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MADRID – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Euroleague Basketball announced today that the Boston Celtics will play a preseason game on Oct. 8 against Euroleague Basketball’s Real Madrid as part of NBA Global Games Madrid 2015 presented by BBVA.
The game between the 17-time NBA Champion Boston Celtics, led by Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas, and the nine-time Euroleague and 32-time Spanish League Champion Real Madrid will take place in the Spanish capital at the Barclaycard Center.
Tickets can be purchased beginning July 17 at ticketmaster.es. For more information, please visit www.nba.com or the NBA’s Facebook page at NBA España.
The two teams met previously in 1988 in a game that saw Fernando Martin, the first Spanish player ever to play in the NBA, and the late Drazen Petrovic compete against Celtics legends Larry Bird and Danny Ainge, the team’s current President of Basketball Operations.
Prior to the game in Madrid, the Celtics will play three-time Euroleague Champion and 26-time Italian League Champion Olimpia Milano on Oct. 6 at Milan’s Mediolanum Forum. The games in Milan and Madrid will mark the Celtics’ seventh and eighth games in Europe.
NBA Global Games 2015 will feature additional games around the world, including:
• China: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Charlotte Hornets in Shenzhen on Oct. 11 and Shanghai on Oct.14
• Brazil: Orlando Magic vs. Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 17
• Mexico: Boston Celtics vs. Sacramento Kings in Mexico City on Dec. 3 (regular season)
Additional games and locations will be announced at a later date.
NBA Global Games Europe will also feature a variety of interactive fan activities and NBA Cares community events that will bring the NBA experience to fans in both cities. The game will air live in Spain on Canal+.
Executive Quotes:
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: "Spain is a thriving basketball country that is home to some of the best players and most passionate fans in the world. We are excited to bring the Boston Celtics to Madrid and continue our efforts to showcase the NBA to our loyal fans."
NBA EMEA Senior Vice President and Managing Director Benjamin Morel: “We are proud to bring NBA Global Games back to Madrid, featuring teams with such a rich history. I would like to thank our partners at BBVA and Euroleague for their continued support.”
Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge: “On behalf of the Celtics organization, we are proud to return to Madrid for NBA Global Games 2015. I have particularly fond memories of playing in Madrid back in 1988 and I am sure our current players will relish this unique opportunity.”
Boston Celtics Guard Avery Bradley: “It will be an honor to represent the Celtics and the NBA in Madrid. I know there are passionate NBA fans in Spain and we look forward to an electric atmosphere on game night.”
Euroleague Basketball President & CEO Jordi Bertomeu: "It is a great honor to offer this game between the current Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion and one of the most famous franchises in the NBA. Real Madrid and the Boston Celtics each hold the record for titles won in their respective competitions, and we can be sure that they will give fans the best show possible of both the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and the NBA."
BBVA Head of Marketing Leadership Carlos Ricardo: "BBVA, the official bank of the NBA, is pleased to bring NBA Global Games to Spain, which will be a very special and unforgettable experience. At BBVA, we want to honor all those fans that enjoy the best basketball in the world.”
Real Madrid Basketball Director Juan Carlos Sánchez: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to once again play against NBA opposition. This game featuring two legendary teams like the Boston Celtics and Real Madrid is going to be a tremendous spectacle for basketball fans in Spain.”
Real Madrid Forward Rudy Fernández:
“The Boston Celtics are one of the most prestigious basketball teams in the world, a club with great tradition. It will be an honor playing against the Celtics as European Champions and we will be sure to put on a great show game and offer an exciting game to all the fans.”
About the NBA:
The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. The league has established a major international presence with offices in 13 markets worldwide, games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2014-15 season featured a record 101 international players from 37 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, which is available in 60 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which recorded 26.9 billion page views during the 2013-14 season, with more than half of all visitors originating from outside of North America. The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 850 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $260 million to charity, completed more than 3.3 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 970 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.
About Euroleague Basketball
A global leader in sports management, Euroleague Basketball develops and organizes elite competitions, sporting events, corporate social responsibility programs and educational initiatives. Founded in 2000 under a breakthrough private organizational model for European professional team sports, Euroleague Basketball manages the continent's two premier men's basketball competitions, the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and the Eurocup, as well the sport's premier under-18 showcase, the adidas NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT. Both the men's and junior European champions are crowned each spring at world basketball’s signature weekend event, the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four. For aspirants to careers in sports management, the Euroleague Basketball Institute offers the expertise of industry leaders through seminars, clinics, summits and a certified master's degree program. Most recently, Euroleague Basketball launched the groundbreaking corporate social responsibility program One Team, which unites 32 of its own clubs and world-renowned partners to support at-risk communities in 14 countries through grass-roots activities that have reached more than 10,000 participants to date. Find more details about Euroleague Basketball at https://www.euroleague.net/ Follow Euroleague at https://www.facebook.com/TheEuroleague and on Twitter @Euroleague.