A EuroLeague regular-season finale unlike anything seen before

Round 34 is going to be packed with drama on Thursday and Friday

For 25 years, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague has provided memorable moments, immeasurable passion, thrill and drama as the top teams on the European continent have battled their way towards capturing basketball glory.

Now, the league’s famous ’Every Game Matters’ mantra is taking its meaning to another level, as we are witnessing something that has never happened before, confirming the EuroLeague's status as the most competitive league in the world.

For the first time in 25 years, with one round to go, of all the places in the standings that secure progress to the next elimination phase, not a single one has been decided and every one of them will be settled in the final round.

No matter what the format of the competition has been over the last quarter-century, at least one team had clinched first or second place, or was locked into third or fourth place in the standings before the final round.

Whether it was the current round-robin league format played since the 2016-17 season, or Top 16 groups where teams battled for playoffs spots, there was always at least one team – and sometimes up to five – that were certain of their playoff seeding.

Or even during the times when Top 16 winners went directly to the Final Four, or the inaugural season when the regular season was followed by the eighthfinals, there was always at least one group winner before the final round of the group stage.

Not this season.

The crazy finish to the 2024-25 regular season is simply a crescendo of the most competitive season witnessed at the elite level of basketball competition.

This season, over the 33 rounds to this point, there were eight different teams that have occupied first place in the standings at the end of the round. That is one team short of half the league.

There have been as many as 13 changes in first place, and it is enough to go back just to early March to learn that since the finish of Round 27, there have been 10 different teams that have occupied one of the top-six spots in the standings, which lead directly to the EuroLeague Playoffs.

It is only natural that such a EuroLeague season, which has displayed unlimited competitiveness, ends this Thursday and Friday with Round 34, where eight of nine games will be determining postseason seedings.