EUROLEAGUE

Coaches with the most EuroLeague titles

- by admin - Leave a Comment
Zeljko Obradovic celebrates after his team’s victory

The EuroLeague is the most prestigious club basketball competition in Europe, and its history is marked by the names of great coaches who changed the game. Over the decades, only a handful of them managed to rise above the competition and win multiple titles, cementing their status as basketball legends. Their systems, philosophies, and coaching styles shaped entire generations of players. Below is an overview of the coaches who left the biggest mark on the EuroLeague by winning the most trophies.

We begin our list with coaches who have won two European championship titles. Eight coaches fall into the group of those who lifted the EuroLeague trophy twice.

Coaches with two EuroLeague titles:

  • 🇬🇷 Dimitris Itoudis
  • 🇪🇸 Pablo Laso
  • 🇪🇸 Lolo Sainz
  • 🇷🇺 Evgeny Alekseyev
  • 🇮🇹 Sandro Gamba
  • 🇮🇹 Valerio Bianchini
  • 🇭🇷 Željko Pavličević
  • 🇷🇸 Dušan Ivković

9) DIMITRIS ITOUDIS – 2 TITLES

Greek coach Dimitris Itoudis won five EuroLeague titles as Željko Obradović’s assistant at Panathinaikos. He served as the head coach of CSKA Moscow from 2014 to 2022, during which he won two EuroLeague titles—2016 and 2019.

9) PABLO LASO – 2 TITLES

Spanish coach Pablo Laso guided Real Madrid to the top of Europe twice. The first title came in 2015 on home court in Madrid, and the second in 2018 in Belgrade, where Luka Dončić was named Final Four MVP.

9) LOLO SAINZ – 2 TITLES

Another Spanish coach with two EuroLeague titles is Lolo Sainz. He led Real Madrid to championships in 1978 and 1980, and also won the title in 1974 as an assistant coach. Before that, he had already won the trophy four times as a player.

9) EVGENY ALEKSEEV – 2 TITLES

Evgeny Alekseev was the coach who led CSKA Moscow to its first European titles. With the Moscow team, he ended Riga’s dominance and captured the trophies in 1961 and 1963.

9) VALERIO BIANCHINI – 2 TITLES

Italian coach Valerio Bianchini was one of the first to win the EuroLeague title with two different clubs. He claimed his first trophy in 1982 with Cantù, and two years later repeated the feat with Virtus Roma.

9) SANDRO GAMBA – 2 TITLES

Former Italian national team player Sandro Gamba succeeded the legendary Aleksandar “Aca” Nikolić on Varese’s bench. He won two consecutive titles with the team (1975, 1976).

9) ZELJKO PAVLICEVIC – 2 TITLES

Željko Pavličević won his first European championship with Cibona in 1986. The team was led by Dražen Petrović, while Pavličević served as head coach. It’s worth mentioning that he was also assistant to Novosel when the club won the title the season before. He later took over Jugoplastika at a moment when stars like Rađa, Ivanović, and coach Maljković had left the club. In the 1990–91 season, under the name POP 84, Jugoplastika defeated Maljković’s new team, Barcelona, in the final and won the EuroLeague again.

9) DUSAN IVKOVIC – 2 TITLES

Legendary coach Dušan “Duda” Ivković won two titles with Olympiacos, separated by a 15-year gap. With David Rivers and Dragan Tarlać as team leaders, he claimed his first title in 1997 in Rome. Olympiacos and Ivković waited 15 years for the next one. In 2012, in Istanbul, Georgios Printezis sealed the championship with a buzzer-beater against CSKA.

6) ERGIN ATAMAN – 3 TITLES

Long criticized in European basketball circles, Ergin Ataman silenced all doubters by winning three EuroLeague titles. He first lifted the trophy twice with Anadolu Efes (2021, 2022) and then led Panathinaikos to the championship in the 2023–24 season. It was the “Greens’” first title since 2011.

6) PINI GERSHON – 3 TITLES

Maccabi Tel Aviv won its first European titles under the leadership of the legendary Pini Gershon. He first won the SuproLeague in 2001 (that season two competitions were played in parallel), then claimed back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, he was named EuroLeague Coach of the Year.

6) ALEKSANDAR NIKOLIC – 3 TITLES

The man after whom the “Pionir” arena is named, and whom many consider the father of the Yugoslav basketball school — Aleksandar “Aca” Nikolić — won three European club titles. He led Ignis Varese to three championships: 1970, 1972, and 1973.

2) ALEKSANDR GOMELSKY – 4 TITLES

The father of Soviet and Russian basketball, Aleksandr Gomelsky, won four titles. He led Rīga to three consecutive championships from 1958 to 1960. His final title came with CSKA Moscow in 1971. The EuroLeague Coach of the Year award is named in his honor.

2) PEDRO FERRANDIZ – 4 TITLES

The legendary Spanish coach delivered four EuroLeague titles to Real Madrid. Ferrándiz won his first title in 1965, then guided the team to back-to-back championships in 1967 and 1968. His final European crown came in 1974.

2) BOZIDAR MALJKOVIC – 4 TITLES

Božidar Maljković arrived at Jugoplastika Split in the summer of 1986 on the recommendation of Professor Nikolić and immediately began building a team destined for greatness. The peak of that project came with two straight EuroLeague titles, in 1989 and 1990. He then moved to Barcelona, but his former club — now renamed POP 84 — prevented him from winning another European title.

Maljković later took over French side Limoges. Few believed he could make them competitive on the European stage, but he proved everyone wrong by winning the EuroLeague in 1993. Petar Skansi, coach of Treviso who lost in the final, criticized Limoges’ style of play, calling it “anti-basketball.”

Maljković’s fourth title came with Panathinaikos in the 1995–96 season, giving the “Athens Greens” their first EuroLeague crown. The team’s on-court leader was former NBA superstar Dominique Wilkins.

2) ETTORE MESSINA – 4 TITLES

The renowned Italian coach Ettore Messina won two EuroLeague titles with Virtus Bologna and two with CSKA Moscow. His first came in 1998 when Kinder Bologna defeated Partizan and AEK Athens at the Final Four in Barcelona. The team was filled with stars such as Saša Danilović, Zoran Savić, Rasho Nesterović, Antoine Rigaudeau, and Hugo Sconochini.

While the 1998 triumph was expected due to the team’s strength, Messina’s second title in 2001 showcased his coaching genius. He entrusted a young core — Manu Ginóbili and Marko Jarić — with leading roles. Alongside them were Rigaudeau, Rashard Griffith, Alessandro Abbio, David Andersen, and Matjaž Smodiš. Kinder defeated TAU Ceramica 3–2 in the finals.

Messina waited five years for his next EuroLeague trophy, this time with CSKA Moscow. In the 2005–06 season, CSKA beat Maccabi in Prague. CSKA’s roster included Smodiš, JR Holden, and the team’s true on-court leader, Theo Papaloukas. With a slightly adjusted roster, CSKA again won the title in 2008 in Madrid, once again defeating Maccabi in the final.

1) ZELJKO OBRADOVIC – 9 TITLES

Partizan and the Spanish clubs

Finally, we come to the undisputed record holder — Željko Obradović, whose nine EuroLeague titles place him far ahead of any other coach in history. His first trophy came in 1992 with Partizan on the legendary Final Four stage in Istanbul. Obradović became a head coach straight from his playing career and, with key help from Saša Đorđević, claimed his first European crown immediately.

His second title came with the very team he had defeated in the 1992 final — Joventut Badalona. At the 1994 Final Four in Tel Aviv, Joventut beat Barcelona and Olympiacos to secure the first EuroLeague title in club history.

After a successful season in Badalona, Obradović signed for Real Madrid. In his first season, he won the EuroLeague again, defending his title. At the 1995 Final Four in Zaragoza, Real Madrid — led by Arvydas Sabonis — dominated the competition.

Titles with Panathinaikos

After winning his third EuroLeague, Obradović claimed two Saporta Cups:

  • 1997 with Real Madrid

  • 1999 with Benetton Treviso

But the EuroLeague trophy remained the ultimate goal. In the summer of 1999, he took over Panathinaikos and began building a dynasty. In his first season (1999–00), PAO won its second EuroLeague title. The Final was played in Thessaloniki, with Dejan Bodiroga and Željko Rebrača as team leaders. The unexpected hero of the final was Oded Kattash.

Obradović suffered his first Finals loss the following season, losing to Maccabi in the SuproLeague Final (2000–01). But he returned to winning ways in 2001–02, defeating Messina’s Kinder Bologna 89–83 in the final. His sixth title arrived in 2007, when Panathinaikos beat CSKA Moscow 93–91 in an electric atmosphere in Athens.

The seventh came two years later in Berlin, once again against CSKA — this time 73–71. The eighth came in 2011 in Barcelona, beating Maccabi in the final. That PAO squad combined youth and experience, featuring Diamantidis, Fotsis, Vujčić, Mike Batiste, Aleks Marić, Nick Calathes, Milenko Tepić, and Stratos Perperoglou.

Read more:

Serbian basketball players who played for Panathinaikos

Ninth Title With Fenerbahce

After the 2011–12 season, in which Panathinaikos finished fourth in the EuroLeague and lost the domestic title, Obradović decided to step down. Following a short break, he took over Fenerbahçe in 2013.

He immediately began building a team capable of winning the EuroLeague, but the road was long and challenging.

  • 2015: Fenerbahçe reached its first Final Four, finishing fourth.

  • 2016: They reached the final, coming back from –21 to take the lead in the final minute, but CSKA forced overtime and won 101–96.

Obradović kept the core intact, and the persistence paid off:

2017 – Fenerbahçe became the first Turkish club in history to win the EuroLeague 🏆

The championship run in Istanbul featured stars such as:
Bogdan Bogdanović, Nikola Kalinić, Ekpe Udoh, Bobby Dixon, Pero Antić, Jan Vesely, Kostas Sloukas, Luigi Datome.

Related Posts

Codi Miller-McIntyre as a Crvena zvezda player

Players with the most assists in a single EuroLeague game

About admin

View all posts by admin →

Leave a Reply