Learn about how the EuroLeague's career three-point king's magical shots got their name
Sergio Llull's 'mandarinas' through the years
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Real Madrid star guard Sergio Llull recently became the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague's all-time leader in three-pointers made. Llull now leads the standings with 627 three-point shots made, and counting, leaving Juan Carlos Navarro in second place with 623 shots from beyond the arc.
His sustained excellence over 17 EuroLeague seasons has left Llull's name all over the all-time charts in many categories. He ranks second in games played (404), third in minutes (9,053), fifth in scoring (3,928 points) and sixth in assists (1,390). Llull was the 2016-17 EuroLeague MVP and was named to the 2010-20 EuroLeague All-Decade Team.
When it comes to three-pointers, Llull has made a lot of unconventional ones which led to naming his signature shot "la mandarina", which in English is "the tangerine". Why is it called that and where did that term come from? Well, you've come to the right place.
'Mandarina' explained
It began as a local joke that got out of hand. In Spanish, 'mandarina' was a term for a tough shot that was generally taken with the shot clock running down to avoid a turnover. Only rarely would it go in. Spanish journalist Andres Montes, who passed away in 2009, was the first to use the term regularly. Llull changed its meaning forever by making many of those shots, maybe more often than any other player in basketball history.
Llull did his part by using the term often and posting orange icons on social media every time he saw one of those shots on official or teammates' accounts. He got a reputation for hitting a lot of those shots throughout his career, beating the shot clock and end-of-quarter buzzers with impossible, high-arching shots of all kinds and from all distances.
His most iconic, however, was not a 'mandarina', nor a three-pointer. Llull buried a high-arching shot over Moustapha Fall late in the 2023 EuroLeague Championship Game which allowed Real to win its 11th EuroLeague title. Thanks to that shot, Llull, is now a three-time EuroLeague winner and this season he has the chance to give Los Blancos back-to-back continental crowns for the first time since 1968. It would be a perfect end to a season in which Llull became the EuroLeague's three-point king!