Coaches with most EuroLeague titles: Zeljko Obradovic tops the list / News - Basketnews.com

Zeljko Obradovic has the most EuroLeague titles as a head coach, claiming 9 championships overall and 5 in the modern era. Ettore Messina, Bozidar Maljkovic, Pedro Ferrandiz, and Alexander Gomelsky come in second with four trophies.

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix, Vangelis Stolis, AFP - Scanpix, Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix, Vangelis Stolis, AFP - Scanpix, Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic

The 2024 EuroLeague Final Four is around the corner, and four teams – Real Madrid, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, Olympiacos Piraeus, and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul – are set to compete for the title.

Like every year, there are plenty of stories surrounding the players. However, this article will focus on head coaches and their achievements throughout history.

Looking at this year's edition, Ergin Ataman is the winningest head coach. The Turkish tactician has two EuroLeague titles with Anadolu Efes Istanbul that he won in 2021 and 2022.

Ataman is also the most experienced coach in this Final Four. It will be his 6th Final Four appearance, with four of them being with Anadolu Efes.

Sarunas Jasikevicius and Georgios Bartzokas come in second. It will be their 5th EuroLeague Final Four appearance as head coaches.

Previously, Jasikevicius reached it three times with FC Barcelona and once with Zalgiris Kaunas. Interestingly, he's also the only head coach without a title in this year's Final Four.

Meanwhile, Bartzokas went to the Final Four four times with Olympiacos and once with Lokomotiv Kuban in 2016.

Head coach EuroLeague titles Final Four appearances Ergin Ataman 2 6 Georgios Bartzokas 1 5 Chus Mateo 1 2 Sarunas Jasikevicius 0 5

Looking at the EuroLeague head coaches with the most titles overall, Zeljko Obradovic is in a league of his own.

Partizan head coach has 9 EuroLeague titles, claiming his first in 1992 and the last one in 2017. The 64-year-old also became the EuroLeague champion with five different teams.

After Zeljko, there's a huge gap, as there are four coaches who won four EuroLeague titles. The list includes Ettore Messina, Bozidar Maljkovic, Pedro Ferrandiz, and Alexander Gomelsky.

Overall, 16 head coaches have won multiple EuroLeague titles. Georgios Bartzokas and Chus Mateo will have the opportunity to join the list this year.

Coaches with the most EuroLeague titles of all time

Head coach Titles won Winning teams First title Last title Zeljko Obradovic 9 Partizan, Joventut, Real Madrid, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce 1992 2017 Ettore Messina 4 Virtus Bologna, CSKA 1998 2008 Bozidar Maljkovic Split, Limoges, Panathinaikos 1989 1996 Pedro Ferrandiz Real Madrid 1965 1974 Alexander Gomelsky Rigas ASK, CSKA 1958 1971 Pini Gershon 3 Maccabi 2001 2005 Aca Nikolic Varese 1970 1973 Zeljko Pavlicevic 2 Cibona, Split 1986 1991 Dusan Ivkovic Olympiacos 1997 2012 Valerio Bianchini Cantu, Virtus Roma 1982 1984 Lolo Sainz Real Madrid 1978 1980 Sandro Gamba Varese 1975 1976 Evgeny Alekseev CSKA 1961 1963 Pablo Laso Real Madrid 2015 2018 Dimitris Itoudis CSKA 2016 2019 Ergin Ataman Anadolu Efes 2021 2022

Speaking of the most Final Four appearances by a head coach, it's no surprise that Obradovic is also at the top with 18 Final Fours in his resume.

Ettore Messina comes in 2nd place with 12 Final Fours, while Dusan Ivkovic has 8 appearances.

It's important to note that the Final Four appearances are included from the 1987-88 season. Also, European basketball had two top-level competitions in the 2000-01 campaign.

Kinder Bologna won the Euroleague title in a five-game playoff series against Tau Ceramica. AEK Athens and Fortitudo Bologna reached the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv won the SuproLeague in a Final Four that also featured Panathinaikos, the other finalist, CSKA Moscow and Efes Pilsen.

Coaches with the most EuroLeague Final Four appearances since 1988

Head coach Final Four appearances Teams Zeljko Obradovic 18 Partizan, Joventut, Real Madrid, Benetton, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce Ettore Messina 12 Virtus, Benetton, CSKA, Olimpia Milan Dusan Ivkovic 8 PAOK, Olympiacos, AEK CSKA Bozidar Maljkovic 7 Split, Barcelona, Limoges, Panathinaikos, Baskonia Pablo Laso Real Madrid Ioannis Ioannidis 6 Aris, Olympiacos, AEK Aito Garcia Reneses Barcelona Dimitris Itoudis CSKA Ergin Ataman Montepaschi, Efes, Panathinaikos Xavi Pascual 5 Barcelona Pini Gershon Maccabi Sarunas Jasikevicius Zalgiris, Barcelona, Fenerbahce Georgios Bartzokas Olympiacos, Lokomotiv Kuban

Finally, we'll take a look at the modern EuroLeague from the 2001-02 season, when the Final Four format was introduced.

In this case, only six coaches have won multiple titles, and Obradovic is on top once again with five championships. Every other coach won the EuroLeague no more than twice.

Coaches with the most EuroLeague titles in the modern era

Head coach EuroLeague titles Winning teams Zeljko Obradovic 5 Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce Ettore Messina 2 CSKA Pini Gershon Maccabi Pablo Laso Real Madrid Dimitris Itoudis CSKA Ergin Ataman Anadolu Efes

Speaking of the Final Four appearances, there is more variety. Of course, Zeljko still leads the pack with 11.

Ettore Messina has 9 Final Four appearances, Pablo Laso – 7, while Dimitris Itoudis – 6. Ergin Ataman, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Georgios Bartzokas, and Xavi Pascual come right after them with 5.

Coaches with the most EuroLeague Final Four appearances in the modern era

Head coach Final Four appearances Teams Zeljko Obradovic 11 Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce Ettore Messina 9 Virtus, Benetton, CSKA, Olimpia Milan Pablo Laso 7 Real Madrid Dimitris Itoudis 6 CSKA Xavi Pascual 5 Barcelona Ergin Ataman Montepaschi, Efes, Panathinaikos Sarunas Jasikevicius Zalgiris, Barcelona, Fenerbahce Georgios Bartzokas Olympiacos, Lokomotiv Kuban Dusan Ivkovic 4 Olympiacos, CSKA Pini Gershon 3 Maccabi Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.