05 October, 2021
15 May, 2022
9 Marcelinho Huertas (TENE)
08/05/2022
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Floor general Marcelinho Huertas named the Most Valuable Player of the Final Four

BILBAO (Spain) - He was one assist short of having a double-double in the Semi-Finals, so Marcelinho Huertas decided he was going to get one in the championship game. Lenovo Tenerife's point guard was named the Most Valuable Player of 2022 Basketball Champions League Final Four.

Consider this an early birthday present. The Brazilian point guard will turn 39 in just two weeks, but he looked like a teenager for the weekend, dominating both the Semi-Finals and the Final.

Huertas had 17 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds against Hapoel U-NET Holon on Friday, then followed it up with a 13-point, 14-assist double-double against BAXI Manresa on Sunday, powering Tenerife to a 98-87 win.

He became the second player with a double-double in the Final, after Gediminas Orelik's 13 points and 13 rebounds for Banvit in 2017.

 

Marcelinho is also the second player to get a double-double with points and assists in Final Four history. The first one to do it was Banvit's Jordan Theodore with 21 points and 11 assists in the Semi-Finals in 2017.

It is not the first time this point guard has been named an MVP with Tenerife. Back in 2020, the club won the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, with Huertas as the Final Four MVP.

Over the course of his career, Marcelinho has also been the MVP of the FIBA South American Championship in 2006, won the Best Latin American Player award in the Liga Endesa both in 2020 and 2021, was selected to the All-Star Five of the Liga Endesa on four occasions, won the Spanish League three times, won the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, won the FIBA Europe Cup in 2006, and was named to both the BCL Star Lineup First Team (2020) and Second Team (2022).

Previous Basketball Champions League Final Four/Final Eight MVP award winners:

  • 2017: Marius Grigonis (Iberostar Tenerife)
  • 2018: Mike Green (AEK)
  • 2019: Kevin Punter (Segafredo Virtus Bologna)
  • 2020: Thad McFadden (Hereda San Pablo Burgos)
  • 2021: Vitor Benite (Hereda San Pablo Burgos)