 win over Monaco

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