Real Madrid renews the tireless Sergio Llull, who will complete 20 years in white

Envisioning a changing future, of imminent renewal, Real Madrid basketball has made an exception this Friday to reinforce the strong bond that has united it for two decades with its captain, Sergio Llull, who at 38 years old —he will be 39 in November— will continue to wear white for one more season. Other Real Madrid legends such as Fernando Romay, Juan Antonio Corbalán, Rafa Rullán, Wayne Brabender, Alberto Herreros or Sergio Rodríguez left the club before reaching that age. The reality, however, looks different when it comes to the shooting guard from Mahón, the player with the most games in the history of the section: 1,249 since his distant debut against Valencia in the playoffs of the ACB in 2007.

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With the club’s hopes now placed on Pedro Martínez, director of the white orchestra after Sergio Scariolo’s abrupt departure, Madrid has already finalized three signings for the start of the season: Jaime Pradilla, Thimoté Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Mikael Jantunen. The Barcelona-born coach, recognized as the best in the Euroleague after delighting the Roig Arena during the last two campaigns, reinforces with Llull’s continuity an outside game that will be diminished by the more than probable departure of Mario Hezonja, who in recent hours has moved away from the Palacio de Goya guided by the directives of his agent, the Serbian Misko Raznatovic.

With the renewal resolved, Llull now faces his 21st season in white with a juicy list of records within reach. The most difficult, but also the most coveted, is to become the Real Madrid player, whether in football or basketball, with the most titles in history. The player from the Balearic Islands is fourth in the table with 29 trophies (three European Cups, one Intercontinental, nine Leagues, seven Copa del Rey, and nine Spanish Super Cups), only behind Clifford Luyk (33 titles), Rafa Rullán (31), and Juan Antonio Corbalán (31). Luka Modric (28), Wayne Brabender (28), and Dani Carvajal (27) are now behind him.

“If the boy in the photo, on his first day as a Real Madrid player, had been told that some time later he would renew to play his 21st season with the best club in the world, he probably wouldn’t have believed it,” Llull himself said this Friday with a tweet in which he attached an image from 2007, when he arrived in the capital from Bàsquet Manresa, a team with which he had debuted two years earlier in the ACB.

Madrid keeps Eli Ndiaye

In addition to renewing the author of some of the most decisive baskets in its recent history, Madrid has decided to retain power forward Eli John Ndiaye, who flew from the white nest a year ago to the United States but had no luck with the Atlanta Hawks, a franchise that discarded him a few months after his arrival. The capital club had until 11:59 PM this Friday to match Valencia Basket’s offer for the player and thus exercise its right of first refusal over Ndiaye. At 12:35 PM this afternoon, the ACB announced that the team now coached by Pedro Martínez had matched the taronja attempt and that, therefore, it retained the rights to the power forward born in Senegal but an international for Spain.

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