By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Unicaja was defeated yesterday by Dreamland Gran Canaria by one point (101-100) at home in a game for the Spanish Liga Endesa.
However, even if April is ending not on the highest of notes, May is a chance for the Spanish club to make history.
Unicaja is one of the three clubs, alongside La Laguna Tenerife and Burgos, that have won the Basketball Champions League trophy twice.
Unicaja, like Burgos, did it back-to-back.
And that puts Malaga in a unique position. The Spanish club can be the first team in Basketball Champions League history to register a three-peat if they manage to defend their title in Badalona.
How hard is that? In the history of European basketball, only ASK Riga between 1958 and 1960, and Jugoplastica Split between 1989 and 1991 managed to do it.
They were played in the European Champions Cup, the predecessor of the modern EuroLeague, and Split was spearheaded by none other than Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja.
That’s why losing to Gran Canaria, which lost the chance to make it to the Basketball Champions League quarterfinals by losing twice to ERA Nymburk, can be justified.
Exactly in one week from now, Unicaja will not just defend their crown, but they can also make European basketball history, and this is a really rare chance that may not happen not even once in a lifetime.