Coach Of EuroLeague Title Winner Challenges Celtics To A Game To Settle ‘World Champs’ Debate

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The Celtics didn’t waste any time dubbing themselves the champions of the world after beating the Mavericks in the NBA Finals, but the head coach who led his Greek team to a EuroLeague title has thrown down the gauntlet after taking issue with that claim.

When you consider basketball has multiple international competitions designed to determine which country boasts the best players in the world in the form of the Summer Olympics and the FIBA World Cup, it’s somewhat easy to understand why people might take issue with an NBA team dubbing itself “World Champion” after winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

With that said, the NBA is objectively the world’s premier basketball league thanks to the unrivaled level of talent it boasts, so I can’t necessarily blame the Boston Celtics for asserting they earned the right to call themselves “World Champions” after securing the 18th title in franchise history in June.

Would “North American Champions” probably have been a bit more accurate? Sure, but it doesn’t really have the same ring to it.

I highly doubt the Celtics were purposefully trying to rile people up with the tweet in question, but they nonetheless managed to get under the skin of Ergin Ataman, who led Athens-based juggernaut Panathinaikos to a Greek League and EuroLeague title in his first year as head coach.

According to EuroHoops, Ataman isn’t thrilled that the Celtics have claimed the “World Champions” moniker for themselves  and has challenged them to head over to Europe to face off against his squad for bragging rights, saying:

“They see themselves very highly. They want incredible numbers to come and play a game in Europe. You are not the world champion.

If you want to get the world champion title, come and beat us, the EuroLeague champion. If you are so confident, I say come and beat us in OAKA.”

The Celtics have almost nothing to gain by answering the call, and while there’s no telling what would happen if the two teams did end up meeting on the court, something tells me Boston would have the upper hand when you consider Panathinaikos’ biggest offensive weapon last season was Kendrick Nunn, a man who spent three seasons in the NBA while averaging 12.1 points per game prior to taking his talents to Europe.