Best of the Euroleague and NBA: Walt and Wally Szczerbiak

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Bradley	McAdoo	Wilkins	Szczerbiak	Sabonis	Petrovic
Divac	Kukoc	Radja	Ginobili	Parker	Scola

The Szczerbiaks

Getty Images & Euroleague.netWally Szczerbiak (left), a 2002 NBA All-Star, and his father Walter (right), who starred in Spain, form an interesting father-son NBA-Euroleague connection. That's young Wally looking at his dad's Spanish-league hardware (center).

After brief stays in the ABA and in the Eastern Basketball Association (the forerunner of the CBA), Szczerbiak was offered a one-year contract by the Buffalo Braves in 1973. But he opted instead for a five-year deal with Real Madrid. He spent seven years there as a high-scoring offensive power and played pivotal roles on three Euroleague title teams, in 1974, 1978 and 1980.

Szczerbiak, whose son Wally is currently playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA playoffs, also won four Spanish league titles during his time with Real, while his performance in an exhibition game against North Carolina earned him an invitation to the 1976 US Olympic team by Dean Smith. However, he was declared ineligible because of his time in the ABA.

After shorts stints in Italy and back in Spain, Szczerbiak accepted a role in 1986 as the "official U.S. representative" of the ACB, a role that includes assisting the placing of Americans in Spain.

Ian Whittell covers basketball for The Times of London.

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