EuroBasket champions: most decorated national teams and players / News - Basketnews.com

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EuroBasket is returning after a lengthy hiatus. Slovenia has held the reigning champions' title for a five-year period.

EuroBasket 2017 was a tournament where Goran Dragic, Luka Doncic, and their supporting cast started the fireworks in Old Continent.

A country of 2.1 million people was dominating Europe from start to finish of the continental competition. Slovenia went undefeated in the group stage with a perfect 5-0 record. They defeated Poland (90-81), Finland (81-78), Greece (78-72), Iceland (102-75), and France (95-78).

In Round of 16, Slovenia cruised past Ukraine (79-55). Then Igor Kokoskov's men won the quarterfinals battle against Latvia in an epic fashion (103-97).

It was a clash between NBA duos. Dragic and Doncic combined for 53 points while Kristaps Porzingis and Davis Bertans poured in 57 points for their respective national teams.

Later, Slovenia left no chance for Spain in the semifinal phase (92-72) to meet Serbia in the final with Bogdan Bogdanovic in front.

The grand final belonged to Goran Dragic who dropped 35 points, which was the most points scored in the ultimate EuroBasket match since Pau Gasol logged 36 points in the 2003 final. Slovenia won their first-ever tournament after defeating Serbia, 93-85.

Following his performance, Dragic was given the MVP award of the tournament, after averaging 22.6 points per game over 9 matches. It was an unlikely scenario to see him gracing the court this Autumn but he is set to make his last dance with the Slovenian NT and hunt another trophy.

By winning EuroBasket in 2017, Slovenia became the 14th country to achieve such a result.

It's quite a low number of winners, as EuroBasket is counting the 87th year since its establishment in 1935. Moreover, the European basketball championship was usually held every 2 years. From 2025, it will take place every 4 years.

Latvia was the first country to capture golden accolades in 1935. The following two tournaments ahead of World War II were won by the other Baltic state – Lithuania.

The latter country ranks fourth in the all-time medal table with 3 golds, 3 silvers, and 1 bronze. Two no longer existing countries -- the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia -- are leading the list with 14 and 8 gold medals accordingly. Spain is third with 3 golds, 6 silver accolades, and 4 bronze medals.

All-time medal table:

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Soviet Union* 14 3 4 21 2 Yugoslavia* 8 5 4 17 3 Spain 3 6 4 13 4 Lithuania 3 3 1 7 5 Italy 2 4 4 10 6 Greece 2 1 2 5 7 Czechoslovakia* 1 6 5 12 8 France 1 2 6 9 9 Russia 1 1 2 4 10 Hungary 1 1 1 3 11 Germany 1 1 - 2 11 Latvia 1 1 - 2 13 Egypt* 1 - 1 2 14 Slovenia 1 - - 1 15 Serbia - 2 - 2 *Countries no longer compete at EuroBasket

Regarding individual medals, players from the same 3 leading national teams are all over the all-time list. Gennadi Volnov of the Soviet Union is the most successful player having 6 gold medals at his disposal.

Sergei Belov, Kresimir Cosic, and Pau Gasol all won 7 medals apiece, however, neither of them had won more than 4 golden accolades.

Players with most gold medals:

Rank Player Represented country Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Gennadi Volnov Soviet Union 6 - - 6 2 Sergei Belov Soviet Union 4 2 1 7 3 Predrag Danilovic Yugoslavia 4 - 1 5 3 Modestas Paulauskas Soviet Union 4 - 1 5 3 Zurab Sakandelidze Soviet Union 4 - 1 5 6 Armenak Alachachian Soviet Union 4 - - 4 6 Aleksandr Petrov Soviet Union 4 - - 4 8 Kresimir Cosic Yugoslavia 3 3 1 7 9 Pau Gasol Spain 3 2 2 7 10 Felipe Reyes Spain 3 2 1 6

Players with most medals overall:

Rank Player Represented country Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Sergei Belov Soviet Union 4 2 1 7 2 Kresimir Cosic Yugoslavia 3 3 1 7 3 Pau Gasol Spain 3 2 2 7 4 Gennadi Volnov Soviet Union 6 - - 6 5 Felipe Reyes Spain 3 2 1 6 6 Alexander Belostenny Soviet Union 3 1 2 6 7 Valdemaras Chomicius Soviet Union, Lithuania 2 2 2 6 7 Juan Carlos Navarro Spain 2 2 2 6 Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.