MIES (Switzerland) - Season X of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL brought plenty of excitement in the second week, too.
You know all the scores and matchups, you know about the biggest upsets and the biggest blowouts. Now it's time to focus on individuals.
It's time to continue the MVP Race for the tenth time in our history. The checkpoints are in no way official, it's more of a tool for you to keep up with the biggest favorites to win the MVP of the Season award on the final Saturday of the season in May.
To figure out who has the best chances to win the award, we have to take a look at the profiles of previous MVPs in the Basketball Champions League.
Jordan Theodore (Season I), Manny Harris (II), Tyrese Rice (III), Keith Langford (IV), Bonzie Colson (V), Chima Moneke (VI), TJ Shorts II (VII) and Marcelinho Huertas (VIII, IX) all reached the Final Four, all played crucial roles in their teams getting there, all made clutch shots during the seasons and had the numbers to prove they were the Most Valuable Players.
With that in mind, during the MVP Race, we will have four serious questions to help us figure out who the leader is at each checkpoint:
(1) Does his team have a winning record?
(2) Is he the reason why?
(3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP?
(4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it?
Since this is a column and - we repeat - not in any way an official ranking, we need the grand separator to figure out the leader.
That's why the fifth question will always be random, to give you a hint of who's the guy in the lead.
This week, it's pure and simple:
(5) Did he casually walk into a contract with Alahli SC and win the BAL after finishing his club season in Europe in 2024-25?
(See? Number five is just random.)
#10 Davion Mintz (Fitness First Wurzburg Baskets)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, it's his second season there and it shows, he's the leader. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 17.5 points, 53.3 percent shooting from three-point range on nearly eight attempts per game, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 17.0 efficiency rating. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Well, not really. Because Marcus Carr had the game-winner against Igokea m:tel this week. (4.5) So... Davion is good, but not the leader of the race here? Exactly. Potential MVP, for sure.
#9 RaiQuan Gray (AEK BC)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, one of the reasons. (2.25) That doesn't sound convincing. It's because others have also been impressive and we're having a hard time determining if RaiQuan is even the best player on that team, just a week after telling you "he's the best player on that team, period." (2.5) So why is RaiQuan here? Because it just feels right. He got his first BCL double-double this week, and along with Chris Silva, he's creating one of the toughest frontcourts we've seen in a while in this competition. (2.75) But he's not the MVP Race leader? Nope. Two weeks in a row in Top 10, though.
#8 Isaiah Wong (Dreamland Gran Canaria)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, Gran Canaria's top scorer, by some distance, too. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 17.0 points in 19.6 minutes per game. Nobody else averages double digits on the team. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Not really. (4.33) ...okay. Thing is, this week, when Le Mans Sarthe Basket made it back to -1 before the final 10 minutes, it was Kur Kuath, Mike Tobey, Louis Labeyrie, Andrew Albicy and Braian Angola taking and making the shots. The team is just too deep for us to say "it's all about Wong" so we won't say it. (4.66) Meaning, he's not the MVP Race leader this week? Nope, not this week.
#7 Jaime Fernandez (La Laguna Tenerife)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 30-0. (1.5) Excuse me!? Ah, that's their record in BCL over the last 30 games at home. But yeah, they are 2-0 this season. (2) Is he the reason why? Yep, playing incredibly well in both the BCL and the Liga Endesa to start the season. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 18.0 points in 18.7 minutes per game. Also 3.5 steals and 3.5 assists, 21.5 efficiency per game. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Same as Wong. When you have all these Marcelinhos, Shermadinis, Doornekamps and others, it's impossible to say "it's all about Fernandez" so we won't say it. (4.5) Got it. Good, but not the MVP Race leader? Nah. Great, but not the MVP Race leader.
#6 Boogie Ellis (ALBA BERLIN)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Nope, 1-1. (1.33) What? Here's the deal. ALBA could've easily been a 2-0 team, they lost a close one to Elan Chalon. ALBA at 2-0? Boogie probably Top 3 of the MVP Race. (1.66) But ALBA at 1-1 so he's just outside? Exactly. He's averaging 22.0 points in 21.6 minutes per game. ALBA were +13 with him on the floor against Chalon, in a game they lost. See? MVP numbers. Just not top of the pack. Well, not this week, at least.
#5 Sir' Jabari Rice (ERA Nymburk)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Nope, 1-1. (1.33) What? Here's the deal. Nymburk could've easily been a 2-0 team, they lost a close one to Elan Chalon. Nymburk at 2-0? Sir' Jabari probably Top 3 of the MVP Race. (1.66) But Nymburk at 1-1 so he's just outside? Exactly. He's averaging 23.0 points, 4.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and Nymburk were a +25 team in his 23 minutes against Sabah on Gameday 1. See? MVP numbers. Just not top of the pack. Well, not this week, at least.
#4 Ante Tomic (Joventut Badalona)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Yeah, most consistent player there. Has been since joining them in 2020. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 12.0 points, 67 percent shooting, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 20.0 efficiency rating per game, and he's yet to turn the ball over in 43 BCL minutes played this season. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? The answer is the same for all the Spanish teams, it seems. They did go to him in the closing minutes against Zaragoza in a close Liga Endesa battle last week, so this could be a yes. (5) Okay. Last question, did he casually walk into a contract with Alahli SC and win the BAL after finishing his club season in Europe in 2024-25? Nope. Started playing for Šumica in his hometown of Dubrovnik, then moved to Zagreb (both the club and the city), and then spent the last 15 years with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Joventut. So, no. He's not the guy we're searching for here, but he's a legend, for sure.
#3 Jeremiah Hill (Elan Chalon)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? His clutch-ness is the reason we copy-pasted the same answers for Sir' Jabari Rice and Boogie Ellis. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? Sure, 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals. Best part? He could still be so much better, and he'll tell you that himself (probably), because he's only shooting 5-of-17 from deep (two of those five threes being clutch daggers is hilarious, btw), and he had 9 turnovers in two games. Long story. Anyway, yes, he does. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? HAHAHAHA. (5) Did he casually walk into a contract with Alahli SC and win the BAL after finishing his club season in Europe in 2024-25? He was actually brilliant in Africa in 2025, but it was for the national team, Cameroon. See, we're getting closer to the answer, geographically.
#2 Marek Blazevic (Tofas Bursa)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yes, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Dude is crazy efficient. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 23.0 points on 75 percent field goal shooting on 10 attempts per game without taking a single three-pointer, 80 percent from the line, 9.0 rebounds, 26.0 efficiency rating. Dude. Is. Crazy. Efficient. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? We told you last week he had the go-ahead bucket against Galatasaray with three seconds to play in the Turkish League, and now he had a put-back dunk to seal the deal against Trapani Shark. They roll the DICE with him, dude is crazy efficient. (5) Did he casually walk into a contract with Alahli SC and win the BAL after finishing his club season in Europe in 2024-25? Nope. Grew up with his hometown Rytas Vilnius, played for Perlas, too, then went to Zalgiris, Obradoiro, the Wolves and finally arrived in Tofas this summer. No BAL experience, but with his crazy efficiency, he's the runner-up here.
#1 Fabian White Jr (Galatasaray MCT Technic)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 2-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Oh yes. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 22.5 points, 75 percent (YES, SEVENTYFIVE PERCENT) from three-point range on six attempts per game, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and a league leading 27.5 efficiency rating. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Well, it was Will Cummings against Tofas in the Turkish League, and now Frederick Gillespie with the tip-in against Trieste, but in the last quarter there, White had a go-ahead layup, a big steal, a big offensive rebound, and poked the ball away from Mady Sissoko as time expired. Game-winner. (5) Did he casually walk into a contract with Alahli SC and win the BAL after finishing his club season in Europe in 2024-25? YES! We got to know him as he started his BCL 15+ point streak with Manisa Basket last season, extending it this season to become only the third player with 10 straight games of 15+ points in BCL history, joining DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell and Zoltan Perl.
But in between those games, in May 2025 he signed with Alahli SC in Tripoli, Libya, and made history.
First of all, in the Quarter-Finals of the Basketball Africa League 2025, he poured in 34 points with 13 rebounds, then followed it up with 23 points and 7 rebounds in the Semi-Finals, and finished the event off with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Final.
Alahli won their first ever BAL title, became the first team from Libya to reach the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, but White was not there, as he had already joined Galatasaray. But talk about making an impact to end your 2024-25 campaing...
There you have it, for the second straight week, Fabian White Jr leads the MVP Race!
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