In the NBA of 2022, the Golden State Warriors returned four years later to win the championship ring, beating the Boston Celtics who were playing in a final that they had not played for twelve years. The series after starting evenly matched, the Celtics got to put (1-2), was sentenced by the Warriors in a resounding way, winning the last three games in a solvent way to put the final (4-2)
2022 will be remembered for the fact that Russian teams were disqualified because of Russia’s war invasion of Ukraine. A decision that affected the European top competition in sporting terms
In the 2022 EuroCup, this time, Virtus Bologna lived up to its status as favorite after beating Bursaspor in the final (80-67). Milos Teodosic, who led his team in both attack and direction, won the MVP
In 2022 the final four was held in Bilbao, where we were offered a Spanish final to decide the champion, in which Tenerife overcame Manresa by (87-98), led by a spectacular Marcelinho Huertas, MVP at 38 years of age. The islanders returned to the top of the BCL five years later
In 2022, the King’s Cup was held in Granada, where Barcelona was once again proclaimed champion. The blaugranas, after scoring more than 100 points on average in the quarterfinals and semifinals, had to overcome a very defensive Real Madrid that took the final to a few points
The 2020 Olympic Games, held in Tokyo, were forced to be postponed to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. In the semifinals, the United States had little trouble beating Australia (97-78). Much more disputed was the semifinal between Doncic’s Slovenia and France, which was decided in favor of the Gauls by (90-89) thanks to a block by Batum in the last play. In the grand final, the United States won the Gold by beating France by a narrow (87-82). It was a victory without much shine but really effective, led by Durant who won his third gold. France, 21 years later, felt again the sweet cold of the silver. In the fight for the bronze medal, Australia broke its jinx in the Games and won the metal beating Slovenia (107-93) with a stellar Mills (42 points 9 assists)
In the 2021 NBA Finals, the Milwaukee Bucks ended their long ring drought by beating the Phoenix Suns (2-4), who started the playoffs with a 2-0 lead and had home-court advantage. With the exception of Khris Middleton, who was key in important moments of the final, the man was Giannis Antetokounmpo, MVP, who from injury doubt finished the series with 50 points to lead the Bucks 50 years later to the championship
In the 2021 ACB, Barcelona put an end to a long drought in the competition, beating Real Madrid in the final (2-0), in a reduced best-of-three format. The blaugranas were the clear winners in both games against a Real Madrid side that was severely depleted by their injuries and did not give the impression of being able to compete at almost any point in the final. Pau Gasol, who returned to Barcelona after many years in the NBA, won the title 20 years later, Nikola Mirotic, MVP of the tournament
After the cancellation of 2020 due to the pandemic, there was a desire for a Final Four in 2021. It was held in Cologne, respecting the previous year’s venue, and in the end it was held without spectators and at a minimum to preserve the sanitary aspect of the competition
In the 2021 EuroCup, the title went to Monaco after a 2-0 win over Unics Kazan in the final. The Russians came with less fuel for the key moment after beating competition favourites Virtus Bologna in the semi-finals. Rob Gray, MVP
In 2021 the final 8 of the Basketball Champions League was held in the Russian city of Novgorod. In the final, San Pablo Burgos won the title for the second consecutive year. In a few points final (64-59) the Burgos beat Pinar Karsiyaka, with Benite as MVP
