"Death, taxes and Spain winning Eurobasket", "Feels like Hustle is almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point" - NBA Fans react to Spain's victory over France in EuroBasket finals
With the NBA still in the dog days of the offseason, European basketball has been the talk of the town. Some top NBA players are representing their country at the event. EuroBasket concluded yesterday with Spain adding a fourth gold medal to their tally of 14 medals at the event. They won gold medals at the event in 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2022.
Spain has had a long history of being on top at EuroBasket. Rudy Fernandez, Paul Gasol and Felipe Reyes are in the top 15 for most medals won at the event. Pau Gasol is also the all-time leading scorer, with 1,183 points.
Spain has had four MVPs on their roster over the last six iterations of the event. Pau Gasol won in 2009 and 2015. Juan Carlos Navarro won in 2011, and Willy Hernangomez was crowned the MVP yesterday.
On the other two occasions, two notable NBA players secured the tournament's MVP award. Spurs legend Tony Parker won it in 2013, and former Most Improved Player Goran Dragic won it in 2017.
r/NBA applauded Spain for their victory and had hilarious reactions.
(Sergio Scariolo is the head coach of the Spanish basketball team)
NBA Stars no match for Hernangomez brothers
France's star-studded team includes three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and Knicks star Evan Fournier. However, they were outplayed by an incredibly talented Spanish squad, spearheaded by brothers Juancho Hernangomez and Willy Hernangomez.
Juancho Hernangomez, a journeyman/bench player in the NBA, gained fame by making his acting debut in Netflix's "Hustle."
Bo Cruz! Getting it done. Love you Juancho. And Willie! Congrats to the whole Spanish team. https://t.co/TGIY2OYZJC
However, Juancho put his talent on display in the finals yesterday. He led all scorers with 27 points, shooting 7/9 from three-point range and 9/11 from the field off the bench. Juancho also had two steals and five rebounds.
Juancho's brother, Pelicans player Willy Hernangomez, added 14 points and eight rebounds in the win. Lorenzo Brown and Jaime Fernandez added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
France fell short of the mark. Rudy Gobert added just six points and six rebounds to France's tally. Evan Fournier led the way with 23 points. Spain took an early 11-point lead with two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
France closed the gap to five points in the third quarter. However, Spain regained momentum, ending the game with a 12-point lead.