Panathinaikos win 6th Euroleague title

One of the most successful teams in European basketball history, Panathinaikos BC, the Athens (Greece) based club, won their sixth Euroleague title, defeating Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv of Israel 78-70 in the final of Europe's most prestigious basketball trophy on May 8th at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona.

This was their third title in the last five years.

Panathinaikos were always the favourite going into this match-up, and they didn't disappoint. Versatile guard/forward Dimitris Diamantidis, who was named as MVP of the Euroleague Final Four, scored 16 points and dished out nine assists. Mike Batiste added 18 points. Legendary coach Zeljko Obradovic won his eighth Euroleague ring, the last five of which have come with Panathinaikos. With six titles, Panathinaikos now trail behind only Real Madrid who have won eight Euroleague championships.

Earlier, Panathinaikos had defeated Italy's Montepaschi Siena to enter the final, while Maccabi head got a big win over Spain's Real Madrid in their semi-final clash. Montepaschi won the third-place match-up, beating Madrid 80-62.

The Greek international Diamantidis was also named the MVP of the entire Euroleague Season as well as the best defender. Igor Rakočević of Efes Pilsen (Turkey) was the leading scorer of the season and Nikola Mirotic of Real Madrid was named the season's rising star.

The best-paid teams in all sports

A year ago, I wrote about the results of the Global Sports Salaries Survey, a survey conducted by sportingintelligence.com that revealed the world's best paid teams... in all sports. On its way, the survey also went on the reveal the league's with the highest average salary.

A few weeks ago, the results for the 2011 Global Sports Salaries Survey were revealed - and the results are interesting indeed. Some of the top football, basketball, and even cricket teams in the world are represented from league's like Primera Liga (football), NBA (basketball), and IPL (cricket).

Baseball team New York Yankees of the MLB were the world's best paid team last year, but Spanish footballing duo of Barcelona and Real Madrid have since overtaken them for the top spot.

The richest NBA team is the Los Angeles Lakers, who are fourth in the overall list behind Barca, Madrid, and the Yankees - no surprises there, since the Lakers are not only the most popular team worldwide but also two-time champions. What is surprising, though, are the next three basketball teams on the list - Magic (5), Nuggets (9), and Jazz (11) - I would've expected someone else to be ranked higher. The Celtics come in at 15th on the all teams list.

And about our Indian cricket leagues? Well, they seemed to have fallen far behind. Last year, the Royal Challengers Bangalore of the IPL were 12th on the list. This year, they are still the richest IPL team, but have fallen to 26th.

So here is the top 12 for 2011 - a detailed list of the top 200 is available on ESPN-The Magazine website:

1. Barcelona (La Liga)
2. Real Madrid (La Liga)
3. New York Yankees (MLB)
4. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
5. Orlando Magic (NBA)
6. Chelsea (EPL)
7. Inter Milan (Serie A)
8. Boston Red Sox (MLB)
9. Denver Nuggets (NBA)
10. Manchester City (EPL)
11. Utah Jazz (NBA)
12. Bayern Munich (Bundesliga)

Any more surprises? Barcelona, the leaders, pay an average annual salary per of $7,910,737 per player. Manchester United, one of the most famous teams in football (real football, soccer football), rank 16th. Liverpool are 20th. The two best NBA teams, in terms of record this season, are 42nd (Bulls) and 43rd (Spurs).

The NBA, who crowd the majority of the top half of the top 200, leads as the league with the highest average salary in the world, which is about an average of $4.79 million per year or $92,199 per week, sportingintelligence.com said.

SportingIntelligence also did a survey of global attendances, to mark the best attended outdoor and indoor leagues in the world. Amongst outdoor sports, the top five are the NFL (American Football - USA), Bundesliga (Football - Germany), AFL (Aussie Rules Football - Australia), EPL (Football - England), and MLB (Baseball - USA). India's IPL comes in at 10th. The NBA continues to be the best attended indoor sports league in the world.

The lesson from all this? Sport pays. And basketball is one of the richest. The IPL has shown that it has the lucrative backing to eke a space for itself amongst the top leagues, even though cricket isn't a worldwide sport like football or basketball is. India is just that crazy a market, and it's another sign that maybe, if basketball is marketed the right way, it could have a positive future in India.

Chelsea FC to tie-up with NBA to bring facilities to India?

I'm not a fan of Chelsea Football Club. I'm a Real Madrid fan, and in England, my favourite team is Liverpool. So when I think Chelsea, I think Luis Garcia.

That out of the way, let me move on to more pressing (and relevant) matters. Business Standard (or 'BS', as they like to be acronymed), have released a bit of news today that announcing that Chelsea FC, the English Premier League champions, are looking for a partnership with an Indian corporate house to promote "football schools, merchandise, cafes, and restaurants" and India.

But that's not all, according to this report, Chelsea is also looking to tie-up with the NBA in India to work together to set up infrastructure.

“We are looking at an anchor partner which has to be an Indian corporate house, which understands the Indian market and not a foreign MNC. It is through this route that we plan to enter India and set up our football schools and franchise our brand,” said Ben Wells, head of marketing of the Chelsea Football Club.

Chelsea is also in talks with the US-based National Basketball Association (NBA) to jointly set up schools — having facilitates for both football and basketball. “There is no clash between these two and as NBA is already in India, we are open to talks with them to build the infrastructure” said Wells.

More good news for football and basketball fans in India... I can't wait till the day when I wake up, switch on a news channel, and I don't see a bunch of cricketers whining about bookies, 99-not-outs, and having to actually run a little from time to time.

Regal FC Barcelona win 2010 Euroleague

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The most dominant basketball team in Europe, Regal FC Barcelona (Spain) beat Olympiacos (Greece) 86-68 in the final to win the Euroleague basketball tournament. Barcelona, led by Juan Carlos Navarro, Fran Vazquez, and my main man Ricky Rubio have been by far the best basketball team in all of Europe, and deservedly took the title on Sunday, in a final that was held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris. Navarro, who scored a team high 21 points in the game, was named the final four MVP.

The Euroleague is the league where all the best teams from different European countries compete for the top crown. The final four of the tournament saw Barcelona beat CSKA Moscow (Russia) 64-54 and Olympiacos beat Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) 83-80 in overtime. In the final, Navarro, Rubio, and co went up against the Olympiacos team which featured former NBA players Linas Kleiza (Euroleague's top scorer) and Josh Childress.

Obviously, my main focus here is on Ricky Rubio. If you have been following, you would have known that I have reserved great praise for this supremely talented 19-year-old. Don't be fooled by the modest Euroleague averages - 6.8 points, 4.1 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals - Rubio was the best point guard in Europe and was named 2009-10 Rising Star of the Euroleague. He's now the point guard of officially the best basketball team in Europe, and I'm confident that he'll one day he's gonna become the best PG in the NBA. Timberwolves are you watching this?

In other Barcelona related news, I'm hoping that the city suffers a little this weekend. It's the last game of the Primera Liga, and Barca lead Real Madrid by ONE POINT, 96-95. I'm a Madrid fan, so my emotions for the Barca football team are exactly the opposite of how I feel about their basketball... Go Madrid!!!!

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Several NBA teams amongst the highest-paid sports teams in the world

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Seven of the top 12 highest-paid teams in sports around the world last year were from the National Basketball Association (NBA). The list is topped by baseball team New York Yankees of the MLB, worth $7,000,000, but they are the only baseball team represented in the top 12. Real Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), and Chelsea (England), all football teams, make up positions 2-4, and Dallas Mavericks of the NBA are at number five. 6-11 are also NBA teams, and a surprise inclusion at number 12 are the Bangalore Royal Challengers of the Indian Premier League (IPL)!
The list has been published by sportingintelligence, as part of their Annual Review of Global Sports Salaries (ARGSS). The list has been decided on the basis of the average salaries in the squad.

Here is the complete top 12 for 2010:
1. New York Yankees (MLB)
2. Real Madrid (La Liga)
3. Barcelona (La Liga)
4. Chelsea (EPL)
5. Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
6. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
7. Detroit Pistons (NBA)
8. Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
9. Boston Celtics (NBA)
10. New York Knicks (NBA)
11. Phoenix Suns (NBA)
12. Bangalore Royal Challengers (IPL)

You know what's funny? Check out the highest paid players in the NBA teams last year and you'll see that most of them are far from deserving of the honour. For the Mavericks its Jason Kidd, now in the twilight of his career. The Lakers and the Celtics get it right with Kobe and Garnett respectivelly. The Pistons paid the most money to Allen Iverson, who was a shadow of his former self and spent most of 2010 on the bench for the Grizzlies, and then signing and not playing for the 76ers.

How about the Suns at 12? They paid the most to Shaq, who is now out in Cleveland. And the Cavs themselves? You would think LeBron would be their highest paid, right? Nope - that honour goes to none other than Ben Wallace (now with the Pistons).
Undoubtedbly, the reward for the biggest waste of money goes to the Knicks, though, who are easily the worst team in this top 12 of all the leagues, and their highest paid player was Stephon Marbury, who has spent his 2010 streaming silly videos of himself and ballin in China.
And the Royal Challengers? Their highest paid player is none other than Kevin Pieterson, who if my knowledge of IPL is right barely gets to play for them.
So what's the moral of the story here? If you're good at basketball, you will be rich. Even if you're Stephon Marbury.
Indian parents - hand your child a basketball starting... NOW!

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