FC Barcelona continued to strengthen its backcourt by inking experienced point guard Nicolas Laprovittola to a two-year deal, the club announced on Wednesday. Laprovittola (1.90 meters, 31 years old) arrives from Real Madrid, where he averaged 6.8 points and 3.8 assists in 34 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games last season. That was his second EuroLeague season with Real after he had debuted in the competition with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in the 2016-17 season. All told, Laprovittola has 71 career EuroLeague games with averages of 5.4 points and 3.2 assists. He has also played twice in the 7DAYS EuroCup, with Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius in 2015-16 and Zenit St Petersburg in 2017-18, putting up 10.8 points and 4.7 assists over 17 games total.

Laprovittola started his professional basketball career with Lanus Buenos Aires of his native Argentina and has played, too, for Flamengo of Brazil, Estudiantes and Joventut Badalona of Spain, and San Antonio of the NBA. He was the 2018-19 Spanish League MVP while playing for Joventut, for whom he averaged 17.1 points and 6.4 assists in 36 domestic games. Laprovittola is a regular on Argentina's national team, with whom he won a silver medal at the 2019 World Cup. He is now competing with Argentina at the Olympics in Tokyo.



<div style="display: grid; place-items: center;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">✅ <a href="https://twitter.com/nicolapro7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nicolapro7</a>, nuevo jugador del Barça para las dos próximas temporadas. ¡Bienvenido, Nico!<br><br>👉El acuerdo, pendiente de la revisión médica: <a href="https://t.co/ibV57mLpEZ">https://t.co/ibV57mLpEZ</a><br><br>🔵🔴<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/For%C3%A7aBar%C3%A7a?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ForçaBarça</a>! <a href="https://t.co/UCF34w73By">pic.twitter.com/UCF34w73By</a></p>&mdash; 🏆 Barça Basket 🏆 (@FCBbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket/status/1420308896577687552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Barcelona inks guard Laprovittola through 2023

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Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Tadas Sedekerskis agreed to extend their deal until the end of the 2023-24 season, the club announced Tuesday

Baskonia extends forward Sedekerskis

Sedekerskis (2.00 meters, 23 years old) averaged 3.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in 32 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games last season, his third in the competition. He started his career with Neringos kursiai and Laivite Klaipeda of his native Lithuania, joining Baskonia's youth teams structure in 2013. Sedekerskis has been an on-and-off Baskonia players, combining full seasons with its first team with seasons on loan to several squads, such as Araberri Basket Club, San Pablo Burgos and Peñas Huesca of Spain, as well as Nevezis Kedaniai and Neptunas Klaipeda of Lithuania. He helped Baskonia win the Spanish League title in 2020, and has been a member of the Lithuanian national team.

<div style="display: grid; place-items: center;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">✍️🏽 <a href="https://twitter.com/Sedekerskis_11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sedekerskis_11</a>, baskonista hasta 2⃣0⃣2⃣4⃣<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoazenBaskonia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoazenBaskonia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tadas2024?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tadas2024</a> 🔵🔴</p>&mdash; Baskonia (@Baskonia) <a href="https://twitter.com/Baskonia/status/1419936861443792921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Tadas Sedekerskis agreed to extend their deal until the end of the 2023-24 season, the club announced Tuesday.

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Panathinaikos OPAP Athens announced that swingman Leonidas Kaselakis is set to keep playing for his current team next season. Kaselakis (2.00 meters, 31 years old) averaged 2.2 points on 41.4% three-point shooting and 1.5 rebounds in 28 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games last season, his first in the competition. He helped Panathinaikos win the Greek double - league and cup titles - this year. Kaselakis started his career with Ikysiakos Athens, and has played for several other Greek squads such as PAOK Thessaloniki, AEK Athens, Nea Kifisia Dimoulas Athens and Promitheas Patras, as well as for Astana on Kazakhstan. He helped Astana win back-to-back Kazakhstan League titles in 2017 and 2018, and also lifted the Kazakhstan Cup trophy in 2018. Kaselakis has also been a member of the Greek national team. He helped Greece win respective gold medals at the 2008 U18 European Championships and the 2009 U20 European Championships, also getting a silver medal at the 2010 U20 European Championships.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="el" dir="ltr">Η ΚΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός ΟΠΑΠ ανακοινώνει την ανανέωση της συνεργασίας της με τον Λεωνίδα Κασελάκη για έναν ακόμη χρόνο.☘️✍️<br><br>Διάβασε περισσότερα εδώ: <a href="https://t.co/HzwwBTAnE2">https://t.co/HzwwBTAnE2</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/paobc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#paobc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panathinaikosbcopap?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#panathinaikosbcopap</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheGreens?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheGreens</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panathinaikos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#panathinaikos</a> <a href="https://t.co/qpFZmnyyVA">pic.twitter.com/qpFZmnyyVA</a></p>&mdash; Panathinaikos BC (@paobcgr) <a href="https://twitter.com/paobcgr/status/1419936508010766351?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Panathinaikos keeps swingman Kaselakis

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He may be the owner of several assists records, and on his way to more, but Nick Calathes of FC Barcelona is far more than a passing fancy or a fancy passer. Indeed, sometimes his skills as a passer can overshadow the many other attributes that Calathes brings to his teams. As a 1.96-meter point guard, Calathes knows how to use his size to score inside the arc, attacking the basket or playing one-on-one. He also rebounds really well for a playmaker. All that has allowed Calathes to become the first player in EuroLeague history to hit 700 two-point shots, dish more than 800 assists (at least) and pull down 900 rebounds during his career. Of course, he's made almost double those assists, with 1,526, and is on pace to become the EuroLeague's all-time leader next season. But don't forget, Calathes is a true all-'rounder, too!

Calathes achieved an all-around first in 2020-21

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has reached an agreement with head coach Igor Kokoskov to terminate his contract, the club announced Tuesday. Kokoskov, age 49, joined Fenerbahce at the start of the 2020-21 season, helping it reach the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, where it lost to CSKA Moscow. Kokoskov had a 20-16 record in the EuroLeague and went 22-8 in the Turkish League regular season before his team got swept by newly-crowned EuroLeague champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the domestic finals. Kokoskov joined Fenerbahce from Sacramento of the NBA, where he served as an assistant in the 2019-20 season. He had been part of NBA coaching staffs since 2000, when he joined the Los Angeles Clippers to become the league's first full-time non-American assistant. He held the same role with Detroit as that team won the 2004 NBA title, then with Phoenix, Cleveland, Orlando and Utah. In 2018, Kokoskov took over the bench in Phoenix, making him the first head coach in NBA history who was not born in North America. Kokoskov has also coached the Georgian, Slovenian and Serbian national teams. He made history in 2017, leading the Slovenian national team to the gold medal at the 2017 EuroBasket, a first for that country. 

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">Bilgilendirme<br><br>🔗 <a href="https://t.co/g4zxH3F4UR">https://t.co/g4zxH3F4UR</a> <a href="https://t.co/QwBBAxkxnc">pic.twitter.com/QwBBAxkxnc</a></p>&mdash; Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBBasketbol/status/1419977874732371971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </center>

Fenerbahce issued the following statement:

We have parted our ways with Igor Kokoskov, who has worked as the head coach of Fenerbahçe Beko for the 2020-21 season.

Our team has started to build the roster very early this season, completing several important signings and having our roster ready for the new season before the end of June.

All the roster manoeuvres our club has made this off-season have been made in accordance with the requests of Igor Kokoskov, who was under contract until the end of the 2022-23 season, in addition to the all the other preparations for the new season, including arrangements made for our camp schedule and our friendly games.

As reported in the media recently, our club has been notified of the intention of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks to acquire our coach to add him to their staff.

Our coach has stated that he would like to accept this offer due to family reasons and his desire to go back to the USA to work in the NBA.

Our club has respected and accepted Igor Kokoskov's decision to leave at this point.

We thank Igor Kokoskov for his contributions to our club and we wish him success in the new chapter of his career.

As one of the biggest brands in men's basketball, Fenerbahçe Beko will continue to make the necessary moves to achieve its goals in the 2021-22 season, and our new technical staff will be shared with our fans as soon as possible.

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Fenerbahce, Coach Kokoskov part ways

Levels of interest in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague across the continent have continued to surge despite the pandemic, according to new research conducted by Nielsen Sports.

The study showed a 22% rise in the competition's popularity in EuroLeague markets over the last three years, with particularly notable figures in France (+60%), Israel (+47%), Germany (+44%) and Italy (+36%). 

That upsurge is also reflected by soaring growth in live TV audiences for games, with a spectacular rise in viewing figures of 871% in Germany between 2018-19 and 2020-21. There were also significant increases in Italy (+371%), Israel (+227%), Spain (+195%) and France (+85%), contributing to overall growth of 75% for live TV audiences. When it came to the 2021 Final Four in Cologne, Germany, there was a 68% jump in live TV followers as compared to the previous Final Four in 2019 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. 

Social media is also now a vitally important way for fans to follow their favorite teams and players, and the EuroLeague has performed strongly in that area, as well, with increases in followers (+15%), engagement (+70%), views (+46%), reach (+29%) and impressions (+18%) in the last three years. 

The pinnacle of the season, of course, is the Final Four, where the top teams of the season gather to fight it out for the title over one exciting weekend. The league's social media channels enjoyed huge growth for the recent Final Four in Cologne compared to the 2019 event in Vitoria-Gasteiz, with increases in engagement per post (+112%), total engagement (+82%), views per video (+99%) and total views (+84%).

Looking ahead to the 2021-22 season, fans all over Europe are excited by the prospect of returning to the arenas to cheer on their teams. The research shows that 73.2% of fans want to come back to the games as soon as possible, with Russian fans showing the most anticipation (85%) followed by Turkey (81%), Serbia (79%) and Spain (79%). The league and its clubs are very conscious of ensuring fans can feel comfortable heading back into arenas, and the most important factors identified in the research are a solid sanitation plan (80%), management of required social distancing measures (79%) and a certificate of approved health and safety regulations (78%). 

Levels of interest in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague across the continent have continued to surge despite the pandemic, according to new research conducted by Nielsen Sports.

New research shows growing interest in EuroLeague

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens and point guard Lefteris Bochoridis reached an agreement to keep working together next season, the club announced Monday. Bochoridis (1.94 meters, 27 years old) averaged 4.4 points and 2.2 assists in 31 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games last season, in which he helped the Greens win the Greek double - league and cup titles. He is in his second stint with Panathinaikos, as Bochoridis first joined Panathinaikos in 2014. Over three seasons from 2014 to 2017, Bochoridis averaged 1.8 points and 0.7 rebounds in 24 games in the EuroLeague with Panathinaikos, also winning the 2017 Greek League and 2015 and 2017 Greek Cup crowns. He grew up with Aris and also returned to that club from 2017 to 2020, when he came back to Panathinaikos. Bochoridis has also been a member of the Greek national team.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="el" dir="ltr">Η ΚΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός ΟΠΑΠ ανακοινώνει την ανανέωση της συνεργασίας της με τον Λευτέρη Μποχωρίδη για έναν ακόμη χρόνο.☘✍<br><br>Διάβασε περισσότερα εδώ: <a href="https://t.co/sbHVWC4HjW">https://t.co/sbHVWC4HjW</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/paobc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#paobc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panathinaikosbcopap?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#panathinaikosbcopap</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheGreens?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheGreens</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UnitedWeStand?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UnitedWeStand</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panathinaikos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#panathinaikos</a> <a href="https://t.co/3EDJSbNU7o">pic.twitter.com/3EDJSbNU7o</a></p>&mdash; Panathinaikos BC (@paobcgr) <a href="https://twitter.com/paobcgr/status/1419646591967928322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Panathinaikos re-signs playmaker Bochoridis

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The Independent Disciplinary Judge of Euroleague Basketball has issued the following ruling:

* Mr Dimitris Giannakopoulos, individual associated to Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, has been sanctioned with a fine of €70,000 for statements proven offensive to Euroleague Basketball competitions and its managing authorities, in accordance with Article 24.1.g) of the Euroleague Basketball Disciplinary Code.


Disciplinary Judge issues ruling

UNICS Kazan bolstered its low post with the signing of Tonye Jekiri on a one-year deal, the club announced Sunday. Jekiri (2.12 meters, 27 years old) joins UNICS after playing last season with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, where he averaged 6.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 30 games in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. This will be the Nigerian big man's third season in the EuroLeague after he played for LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in 2019-20. Jekiri spent four years at University of Miami in Florida before beginning his professional career with Turkish side Bandirma in 2016. He also played at Belgian club Oostende and Gaziantep of Turkey before moving to ASVEL in 2019.



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ru" dir="ltr">Добро пожаловать в УНИКС, <a href="https://twitter.com/tonyejekiri?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tonyejekiri</a> !<br>⠀<br>БК УНИКС и центровой Тони Джекири подписали соглашение, рассчитанное на один год✅ <a href="https://t.co/4cRTD1dKQJ">pic.twitter.com/4cRTD1dKQJ</a></p>&mdash; BC UNICS Kazan (@unicsbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/unicsbasket/status/1419208925933707268?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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UNICS bolsters low post with addition of Jekiri

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