The Euroscar European Player of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given to the year's best male European basketball player. Its name is a portmanteau of Europe and Oscar, and the award is often referred to as "European basketball’s Oscar”.[1]
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| History | |
| First award | 1979 |
| Editions | 36 |
| First winner |  Vladimir Tkachenko |
| Most wins |  Dirk Nowitzki Arvydas Sabonis (6 awards) |
| Most recent |  Luka Dončić (1st award) |
Any player with European citizenship is eligible for the award, regardless of his current club. The award is judged on the basis of both sports club and national team performances and accomplishments. The honor is presented the January after the calendar year it is awarded for, i.e. the 2011 award was presented in 2012.[1] It was first given out in 1979 to Soviet center Vladimir Tkachenko, and has since then been routinely given to players who fared well in international competitions such as the EuroBasket, FIBA World Cup or Olympic Games. As of 2020, the most recent winner is Slovenian player Luka Dončić. Lithuanian center Arvydas Sabonis and German power forward Dirk Nowitzki hold the record for most wins with six each.
The Euroscar is decided upon by a committee composed of general managers,[2] coaches, players, sportswriters from 33 different countries.[3] The award is presented by the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. It is one of the two main player of the year awards that any European basketball player can currently receive, along with Eurobasket.com's All-Europe Player of the Year. Previously, there was also the official FIBA Europe Men's Player of the Year Award (2005–2014), and Italian magazine's Superbasket Mr. Europa Award (1976–2010).
History and distinctions
editThe Euroscar was first awarded in 1979, and 21 of the first 23 winners were born in the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia. Thereafter, Dirk Nowitzki of Germany and Pau Gasol of Spain won eleven times between them, and as of 2022[update] an Eastern European has won the award only four times in the past twenty years.
The early winners of the Euroscar played primarily for EuroLeague clubs. Since Dražen Petrović won his third award in 1992, while playing for the New Jersey Nets, only four Euroscar winners (Sabonis in 1995, Gregor Fučka in 2000, Kirilenko in 2012, and Teodosić in 2016) played in a European league during the year they won the award, and only Fučka and Teodosić did not play in the NBA for any part of their award-winning years.[4][5][failed verification]
As of 2015[update], three players have won five or more Euroscars: Sabonis (six), Nowitzki (six), and Toni Kukoč (five). Nowitzki holds the record for most consecutive wins with five. Seven Euroscar winners have been inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame: Tkachenko, Sabonis, Petrović, Dražen Dalipagić, Dino Meneghin, Dragan Kićanović and Nikos Galis.[6] Sabonis, Petrović, Dalipagić, Galis and Meneghin are also in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[7] One pair of brothers have each won the award: the Spaniards Pau and Marc Gasol. As of the 2019–20 basketball season, the Gasols, Antetokounmpo, Goran Dragić and Dončić are the only award winners still active in the NBA.[8] As of 2020[update], Nowitzki and Antetokounmpo are also the only players to win the Euroscar Award and the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, albeit in different seasons.[9][10] Kukoč (1996, 1998), Nowitzki (2011), Parker (2007) and Pau Gasol (2009–10) all won NBA titles in their Euroscar-winning years; Kukoč and Gasol are the only players to do so more than once.[1][10][11][12][13] Dalipagić (1980) and Sabonis (1988) won Olympic gold medals and a Euroscar in the same year.
Award winners
editWhen a winner has played for more than one club team in the calendar year of his award, all are listed.
| ^ | Denotes player who is still active |
| * | Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| ** | Inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame |
| *** | Inducted into both the Naismith and FIBA Halls of Fame |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player won the Euroscar Award |
References
editGeneral
- "Pau Gasol is 2008 European Player of the Year". Interbasket.net. Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- Bob Bergum. Ms.Tats and Mr.Wards. Basketball All Greats (e-book). pp. 142–143. ISBN 605032977X.
Specific
- ^ a b c d "Predrag Stojakovic Wins Euroscar 2001". nba.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
- ^ Milos Teodosic wins “Gazzetta Dello Sport” European player of the year award.
- ^ "El Barça, contra Spanoulis". Mundodeportivo.com (in Spanish).
- ^ Mark Remme. "Kirilenko Honored With Euroscar European Player of the Year Award". NBA.com. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
- ^ "Pau Gasol is 2008 European Player of the Year". Interbasket.net. Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "FIBA Hall of Fame Players List". FIBA. Archived from the original on 2011-05-08. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
- ^ "Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
- ^ "NBA & ABA Active Leaders and Records for Hall of Fame Probability". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
- ^ "Dirk Nowitzki". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
- ^ a b c "Dirk Nowitzki: "Angela Merkel is nice"; "I want to top Sabonis."". Ballin' Europe. 2012-01-30. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
- ^ "Toni Kukoc". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ^ a b "Europlayer Gazzetta Pau Gasol". La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ a b "Gasol Europlayer Gazzetta 2010". La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "Wauters Lands Top Award". FIBAEurope.com. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "10 NBA Players from Around the World (01/09)". Interbasket.net. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "Pau Gasol is 2008 European Player of the Year". Interbasket.net. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "Gasol Wins Euroscar (2008)". La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "Kirilenko king The Russian is voted Europlayer 2012". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2013-01-03. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
- ^ "Europlayer 2013 a Parker Bissato il successo del 2007". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2014-01-07. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
- ^ "Basket, Europlayer: il numero 1 è Marc Gasol". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
- ^ "Pau Gasol Europlayer Gazzetta". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 2016-02-26. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
- ^ "Basket, Euro Player 2016 a Teodosic: Nba battuta dopo 16 anni". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
- ^ "Doncic EuroPlayer 2019: è lui il miglior europeo secondo la Gazzetta". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2020-01-16.