Three Utah ties will be competing for a EuroLeague championship on Saturday when Anadolu Efes of Turkey takes on Real Madrid of Spain.
The 2022 EuroLeague final is scheduled for 11 a.m. MDT on Saturday in Serbia, with the third-place game taking place prior to that.
Former BYU guard Elijah Bryant and former Utah Jazz center Tibor Pleiss suit up for Anadolu Efes, while former Jazz guard Nigel Williams-Goss plays for Real Madrid.
At stake is the EuroLeague title in what is widely considered the best basketball league in the world outside of the NBA.
Bryant, who last played at BYU in 2018, is chasing his third championship as a pro. He won an Israeli League title with Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2020, then joined the Milwaukee Bucks late last season before they won the NBA title.
After the Bucks waived Bryant last October, he signed with Anadolu Efes days later.
In Thursday’s EuroLeague semifinals, Bryant scored a season-high 16 points to help Anadolu Efes beat Olympiacos 77-74. He made four 3-pointers and added six rebounds and a block, a significant increase over his regular-season and playoff averages.
Pleiss, who’s played for Anadolu Efes since 2018 and won the EuroLeague title with the team last year, had eight points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot in the semifinals.
Williams-Goss played just 52 seconds and had an assist in Real Madrid’s 86-83 semifinal win over Barcelona. He’s in his first season with Real Madrid and has consistently played a more significant role this season than his limited minutes Thursday.