The best players of the 2010-11 Turkish Airlines Euroleague season were honored on Saturday night at the annual EFES Pilsener Euroleague Awards Ceremony, held this year at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona.
Panathinaikos point guard Dimitris Diamantidis was voted the 2010-11 Euroleague MVP after an outstanding season for the Greens and became the first player ever to win three end-of-season awards – MVP, Best Defender Trophy and All-Euroleague First Team – since the awards structure was established in 2005. Diamantidis was joined on the 2010-11 All-Euroleague First Team by the MVP of last season, Juan Carlos Navarro of Regal FC Barcelona, Caja Laboral swingman Fernando San Emeterio, his Panathinaikos teammate, forward Mike Batiste, and center Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Maccabi Electra.
An outstanding season in a career already full of accolades has made Dimitris Diamantidis both the 2010-11 Turkish Airlines Euroleague MVP and the All-Euroleague First team point guard. Diamantidis posted career-bests in scoring (12.6 ppg.) and assists (6 apg.) as the competition’s top passer for the season. He was also voted overwhelmingly by Euroleague head coaches to be the Best Defender Trophy winner for the sixth time in seven seasons and won the Sportingbet MVP of the Month award for December, as chosen by Euroleague Basketball. Diamantidis led the Quarterfinal Playoffs round in scoring at 18 points per game as his team eliminated defending champion Regal F.C. Barcelona. He finished the season as the only player who ranked among the top 10 in assists, steals and performance index rating. In his seventh Euroleague season, Diamantidis has been instrumental to his team’s success, leading Panathinaikos to Euroleague titles in 2007 and 2009. He was named Final Four MVP in 2007. He also reached the Final Four with the Greens as a rookie in 2005 and has lifted seven consecutive Greek League trophies. He was previously selected to the All-Euroleague First Team in addition 2007.
