The latest matchup in our quest to crown the greatest All-EuroLeague First Team of all time pits 2017 against 2021!
Vote for the best All-EuroLeague First Team in history: 2017 vs. 2021
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2 Minute de lecture
Each season, the top five players in Europe’s premier basketball competition are recognized with All-EuroLeague First Team honors. Over the past quarter century, these elite selections have showcased a who’s who of basketball legends, from rising stars to Hall of Famers and everything in between.
This summer, we're putting them all head-to-head to answer one big question: Which All-EuroLeague First Team stands above the rest?
We’ve seeded all 24 teams into a bracket created by our panel of in-house EuroLeague experts. Several times a week, we’ll reveal a new matchup on the official EuroLeague Instagram account, where you can vote for your favorite.
Right here on the official EuroLeague website, you’ll find a quick breakdown of each matchup – and which team we think deserves the edge. This time it's 2017 vs. 2021.
Let the debates begin. Let the voting begin. Let the best team win!
2017
- Sergio Llull, Real Madrid (age 29)
- Nando De Colo, CSKA Moscow (age 29)
- Bogdan Bogdanovic, Fenerbahce (age 24)
- Georgios Printezis, Olympiacos (age 32)
- Ekpe Udoh, Fenerbahce (age 30)
2021
- Kevin Pangos, Zenit (age 28)
- Vasilije Micic, Efes (age 27)
- Vladimir Lucic, Bayern (age 31)
- Nikola Mirotic, Barcelona (age 30)
- Walter Tavares, Gran Canaria (age 29)
Once again, we have an incredible close call in this matchup, though the makeup of these teams is quite different. Let's start with 2017. Pairing prime Llull and De Colo makes for a tough to start backcourt with two players who can handle the ball, penetrate and score. This team gives up some size with Bogdanovic at the '3', though he is a lights-out shooter. This version of Printezis remains a great outside shooter and hustle player and Ekpe Udoh is a dominant rebounder and rim protector.
For 2021, Pangos is a classic playmaker eager to put those around him in the best spots to score, while Vasilije Micic is an MVP who plays best next to another point guard who can shoot, like he did all those years alongside Shane Larkin. Lucic is the prototypical do-it-all 3-man. The frontcourt features Mirotic, whose scoring and rebounding made him one of the best power forwards of his generation and Tavares anchors the frontcourt.
The only head-to-head matchup I see with a clear winner is at power forward, where Mirotic has the edge over Printezis. At small forward, Bogdanovic and Lucic are very different players with the former having the advantage for scoring, while Lucic does many things to help his team. Both teams have top-tier rim protectors, which is critical as the backcourts were not know for their defense. All in all, the 2021 team has a little more in the basketball IQ bucket and – given the absolute talent on these two teams – that give it my vote… Who do you like?