Fans have selected their ultimate FIBA EuroBasket Dream Team of the past 20 years
The fans’ selection in the final phase of voting is headlined by the competition’s all-time leading scorer Pau Gasol and Germany great Dirk Nowitzki, who received the most votes among frontcourt players.
Fans from across Europe and beyond have had their final say in the FIBA EuroBasket Dream Teams: 2000-2020 series, selecting the competition’s ultimate lineup from the past two decades.
The fans’ selection in the final phase of voting is headlined by the competition’s all-time leading scorer Pau Gasol and Germany great Dirk Nowitzki, who received the most votes among frontcourt players.
Meanwhile, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Dimitris Diamantidis and Vassilis Spanoulis proved even more popular choices among fans in the backcourt, forming a three guard partnership.
The initial phase of the FIBA EuroBasket Dreams voting featured 15 different nations as well as a special selection from the rest of the continent, with basketball fans choosing the ultimate lineups of European national teams in country-themed weeks.
From the 80 players selected by the fans, 24 athletes were shortlisted for the continent-wide final round of voting, which was held in two separate backcourt and frontcourt categories. To be eligible, players had to have received All-Star recognition at least once in their careers and medalled in a FIBA EuroBasket event in the time period between 2000 and 2020.
A three-time champion and two-time MVP, Gasol has seven FIBA EuroBasket medals to his name with Spain, averaging 20.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in 58 games played.
Averaging 21.5 points and 7.4 rebounds for his career, Dirk Nowitzki (49 games) has topped the scoring charts in three separate editions of the competition, claiming the MVP honors in 2005 after guiding Germany to a memorable runner-up finish in Serbia and Montenegro.
Having won FIBA EuroBasket 2003 with an MVP performance, Lithuania’s golden boy Sarunas Jasikevicius, also a 2007 bronze medalist, finished his international career with FIBA EuroBasket averages of 9.0 points and 4.9 assists in 45 appearances.
The Greek connection of Diamantidis and Spanoulis were both key cogs in their country’s title run in 2005, with Spanoulis also in possession of a bronze medal from 2009.
A member of the All-Star Five during the victorious campaign, Diamantidis appeared in 22 FIBA EuroBasket games in his career, averaging 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
Spanoulis, whose All-Star Five recognition came in 2009, has career averages of 11.3 points and 2.9 assists in 38 games played in the competition.
Fonte: FIBA.