Nigeria’s Chima Moneke has been named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2021-22 Basketball Champions League Season.
The 26-year-old who debuted for Nigeria at the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket championship, plies his trade with BAXI Manresa in the Spanish Basketball Liga and was awarded the MVP after an outstanding season where he scored an average of 13.1 points per game in the BCL this season.
Moneke will lead Baxi Manresa against Lenovo Tenerife in the Final having scored 184 points this season in the BCL after being named in the Team of the Month of March and MVP for the month of April.
The award has been presented by Juan María Aburto, Mayor of Bilbao, during the Season Awards Ceremony that took place at the “Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao” at the weekend.
Moneke’s team Baxi Manresa had to give up its style of play to qualify for its first Basketball Champions League final by managing a 63-55 semi-final win against MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg.
“That’s what they wanted, “Moneke told Eurohoops after the semi-final. “They are a great team for a reason, that’s why they are in the Final Four.
“But we can play different styles. Honestly, there were a lot of free throws that I left, that we left, a lot of silly turnovers that we had that could make it look a lot better. The fact that we were able to win this kind of game is amazing but we are not done yet at all.
“I said it in February that we were going to play Tenerife in the final”, confessed Moneke with a smile. “I said it; I knew it and I’m just happy that it could happen.”
