MIES (Switzerland) - Forget Spain's EuroBasket 2025 disappointment, when the national team's long string of success in the tournament came to a screeching halt in the Group Phase.
Spain Coach Sergio Scariolo secured his legend in international basketball long ago.
His success in European basketball, in the modern era, is unrivaled. Scariolo, an Italian, engineered four EuroBasket title runs at the helm of Spain, a 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup triumph, two silver medal finishes at Olympic Games and also a bronze. He the winningest coach in the history of Spanish basketball.
World Cup 🏆 2019
EuroBasket 🏆 🏆🏆🏆 2009, 2011, 2015, 2022 🥉 2017
Olympic Games 🥈 2012 🥉 2016
In total, from 2009 to 2012 and then from 2015 to 2025, Scariolo sat on the bench for 222 games, with a record of 166 wins and 56 losses. Elisa Aguilar, president of the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB), paid tribute to the coach: "It was a true pleasure to have Sergio with us for 15 wonderful years during which we touched the sky together so many times."
The Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) highlighted his contribution to the transformation of Spanish men's basketball, creating a model that structured the entire sport from the grassroots to the top level.
Spain had a lot of talent, yet Scariolo, with humility, hard work and an intellectual approach in the country's pursuit of excellence, was important as any factor in the team's successful spell.
He took the helm in 2009 and acknowledged after guiding Spain to their first EuroBasket title triumph, in Poland, that he had been "handed the keys to the Ferrari".
Scariolo was right. The national team roster was one to envy, and it included 2006 World Cup MVP Pau Gasol, his brother Marc, Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernandez and several others that had lifted the Naismith Trophy, reached the EuroBasket 2007 Final and also the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal Game.
That first EuroBasket crown, which was anything but easy for Scariolo and Spain but still resulted in the first European championship for the men's national team, began a run of success under the new coach that other nations are unlikely to equal.
Had Poland 2009 not been won by Spain, then Scariolo's tenure might have been much shorter. And it didn't start well, from the very beginning, when Serbia defeated Spain in Warsaw and huge underdogs Great Britain nearly upset them.
A loss to Turkey in the second Group Phase left Spain needing to win their remaining two games just to reach the Quarter-Final.
Despite the pressure-cooker situation, Scariolo guided Spain to five straight wins after the loss to Turkey for the title. They avenged the defeat to Serbia in the process, beating the talented young squad coached by Dusan Ivkovic 85-63 in the Final. Gasol added a EuroBasket MVP award to the World Cup MVP.
Scariolo and Spain defended the crown two years later in Lithuania after seeing off the red-hot North Macedonia in the Semi-Final and then a Tony Parker-led France in the Final. Navarro was the tournament's MVP.
Scariolo had dreamt of engineering a gold medal run in what he thought would be his last tournament as coach, at the London Games in 2012, yet the USA stood in their way again, beating Spain for the second time in a row in the title game, 107-100.
The Italian moved aside, but was back in 2015 after Spain's shock Quarter-Final exit to France at the 2014 World Cup in Madrid.
Spain trusted Scariolo and needed him at the helm to ensure success.
Though Spain were without Navarro and Marc Gasol, they survived a couple of losses in their first three games at EuroBasket 2015, to Serbia and Italy, and then won six straight to lift the trophy. Along the way, in a spectacular Semi-Final showdown with France in Lille, Spain prevailed, 80-75, after overtime.
Gasol had an incredible performance against Les Bleus, maybe the best of his career, scoring 40 points. Spain then won decisively against Lithuania in the title game and Gasol was again the MVP of the EuroBasket.
At the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Scariolo's team fell to the USA in a hard-fought Semi-Final, 82-76, yet left Brazil with another medal after a win in the last seconds over Australia in the battle for bronze.
At EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul under Scariolo, Spain again reached the podium despite falling to a rampant Goran Dragic-led Slovenia in the Semi-Final. They bounced back with a decisive victory over Russia to clinch third place.
Even as veteran players retired, or missed tournaments, Scariolo stayed. And Spain remained contenders.
After coaching Spain successfully through the European Qualifiers for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, with many of the players boasting no previous national team experience, Scariolo took a more veteran team to China and led them on an unbeaten title run, one that saw his team beat Australia after two overtimes in the Semi-Final and then Argentina in the title game. Ricky Rubio was named MVP of the event.
Following Spain's run to the Quarter-Final at the Tokyo Olympics, Scariolo steered Spain to their fourth EuroBasket crown - all under his leadership - in Berlin. In the star-laden tournament staged in 2022, with several other teams thought to have better chances at winning the championship, Scariolo worked his magic and Spain prevailed.
Willy Hernangomez was the MVP while point guard Lorenzo Brown made the All-Star Five. Juancho Hernangomez had an amazing title game and was named Final MVP after Spain defeated France to claim the trophy.
It's tough to remain at the top and time caught up with Spain. The team didn't make it to the Quarter-Final at the 2023 World Cup in Manila, nor did they at the 2024 Summer Games in France after winning the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Valencia.
Expectations on the outside were lower heading into EuroBasket 2025, with Spain lacking experience in the backcourt.
They remained competitive, though, and bounced back from an opening defeat to Georgia to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus, but losses in hard-fought games to Italy and Greece left Spain in fifth place in Group C, thus ending the nation team's incredible run of podium finishes that dated back to 2007 in Madrid.
Scariolo was not the reason that basketball has a huge place in Spain's sporting world. It is home to arguably the best domestic league, the Liga Endesa (ACB), outside of the NBA.
Its teams always compete in European club competitions and often win them.
The national team had a history of success before Scariolo. It was Spain that claimed the silver medal at the 1984 Olympics and had other triumphs before the Italian took over.
By the time Scariolo was in charge of Spain, he inherited a hugely talented and experienced national team. With expectations high, for the longest time, Scariolo always helped Spain play at its best.
Scariolo in recent times not only used the international windows to strengthen the national team program, but he had a leading role in making sure Spain's youth teams won and learned to play win basketball the right way.
Spain didn't reach the Round of 16 at EuroBasket 2025, but that's sports. Thanks to a lot of the work by Scariolo and those under him, and his willingness to give teenagers vital national team experience this summer, the country is in a strong position to achieve greatness in the coming years.
FIBA