Sergio Llull Melià (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈseɾxjoˈʎuʎ];[1] born 15 November 1987) is a Spanish professionalbasketball player and theteam captain forReal Madrid of the SpanishLiga ACB and theEuroLeague. He is a 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)combo guard.
Llull is Real Madrid's all-time leader in point scored. He is also a two−timeAll-EuroLeague Team selection, and was theEuroLeague MVP of the2016–17 season. As a regular member of the seniorSpain national team, he has won aFIBA World Cup title, threeEuroBasket gold medals, as well as a bronze. He also won twoSummer Olympics medals, a silver in2012, and a bronze in2016.
Llull began his career playing for the La Salle Maò and CB i Unió Manresana junior clubs as a youth. He made his professional debut with theSpanish ACB League clubManresa during the 2005–06 season. He also played with theSpanish 4th Division club Finques Olesa that season,on loan. He returned to Manresa, and played in theSpanish 2nd Division in the next season.
Llull joined the SpanishEuroLeague clubReal Madrid in 2007. In 2009, Real Madrid exercised a club option to extend his contract for another 2 years. In 2010, Llull extended his contract with Real Madrid through the year 2014.[2][3]
He was named theMVP of the final of the mid-season three game2012Spanish King's Cup tournament. Later that year, Llull extended his contract with Real Madrid once again, this time through the 2017–18 season.[4]
In the 2014–15 season, Real Madrid won theEuroLeague championship, after defeatingOlympiacos by a score of 78–59 in the2015 EuroLeague Final.[5] Real Madrid eventually finished the season by also winning theSpanish League championship, after a 3–0 series sweep in the Spanish League Finals series againstBarcelona. By winning the Spanish League championship, Real Madrid won thetriple crown.[6] Llull was named theSpanish League Finals MVP of 2015.
In the Summer of 2015, Llull once again extended his contract with Real Madrid, this time through the 2020–21 season.[7] The 6-year contract extension was at a per season salary of €2.7 millionnet income per season, and his contract included a record buyout option of €25 million (US$28.64 million as of 3 February 2019 exchange rate), the highest buyout amount ever in European club basketball history.[8]
Llull was named theEuroLeague MVP of the2016–17 season.[9] In May 2018, Real Madrid won the2017–18 EuroLeague season championship, after defeatingFenerbahçe Doğuş in thefinal game, by a score of 85–80.[10] Llull missed most of the season due to atorn ACL injury,[11][12] only to come back into the team's rotation at theFinal Four, where he helped his team to grab their second EuroLeague title in four seasons.
In the 2022–23 season, Llull was crucial in Real Madrid's road to their eleventh EuroLeague title. In the championship game on 21 May, againstOlympiacos, he scored a high-arching jump shot with 3.1 second left to give Madrid the final advantage in their 79–78 win.[13][14] Llull won his third EuroLeague title.
Llull was chosen by theDenver Nuggets with the 34th pick in the2009 NBA draft. TheHouston Rockets then bought his draft rights from the Nuggets for approximately $2.25 million, which at the time made him the most expensive player ever to be purchased during the draft's second round.[15] On 27 November 2020, Llull's draft rights were traded to theNew York Knicks.[16]
As a member of the junior Spain national basketball teams, Llull won the gold medal at the2004 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and he won the silver medal at the2007 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. He has also played with the senior men'sSpain national basketball team.
Llull won the gold medal at the2019 FIBA World Cup, three gold medals at theEuroBasket, in2009,2011, and2015. He also won the silver medal at the2012 Summer Olympics, the bronze medal at theEuroBasket 2013, and the bronze medal at the2016 Summer Olympics. He also played at the2010 FIBA World Championship, and at the2014 FIBA World Cup.
Llull competed at the2020 Summer Olympics and the2024 Summer Olympics.[17]
Early in his career, Llull was known for his straight line speed, jumping ability, and open court fast break dunks. Later in his career, he has been known for his long-distance 3 point shooting, andclutch shots. Llull averaged aPIR of 16.8 in theEuroLeague, during the2016–17 season.
He can play at either thepoint guard orshooting guard position. He spent the early part of hisclub EuroLeague career playing as ashooting guard, and then switched to thepoint guard position later in his club career. In the senior men'sSpain national team, he has mainly played at the shooting guard position.
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance index rating |
| Bold | Career high |
| † | Denotes seasons in which Llull won theEuroLeague |
| * | Led the league |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Real Madrid | 15 | 2 | 8.1 | .370 | .000 | .789 | .4 | .9 | .2 | .1 | 2.3 | 1.7 |
| 2008–09 | 19 | 4 | 19.0 | .468 | .380 | .926 | 1.1 | 2.2 | .5 | .2 | 6.9 | 6.6 | |
| 2009–10 | 18 | 1 | 21.1 | .521 | .418 | .724 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | .1 | 9.5 | 9.4 | |
| 2010–11 | 23* | 22* | 28.0 | .406 | .343 | .841 | 2.3 | 3.0 | .8 | .1 | 11.9 | 10.8 | |
| 2011–12 | 16 | 11 | 22.2 | .427 | .295 | .719 | 1.5 | 3.2 | .6 | — | 7.4 | 7.0 | |
| 2012–13 | 27 | 25 | 27.0 | .400 | .339 | .781 | 2.3 | 3.2 | .6 | .1 | 10.4 | 9.2 | |
| 2013–14 | 31* | 31* | 29.1 | .466 | .338 | .796 | 1.8 | 4.1 | .6 | .0 | 11.4 | 12.0 | |
| 2014–15† | 30* | 30* | 27.5 | .439 | .379 | .821 | 1.7 | 5.8 | .8 | .1 | 10.4 | 13.9 | |
| 2015–16 | 24 | 23 | 27.8 | .378 | .350 | .807 | 1.8 | 4.6 | .7 | .2 | 12.8 | 12.5 | |
| 2016–17 | 33 | 33 | 27.8 | .416 | .330 | .847 | 1.8 | 5.9 | .7 | .1 | 16.5 | 16.8 | |
| 2017–18† | 4 | 0 | 18.0 | .361 | .375 | .500 | .5 | 4.5 | .5 | — | 10.0 | 6.5 | |
| 2018–19 | 27 | 22 | 21.4 | .358 | .321 | .958 | 2.0 | 4.0 | .4 | — | 10.5 | 9.3 | |
| 2019–20 | 16 | 2 | 18.6 | .287 | .288 | .893 | 1.2 | 3.5 | .6 | .1 | 7.5 | 4.9 | |
| 2020–21 | 26 | 3 | 17.7 | .365 | .330 | .863 | 1.5 | 3.0 | .4 | — | 8.7 | 7.8 | |
| 2021–22 | 36 | 2 | 19.8 | .329 | .306 | .701 | 1.7 | 2.8 | .5 | — | 8.8 | 6.4 | |
| 2022–23† | 29 | 3 | 16.8 | .306 | .294 | .913 | 1.2 | 2.4 | .3 | — | 6.1 | 5.1 | |
| 2023–24 | 33 | 2 | 18.1 | .371 | .340 | .727 | 1.2 | 2.0 | .3 | .0 | 7.9 | 5.2 | |
| 2024–25 | 40 | 3 | 17.0 | .326 | .292 | .812 | 1.4 | 2.2 | .4 | .0 | 6.6 | 5.1 | |
| Career | 447 | 219 | 21.5 | .387 | .330 | .815 | 1.6 | 3.3 | .5 | .1 | 9.4 | 8.7 | |
Gold Gold
Silver
Bronze Gold
Bronze Gold
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