Sometimes basketball creates perfect circles. Sergio Scariolo and Pedro Martinez know this better than most, as they prepare to meet again in a EuroLeague Final Four, 36 years after their first encounter, when both were 28-year-old coaches just beginning to break into the European elite.
Back in 1990, they faced each other in the Radivoj Korac Cup final, with Scariolo leading Scavolini Pesaro and Martinez on the bench of Joventut Badalona.
Today, they arrive in Athens as established names in European basketball, both widely respected as benchmarks of modern coaching.
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That first final went to Martinez. His Joventut side won 99-98 in Pesaro and later sealed the title in the return leg in Badalona, 96-86. Martinez had only recently taken over the team after the dismissal of Herb Brown, stepping into the role almost unexpectedly.
“I was an assistant… Brown was fired and I was passing by,” Martinez once said on the EuroLeague & Friends podcast, reflecting on the moment that changed his career.
At the time, Scariolo was in his first season as a head coach. With Valerio Bianchini having moved to Virtus Roma, the young Italian was handed the responsibility of leading Scavolini, a team featuring players such as Magnifico, Costa, Gracis, Daye, and Cook. He was still not even 29 years old when that final took place.
Today, the two coaches meet again as friends and respected rivals. Scariolo, now leading Real Madrid, has often spoken about that historic final.
“We have commented on that final a few times… it was the first time we faced each other, and we remember it with respect and in a friendly way,” Scariolo said.
Martinez, meanwhile, has acknowledged that Scariolo was already “much more experienced” at the time, emphasizing how rare it is for two coaches under 30 to meet in a European final.
Longevity has defined both of their careers. Martinez has highlighted how difficult it is to reach and remain at the highest level for decades, while Scariolo continues to build a legacy that spans generations of players and teams.
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In 1991, Scariolo reached his first Final Four with Scavolini, finishing fourth after losing in the semifinal to Jugoplastika. In 2007, he returned to the same stage with Unicaja, again in Athens. Now, more than three decades later, he is still chasing his first EuroLeague title as a head coach.
On Friday, Real Madrid and Valencia Basket will meet in the semifinals in Athens. On the court, there will be players who were not even born in 1990. Only Sergio Llull had already been born at that time, though he was just a toddler.
But beyond the game itself, the story is about continuity. About two coaches whose careers have stretched across eras, now meeting again on basketball’s biggest stage. A semifinal, yes, but also a journey through time.
