50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008)
# 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008)

The 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008) of FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague history were awarded and chosen on February 3, 2008, in Madrid, Spain. The occasion was the fiftieth anniversary since the founding of the inaugural season of the FIBA European Champions Cup, which is officially recognized as the predecessor of today's modern EuroLeague competition, which is the premier level men's basketball league in Europe.

The list was made up of 35 players, 10 coaches, and 5 referees that were deemed to have contributed the most to the growth of the EuroLeague. It also included other nominees for each category. All together, 105 players, 20 coaches, and 12 referees in total were nominated.

## Contributors

### Players

The following is the list of 35 awarded players.

| Country | Player | Years |
| - | - | - |
| Serbia (6) | Radivoj Korać | 1954–1969 |
| Serbia (6) | Dražen Dalipagić | 1971–1991 |
| Serbia (6) | Vlade Divac | 1983–2005 |
| Serbia (6) | Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević | 1983–2005 |
| Serbia (6) | Predrag Danilović | 1988–2000 |
| Serbia (6) | Dejan Bodiroga | 1989–2007 |
| Spain (5) | Emiliano Rodríguez | 1958–1973 |
| Spain (5) | Clifford Luyk | 1962–1978 |
| Spain (5) | Wayne Brabender | 1967–1985 |
| Spain (5) | Juan Antonio Corbalán | 1971–1991 |
| Spain (5) | Juan Antonio San Epifanio "Epi" | 1977–1995 |
| Italy (5) | Aldo Ossola | 1964–1980 |
| Italy (5) | Dino Meneghin | 1966–1994 |
| Italy (5) | Pierluigi Marzorati | 1969–1991, 2006 |
| Italy (5) | Mike D'Antoni | 1973–1990 |
| Italy (5) | Antonello Riva | 1977–2002, 2014 |
| Croatia (4) | Krešimir Ćosić | 1964–1983 |
| Croatia (4) | Dražen Petrović | 1979–1993 |
| Croatia (4) | Dino Rađa | 1985–2003 |
| Croatia (4) | Toni Kukoč | 1985–2006 |
| Greece (4) | Panagiotis Giannakis | 1972–1996 |
| Greece (4) | Nikos Galis | 1979–1994 |
| Greece (4) | Fragiskos Alvertis | 1990–2009 |
| Greece (4) | Theo Papaloukas | 1995–2013 |
| United States (4) | Walter Szczerbiak Sr. | 1971–1984 |
| United States (4) | Bob Morse | 1972–1986 |
| United States (4) | Bob McAdoo | 1972–1992 |
| United States (4) | Anthony Parker | 1997–2012 |
| Lithuania (2) | Arvydas Sabonis | 1981–2004 |
| Lithuania (2) | Šarūnas Jasikevičius | 1998–2014 |
| Russia | Sergei Belov | 1964–1980 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mirza Delibašić | 1968–1983 |
| Israel | Miki Berkovich | 1971–1995 |
| Mexico | Manuel Raga | 1963–1979 |
| Argentina | Manu Ginóbili | 1995–2018 |

### Coaches

The following is the list of 10 awarded coaches.

| Country | Coach | Years |
| - | - | - |
| Serbia (4) | Aleksandar Nikolić | 1951–1985 |
| Serbia (4) | Dušan Ivković | 1968–2016 |
| Serbia (4) | Božidar Maljković | 1971–2013 |
| Serbia (4) | Željko Obradović | 1991–present |
| Spain (2) | Pedro Ferrándiz | 1955–1975 |
| Spain (2) | Manuel "Lolo" Sáinz | 1969–2001 |
| Russia | Alexander Gomelsky | 1949–1991 |
| United States | Dan Peterson | 1962–1988, 2011 |
| Israel | Pini Gershon | 1974–2015 |
| Italy | Ettore Messina | 1976–present |

### Referees

The following is the list of 5 awarded referees.

| Country | Referee |
| - | - |
| Bulgaria | Artenik Arabadjian |
| France | Yvan Mainini |
| Greece | Costas Rigas |
| Russia | Mikhail Davidov |
| Slovakia | Lubomir Kotleba |

## Other nominees that were not selected

### 70 Player nominees

* Years in parentheses indicate years played as a senior men's club basketball player in all leagues, not just the EuroLeague.

| Country | Player | Years Played (in all club leagues) |
| - | - | - |
| United States | Miles Aiken | (1965–1970) |
| United States | Bill Bradley | (1965–1977) |
| United States | Charlie Yelverton | (1971–1987) |
| United States | Aulcie Perry | (1974–1985) |
| United States | Larry Wright | (1976–1988) |
| United States | Bruce Flowers | (1979–1987) |
| United States | Clarence Kea | (1980–1994) |
| United States | Kevin Magee | (1982–1994) |
| United States | Audie Norris | (1982–1994) |
| United States | Corny Thompson | (1982–1996) |
| United States | Dominique Wilkins | (1982–1999) |
| United States | Michael Young | (1984–1996) |
| United States | Joe Arlauckas | (1987–2000) |
| United States | David Rivers | (1988–2001) |
| United States | Tyus Edney | (1995–2010) |
| United States | Marcus Brown | (1996–2011) |
| Serbia | Zoran "Moka" Slavnić | (1963–1983) |
| Serbia | Žarko Varajić | (1969–1984) |
| Serbia | Dragan Kićanović | (1971–1984) |
| Serbia | Žarko Paspalj | (1984–1998) |
| Serbia | Zoran Savić | (1989–2002) |
| Serbia | Željko Rebrača | (1990–2007) |
| Croatia | Josip Đerđa | (1958–1976) |
| Croatia | Mihovil Nakić-Vojnović | (1973–1989) |
| Croatia | Aleksandar "Aco" Petrović | (1977–1991) |
| Croatia | Stojan "Stojko" Vranković | (1982–2001) |
| Croatia | Velimir Perasović | (1985–2003) |
| Croatia | Nikola Vujčić | (1995—2013) |
| Spain | Rafael Rullán | (1969–1988) |
| Spain | Ignacio "Nacho" Solozábal | (1975–1992) |
| Spain | Fernando Martín | (1979–1989) |
| Spain | Jordi Villacampa | (1980–1997) |
| Spain | Johnny Rogers | (1986–2004) |
| Spain | Juan Carlos Navarro | (1997–2018) |
| Italy | Carlo Recalcati | (1962–1981) |
| Italy | Roberto Brunamonti | (1975–1996) |
| Italy | Walter Magnifico | (1979–2004) |
| Italy | Riccardo Pittis | (1984–2004) |
| Russia | Yuri Korneev | (1954–1966) |
| Russia | Gennadi Volnov | (1957–1972) |
| Russia | Vladimir Andreev | (1963–1975) |
| Russia | Anatoly Myshkin | (1970–1986) |
| Russia | Vladimir Tkachenko | (1973–1990) |
| Lithuania | Valdemaras Chomičius | (1978–2000) |
| Lithuania | Rimas Kurtinaitis | (1982–2006) |
| Lithuania | Artūras Karnišovas | (1989–2002) |
| Lithuania | Saulius Štombergas | (1991–2007) |
| Israel | Tal Brody | (1966–1980) |
| Israel | Motti Aroesti | (1971–1991) |
| Israel | Doron Jamchi | (1978–2000) |
| Israel | Derrick Sharp | (1993–2011) |
| France | Richard Dacoury | (1976–1998) |
| France | Stéphane Ostrowski | (1979–2005) |
| France | Antoine Rigaudeau | (1987–2005) |
| Slovenia | Ivo Daneu | (1956–1970) |
| Slovenia | Jurij "Jure" Zdovc | (1987–2003) |
| Slovenia | Matjaž Smodiš | (1994–2013) |
| Latvia | Maigonis Valdmanis | (1949–1963) |
| Latvia | Valdis Muižnieks | (1951–1969) |
| Latvia | Jānis Krūmiņš | (1954–1969) |
| Greece | Panagiotis Fasoulas | (1981–1999) |
| Greece | Dimitris Diamantidis | (1999–2016) |
| Ukraine | Alexander Volkov | (1983–1996) |
| Turkey | İbrahim Kutluay | (1991–2009) |
| Turkey | Mirsad Türkcan | (1994–2012) |
| Armenia | Armenak Alachachian | (1952–1968) |
| Czech Republic | Jiří Zídek Sr. | (1962–1983) |
| Montenegro | Duško Ivanović | (1980–1996) |
| North Macedonia | Petar Naumoski | (1989–2004) |
| Argentina | Luis Scola | (1996–2021) |

### 10 Coach nominees

* Years in parentheses indicate years spent as a basketball coach, in all competitions, not just the EuroLeague.

| Country | Coach | Years Coached (in all competitions) |
| - | - | - |
| Italy | Cesare Rubini | (1957–1973) |
| Italy | Alessandro "Sandro" Gamba | (1965–1992) |
| Italy | Valerio Bianchini | (1974–2008) |
| Serbia | Ranko Žeravica | (1954–2003) |
| Serbia | Svetislav Pešić | (1982–Present) |
| Croatia | Mirko Novosel | (1967–1993) |
| Croatia | Željko Pavličević | (1975–Present) |
| Israel | Ralph Klein | (1964–2008) |
| Spain | Alejandro "Aíto" García Reneses | (1973–Present) |
| Greece | Giannis Ioannidis | (1977–2003) |

### 7 Referee nominees

| Country | Referee |
| - | - |
| Finland | Carl Jungebrand |
| Hungary | Ervin Kassai |
| Lithuania | Romualdas Brazauskas |
| Poland | Wiesław Zych |
| Serbia | Obrad Belošević |
| Spain | Pedro Hernández-Cabrera |
| United Kingdom | David Turner |
