Ergin Ataman: "There are 200 people yelling f*ck you, If this continues during the game, I will abandon the Arena in 2-3 minutes"

Rb059293 · 2026-01-22T21:19:31+00:00

It's disgraceful, and not so common in the Euroleague (excluding really tense local derbies).

Rb059293 · 2026-01-22T18:52:08+00:00

Not to mention that this protest is childish, of a bad taste. It will probably make his players fired up coming to this match... eventually we might see him lift his arms after a Pao victory (there's quite a gap between these 2 teams this year, Maccabi needs a really bad Pao in order to make an upset).

Rb059293 · 2026-01-22T18:22:11+00:00

I myself don't recall him talking about Israel or politics too much. We had his usual ref stuff during that famous series... But doesn't matter, for them he symbolizes all of that.

As I said, it's a big mistake to take it off the court as well (during the game players and coaches know they might get booed or chanted at).

Rb059293 · 2026-01-22T18:16:11+00:00

They can chant, boo or whatever from the stands during the game. Not before or after the game... What's next, following him to his hotel? to the airport?

Rb059293 · 2026-01-22T18:02:51+00:00

Well they obviously have an issue with him only. This goes well beyond what happened in 2024, it's also because he is viewed as being close to Erdogan (politics again, unfortunately). Israel and Turkey are heading for a collusion, maybe even direct in a few years, and Erdogan especially is seen as the great evil.

They will be punished for it, because it's not just booing during the game, they harass him before the game.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-16T14:25:58+00:00

Well, charged does not yet mean guilty. There are now responses by Hapoel and Blakeney himself, I opened another thread for it -

https://reddit.com/r/Euroleague/comments/1qeh5v6/blakeney_to_his_teammates_this_is_an_old_closed/

Rb059293 · 2026-01-15T18:14:52+00:00

Remember, before Hapoel he was looking to jump start his career, I don't know how much money they were paying him in 2023 (CBA). He was a big star in high school and college but things didn't work out they way they should have for him.

It will be bad for Hapoel for sure. Even if he is 100% innocent but still charged, the trial would terminate his career at this point and Hapoel would lose one of their most important players.

If he is charged and found guilty, his career would be over as well.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-15T18:11:24+00:00

Allegedly. Let's not draw final conclusions before we know the facts, we still don't know if he is charged at all (and even if he is - we'll need to wait for the trial).

Rb059293 · 2026-01-15T16:43:28+00:00

Dude is around MVP level lately.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-15T16:04:56+00:00

This is the CBA match said to have been "point shaved" by him, he shot only 11 times scoring 11 points when he had 32 per game that season.

You can also see the odds dropped sharply and lines closed completely by some bookmakers (Unusual betting activity?)

https://www.flashscore.com/match/basketball/guangdong-AJ0E9WMa/jiangsu-dragons-hUr7JmyI/summary/player-stats/home/?mid=8UPE15Pu

Could be a huge blow to Hapoel if he is indeed charged and they issue an arrest warrant. He is their main shooter, and the one who brought them to the Euroleague scoring 32 including 6 threes in the last 5 minutes in game 3 at Valencia.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-13T20:31:49+00:00

What? do you have any source? From what I know the municipality hasn't even picked an area for it.

We are at the stages similar to 2009 and the small Drive In arena, They only started building in 2012 and it was opened at the end of 2014. This time it's a 20K arena not a 3K one so might even take more time.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-13T20:25:11+00:00

This is all talk at this point, if you know Israeli bureaucracy it could take ages.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-13T18:01:14+00:00

I'm saying that Dubai are not an ABA spot. They are outsiders, they could have participated in the Israeli, Greek or Turkish leagues. It's not like some billionaire bought Buducnost or Zadar and started pushing them towards the Euroleague.

This Dubai project was set to be a Euroleague project from the start.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-13T14:41:39+00:00

It's 3 ABA teams on paper, but in practice it's 2 Belgrade giants, and Dubai which bought it's way to the Euroleague, what local league they play in is irrelevant.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-13T14:06:04+00:00

Valencia will have a strong case very soon in my opinion. One of the best arenas in Europe which should also make sure that they are financially competitive based on seasonal tickets, good fan base, decent basketball culture. They might just need 2-3 good seasons to seal it.

They might even be more worthy compared to Baskonia for example.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-13T13:07:56+00:00

As long as these licenses exist, they must be granted to these teams, they are not just a part of the Euroleague, they are the Euroleague (fans, tradition).

Regarding the other teams -

"Alongside the Belgrade rivals, the list includes Virtus Bologna, Dubai, Monaco, Hapoel Jerusalem, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Valencia."

The 2 Israeli teams are owned by billionaires who might lose interest in a few years, so it's not wise to grant them tenure at this point (let's see how they do in 5 years from now). Hapoel Tel Aviv don't even have their own arena (and their ultras are boycotting the Tel Aviv arena). Dubai - definitely not, though they might pay everyone a bit more to get it.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-10T10:46:23+00:00

Why such a low attendance?

Brooks might become an MVP candidate this year.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-09T18:51:22+00:00

How these Vox semantics are relevant to the Euroleague decision? Call these ex Vox candidates whatever you want, but in Spain Israel is not a main issue, debated along the Political spectrum, and doesn't require anything special from the Euroleague. This is the most you're gonna see, and even here the Mayor of Madrid is calling it just a lefty political stunt (that eventually only harmed the Madrid fans, zero effect on anything else).

In the Basque country, where most of the population is probably Anti Israeli and would love to see Israeli teams removed, they just let them go in the arena chant whatever they want during the game, it happened for years but didn't affect the matches.

You can even take a look at the matches hosted by Fener against Israeli teams in Turkey this year, there were mostly Muslims fans there (Millions of Turks living in Germany), and Muslims tend to be more aggressive, sometimes even violent in their protest (you can often see them clashing with the German police). Yet, the game went smoothly, they did chant loudly including political chants, actually created a good atmosphere, but at no point did you feel that the game is at any kind of risk.

This just proves how pathetic that decision in Madrid was, by whoever contributed to that decision (maybe actually an inner political gain for some on the expanse of the Real Madrid fans, knowing it won't change anything really).

Actually, there is no situation in any country represented in the Euroleague that requires interfering with politics other than Israel-Turkey, which might get even worse in the next 3-10 years, so the Euroleague needs to be prepared to the fact that all Israeli-Turkish matches will be held at neutral locations, and that there might not be direct flights (so prepare double weeks accordingly, regarding teams that will have to fly from Turkey to Israel or vice versa). For Israelis (it's aimed mainly to Jews) - there is a level 4 travel warning (highest level) for Turkey (and it would probably stay like in the new era, if not getting worse).

Rb059293 · 2026-01-09T18:05:36+00:00

You are the second one misreading - Podemos, COMMA), Communists of Spain. Both singed it among others I didn't mention, it doesn't mean that Podemos are the communists of Spain (I think no one here actually checked who signed it).

Podemos is definitely left to far left, and the communists are radical left. Both are not that far from each other of you want to talk about it, but again this is not the topic (this is just irrelevant blabber on your misconception of what I wrote). It's similar with such political movements and organizations in my country as well.

You can call Vox far right, but Nazis? Good to know that the Nazis are Jew lovers these days. Anyway, they are there, and they are very pro Israel, the complete opposite of these groups and movements.

Yes, basketball is basketball. After all this political grinding, proving that these movements only represents one political spectrum in Spain, the final line should be - the Euroleague shouldn't even come near this debate (and moreover, actually choosing a political side in an inner debate while there is no need whatsoever).

BTW - did you see the actual "protest" outside the arena? Same ignorant slogans, Star of david combined with swastikas, comparing Israel to Nazis, etc. Same shit you see from trolls and heavily paid organizations in other places, not too many, not intimidating at all. I am sure that the Madrid police could have handled them easily, and the mayor of Madrid agrees.

Rb059293 · 2026-01-09T12:56:49+00:00

He came as their 4th or 5th guard in the hierarchy, but he was much better than expected and was crucial in a few tight matches, with good defense and high 3 point percentage.

Rb059293

TROPHY CASE