Por Ismael Buendia 
Champions of Europe celebration day! This Monday, Unicaja was able to celebrate with their fans the BCL title they conquered at the SUNEL Arena against Galatasaray last night. There was a lot of excitement to welcome the heroes from Athens, as evidenced at the airport, where many fans gathered to receive the team, arriving around 18:30 after a layover in Barcelona. There, as is tradition, the Club presented the cup to the Green Tide, who had been waiting for almost two hours due to the flight delay.
From there, the team headed to the Centro Cultural Fundación Unicaja in Málaga, located in the central Plaza del Obispo, where they were received in a private reception by the president of Fundación Unicaja, José M. Domínguez; Unicaja’s CEO, Isidro Rubiales; Fundación Unicaja’s general director, Sergio Corral; and the Tourism Councillor of the Junta de Andalucia, Arturo Bernal.
After that event, the Unicaja team went to the Sanctuary of Virgen de la Victoria to offer a floral tribute in the dressing room of Virgen de la Victoria, the Patron Saint of Málaga, carried out by the captain, Alberto Díaz, and his teammate Kendrick Perry. The President of the Provincial Council, Francis Salado, and Elisa Pérez de Siles, representing the absent mayor, joined this event.
Shortly after, the highlight came, as thousands of fans were able to honor the team at the Basilica esplanade. There, on a stage, the players and staff took center stage in front of a Green Tide filled with pride and excitement, to the tunes of Los Mihitas songs that entertained the event. Each player and Ibon Navarro on behalf of the staff took turns to address the fans.
The first to speak was the captain, Alberto Díaz, who thanked the fans for their patience due to the delay and for their unwavering support, encouraging everyone to enjoy the historic victory. The same sentiment was echoed by Ibon Navarro, who also promised they would work to celebrate another title as soon as possible. Some had brief interventions, like MVP Tyson Carter; those who joked in their native language, such as Killian Tillie and Olek Balcerowski; and those who dared to speak in Spanish, like Kendrick Perry, Tyler Kalinoski, David Kravish, Kameron Taylor, and Dylan Osetkowski. But undoubtedly, most of those who spoke had the next goal in mind: Let’s go for the Liga Endesa!
This was a great culmination where both the Club and the fans were united once again, on the occasion of Unicaja’s second BCL.
THANK YOU, FANS!
