David Lighty, ASVEL: 'He's still got it'

Tibor Pleiss, Efes: 'He holds everything together'

Thomas Walkup, Zalgiris: "So much fun!"

Maodo Lo, ALBA: 'Very happy to be home'

Jordan Loyd, Zvezda: 'Best fans in the world'

Euroleague Basketball is proud to announce that the 2021 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four is headed for Cologne, Germany, where it had been scheduled last spring but could not be held due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

With a conviction to uphold their shared goals together, Euroleague Basketball and Cologne have agreed to seize upon a new opportunity to bring the continent's most elite basketball to Germany's fourth-largest city.

Cologne will become the epicenter of international basketball from May 28 to 30, 2021, and Lanxess Arena, which has been hosting major sports events for 21 years, is the stage on which a new EuroLeague champion will be crowned.

"In the same way that we honored the aspirations of the teams whose seasons were cut short last spring, we were equally determined to bring the Final Four to Cologne for the same compelling reasons that we originally chose to go there," Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President and CEO, said. "Staging the first Final Four of this decade in a superb arena and a vibrant major city without its own team in our competitions shows how dedicated we are to bringing new fans to the EuroLeague."

Cologne joins two-time host Berlin, which did the honors in 2009 and 2016, as the second German city to host the event this century. Cologne becomes the fourth city without a local Euroleague Basketball club to host a Final Four this century. The 2021 Final Four will culminate a season in which two German teams, ALBA Berlin and FC Bayern Munich, will be among 18 fighting for glory, highlighting the importance of Germany as a strategic market for Euroleague Basketball.

As the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, the biggest state in Germany by far, with 18 million inhabitants, Cologne is uniquely qualified to meet the challenge of taking the Final Four to new heights. From its world-famous cathedral to its reputation for tolerance and good times, Cologne has been a magnet for diverse groups of visitors. Likewise, Lanxess Arena has put on numerous global-scale sports such as the 2007 and 2019 World Men's Handball Championship and the 2001, 2010 and 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. Lanxess Arena also hosted NBA Europe Live in 2006, which featured that year's EuroLeague champion, CSKA Moscow, and runner-up Maccabi Tel Aviv against the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns of the NBA.

Lanxess Arena has a capacity of more than 18,000 seated spectators that will be adapted to the Final Four configuration. In 2019, the arena was ranked the third most successful event arena in the world with almost two million sold tickets at around 180 events.

The Mayor of Cologne, Mrs. Henriette Reker, is more than pleased with the Final Four coming to her city next year: “EuroLeague Basketball‘s announcement that Cologne’s LANXESS arena is to host the 2021 Final Four is an important signal in general as well as for Cologne as a city of sports. It’s essential we do everything we possibly can to make sure sporting and cultural events really can take place again – with spectators – next year. I’m delighted for the basketball teams, the fans, LANXESS arena, which has been hit hard by the corona pandemic, and, of course, our city that, after the cancellation of the 2020 event, EuroLeague has decided to keep Cologne as the host.”

Over the last two decades, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four has established itself as a can't-miss event on the global sports calendar, one that surpasses even the excitement of the four do-or-die games that decide the continental champion. Each Final Four is a celebration that fills the streets of the host city with countless ways to enjoy the game, while at the same time spreading goodwill through corporate social responsibility events and by linking generations of basketball lovers from school children to legendary players. All of that positive energy will build up over the course of the 2020-21 season, as every ball that bounces takes fans another step closer to the ultimate drama – the 2021 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Cologne!

2021 Final Four headed to Cologne, Germany!

Brandon Davies, FC Barcelona: 'It's gonna be real fun'

Mike Batiste was at the heart of the Panathinaikos Athens dynasty that won three EuroLeague crowns in five years between 2007 and 2011. As one of only three players on all three of those championship teams, Batiste represented all the things that made the Greens such a special team. He played with levels of confidence, ferociousness and selflessness that were worthy of the bevy of titles he would conquer. These were all traits that The Crossover host Joe Arlauckas related to in a conversation that grew so interesting that it has been split into two episodes. Here is the second hour of their two-plus-hour chat brought to all fans by 7DAYS.

Batiste's second title required a lot of blood, sweat and tears. The team missed the 2008 playoffs and, despite Nikola Pekovic arriving to play alongside him the next season, things were not going as smoothly as hoped.

[05:44] "I would say through two-three months of that 08-09 season, it was a lot of up-and-down kind of moments where you see the talent of how good we could play and then another game you're like, man what team is this?" Batiste said.

The way that the team bounced back was typical of the attitude that Batiste employed throughout his stellar career and one that he preaches today to his players as an assistant coach with Orlando in the NBA.

[06:29] "We just didn't know, like, where was the right direction to turn this around. Nobody knew the answer. So the only thing we could do best was get back in the gym and work. If you need answers, get to work. This is what I tell my guys now. If you have a question about the game, get to work," he said. "The work is everything for every player." Although Batiste's c.v. is decorated with his three EuroLeague championships, nothing ever came easy. The first two championship games could have gone either way and that made Batiste appreciate even more how important every play is to winning it all in the end.

[19:37] "My first two European titles come by 2 points. That's one possession, you know what I mean? If you really put that in perspective, that is a do-or-die kind of game. When you are playing in those types of games like that, everything is accounted for. You see a loose ball on the ground? You've gotta go get it. If there's a 50/50 ball, you've gotta have it. Those guards, they've gotta come back and get those traffic rebounds. Those little things. The way you set the screens to get guys open. All those little things matter just to win by 2 points. And it takes that much to win."

Batiste spoke about many other topics, including his close relationship with former roommate Vassilis Spanoulis and what is what like when he left for rival Olympiacos. Arlauckas also brought up the possibility of a Panathinaikos reunion, this time with Batiste as head coach, which the big man did not shoot down.

[49:40] "I have a real deep love for Greece and not just Panathinaikos. I have a deep love for the people of Greece," Batiste said. "Every step I took I felt like I was walking on a cloud. For real. I felt like I was the closest thing to heaven. It couldn't get better than this."

With a one-hour format of exclusive one-on-one interviews, The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas goes well beyond the playing court with each podcast to delve into the life experiences that have made his guests protagonists and legends of the EuroLeague. This season, he is also reviewing the EuroLeague's modern history in its 20th season of this century by talking to the legends who have made the competition more popular than ever.

The Crossover debuted last season with such current stars as Vassilis Spanoulis and Kyle Hines, coaching greats like Pablo Laso and Zeljko Obradovic, and legends like Nikola Vujcic and Robertas Javtokas, among others. Recent guests include Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius of Zalgiris Kaunas, Coach Xavi Pascual of Zenit St Petersburg and Tyrese Rice of of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas is available on Youtube, [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas/id1440034922), [Audioboom](https://audioboom.com/channel/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/6T1SYvGSpzyrYZpG9z2wjR), [Deezer](https://www.deezer.com/fr/show/65962), [RadioPublic](https://radiopublic.com/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas-6NkdjJ), [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzQ4ODM3OTkucnNz?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiYzr_b78XtAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ), [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/podcasts/Sports--Recreation-Podcasts/The-Crossover-with-Joe-Arlauckas-p1174586/), [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas), [CastBox](https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Crossover-with-Joe-Arlauckas-id1467328?country=gb), [iVoox](https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas_sq_f1629856_1.html) and other platforms.

Listen in to the second hour of Joe Arlauckas's chat with the three-time EuroLeague champ, presented by 7DAYS

Panathinaikos legend Mike Batiste visits The Crossover, Part II

Mike Batiste was at the heart of the Panathinaikos Athens dynasty that won three EuroLeague crowns in five years between 2007 and 2011. As one of only three players on all three of those championship teams, Batiste represented all the things that made the Greens such a special team. He played with levels of confidence, ferociousness and selflessness that were worthy of the bevy of titles he would conquer. These were all traits that The Crossover host Joe Arlauckas related to in a conversation that grew so interesting that it has been split into two episodes brought to the fans by 7DAYS.

In the first episode, they started off discussing Batiste's upbringing in Long Beach, California, his path from community college to major college basketball, and his first two seasons in Europe before he went back to the United States to play for Memphis in the NBA. Batiste talked of the things he was looking for in those first years of his professional career and that he would later find in Athens.

[6:50] "When you get love in general, regardless of race, color, how old you are, that love comes right back," Batiste said. "I was just waiting to find the right place where someone can accept me with open arms and I was waiting to give the same love back."

Batiste remembers his introduction to the EuroLeague when he was playing for Italian side Biella and teammate Malik Dixon knocked on his door asking if he was watching that night's big game. They scanned the channels and found Alphonso Ford and Olympiacos Piraeus facing Anthony Parker of Maccabi Tel Aviv on television. At once, Batiste was transfixed by the level of play and passion of the fans. He began to watch EuroLeague games regularly and recalled how impressed he was by Panathinaikos's come-from-behind victory over Kinder Bologna at the 2002 Final Four.

By the fall of 2003, Batiste was already wearing the Panathinaikos uniform and learning from coaching legend Zeljko Obradovic, under whose tutelage Arlauckas had also won the EuroLeague years earlier. The conversation also touched on the everlasting rivalry between Panathinaikos and crosstown rival Olympiacos and the heated derby games.

[45:40]"When these two teams clash, it's European supremacy at its finest. A lot of European teams don't have that challenge and we had that challenge every single year because we knew Olympiacos was a historic and traditional ballclub," Batiste said.

Panathinaikos reached the Final Four in their second season together, but was upset in the playoffs in 2006. The disappointment of that sat with him all summer and fueled the fire that made sure that the next year would be a special one.

[57:15]"Aint nobody stopping this," Batiste said of the 2006-07 Panathinaikos squad. "That year, 2007, was a very magical season for us. Because we played at a very high level from the beginning of the year all the way till the end of the year. When you look at a lot of teams, in the NBA or Europe, that doesn't happen a lot."

When the curtain closed on that season, Panathinaikos hoisted its fourth – and Batiste's first – EuroLeague trophy. And they did it at home, at the Final Four in Athens. Of course, there would still be two more EuroLeague championships for them to celebrate together. Those will be discussed in the second half of The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas and Mike Batiste, coming soon.

With a one-hour format of exclusive one-on-one interviews, The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas goes well beyond the playing court with each podcast to delve into the life experiences that have made his guests protagonists and legends of the EuroLeague. This season, he is also reviewing the EuroLeague's modern history in its 20th season of this century by talking to the legends who have made the competition more popular than ever.

The Crossover debuted last season with such current stars as Vassilis Spanoulis and Kyle Hines, coaching greats like Pablo Laso and Zeljko Obradovic, and legends like Nikola Vujcic and Robertas Javtokas, among others. Recent guests include Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius of Zalgiris Kaunas, Coach Xavi Pascual of Zenit St Petersburg and Tyrese Rice of of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas is available on Youtube, [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas/id1440034922), [Audioboom](https://audioboom.com/channel/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/6T1SYvGSpzyrYZpG9z2wjR), [Deezer](https://www.deezer.com/fr/show/65962), [RadioPublic](https://radiopublic.com/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas-6NkdjJ), [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzQ4ODM3OTkucnNz?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiYzr_b78XtAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ), [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/podcasts/Sports--Recreation-Podcasts/The-Crossover-with-Joe-Arlauckas-p1174586/), [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas), [CastBox](https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Crossover-with-Joe-Arlauckas-id1467328?country=gb), [iVoox](https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-the-crossover-with-joe-arlauckas_sq_f1629856_1.html) and other platforms.

Three-time champ joins Joe Arlauckas for new 20th-anniversary episode, presented by 7DAYS