Hard work, competitiveness, clear guidelines and good decisions on and off the court have allowed Pablo Laso to take Real Madrid to the top of Europe again and again in the last decade.
Final Four head coach: Pablo Laso, Real
Final Four
2 Minute de lecture
Between its eighth EuroLeague title in 1995 and 2011, when Laso was hired, Real appeared in two Final Fours, without a victory in either. It won three Spanish Leagues but zero Spanish Cups in the same span. Now in his 11th season on the bench, Laso has just reached his seventh Final Four and has led Real to two EuroLeague trophies as well as five Spanish League and six Spanish Cup crowns.
Laso remade Real into a EuroLeague title contender right away. In his second season, Real finished second at the 2013 Final Four after reaching the club's first championship game in 18 years. Real was runner-up again in 2014 following the first overtime to decide a continental champion since 1969. Laso's third consecutive championship game was the charm, however, as Real left no doubts at the 2015 Final Four and lifted the trophy before its home fans in the Spanish capital. In 2018, Laso and Real were back to claim the club's 10th title on the same Stark Arena court in Belgrade where they will contest this season's Final Four.
Laso's coaching philosophy has been clear since he arrived: strong defense leading to fun-to-watch transition basketball. It's no surprise that this former point guard has coached three playmakers – Sergio Rodriguez, Sergio Llull and Luka Doncic – to EuroLeague MVP seasons.
If his place in the Real Madrid story is already set, so is Laso's status among the continent's best coaches. He ranks second this century in EuroLeague victories per season (21.4), fourth in total victories (235) and fourth in winning rate (69.3%). At the Final Four, his winning rate of 58.3% ranks second and his 7 total victories third.
Most importantly, Laso has built a team culture that combines winning and exciting basketball in ways that inspire great deeds from his players. In Belgrade, they return to the scene of their last continental triumph looking to go all the way to the trophy again, together.