Back in 2017, Valencia Basket won the first league title in club history with a roster led by figures such as Bojan Dubljevic, Sam Van Rossom and Spanish veterans Rafa Martínez and Fernando San Emeterio. They did it by defeating a Real Madrid side in which Luka Doncic was only beginning to blossom into a superstar. On Valencia’s bench sat veteran Catalan head coach Pedro Martínez.
In 2026 Spain has a champion other than Real Madrid or Barça after six years. Valencia Basket has just lifted the ACB trophy for only the second time in its history, putting the finishing touch on a sensational season in which the Taronja opened the campaign by winning the Spanish Super Cup and reached the EuroLeague Final Four for the first time ever, following that unforgettable playoff series against Panathinaikos that already feels like an instant classic.
Just a month later, the Valencia side stormed through the domestic playoffs, collecting three straight wins in dominant fashion against a Barça team that had managed to steal home-court advantage in Game 1 of the Finals with a dramatic 112-113 win at Roig Arena.
And on Valencia’s bench? Pedro Martínez again. The coach returned in 2024 after leaving the club in the very same year in which he had guided the team to its first league title.
🏆 Llegó el momento…
¡El @valenciabasket levanta el 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐨 que le corona como CAMPEÓN de la #LigaEndesa 2025-26!
#PlayoffLigaEndesa pic.twitter.com/I2jpH2rtJj— Liga Endesa (@ACBCOM) June 24, 2026
It is difficult to find a single flaw in Valencia’s season. From day one, this was a team that played with relentless pace while functioning as a complete collective unit, starting with that Super Cup triumph that already hinted at what was coming. With a generational talent leading the way in Jean Montero —who averaged 23.8 points over the four Finals games— surrounded by players capable of impacting the game on both ends of the floor, from Kameron Taylor to Braxton Key and Brancou Badio, Valencia’s project had already sent a warning a year earlier.
Back then they reached the Finals, only to be overwhelmed by Real Madrid’s physicality. But they learned from it. This season there simply wasn’t a faster or more physical team in Spain than Valencia. Their breathtaking tempo began in September and arrived at the Finals perfectly polished, overwhelming a much older Barça side that now appears headed for major reconstruction over the coming weeks. Valencia averaged 102.5 points per game in the four-match series against Barcelona. That says it all.
Montero fully deserves the spotlight as the unquestionable Finals MVP. Taylor, Badio, Key, emerging talent Sergio de Larrea and valuable domestic contributors such as Jaime Pradilla and surprise package Álvaro Cárdenas all deserve praise as well.
But perhaps no one deserves it more than Pedro Martínez.
At 64 years old, this season marked his 34th campaign as an ACB head coach, in a league where he has now coached 1,103 games. His outstanding career undoubtedly places him among Spain’s most respected basketball coaches, despite the curious fact that neither Real Madrid nor Barça has ever handed him the reins.
Time will tell, but it is entirely possible that years from now this Valencia Basket team will be viewed as Martínez’s true masterpiece.
This was a team playing at an intensity level few opponents could survive, as Barça painfully discovered in the Finals. Relentless physicality, elite ball movement, attacking within the first seconds of the shot clock, constant three-point pressure and punishing opponents’ mistakes —many of them forced by Valencia’s suffocating defense— formed the blueprint of a memorable team that now faces a difficult summer if it hopes to keep the core together and take another step toward establishing itself as both a Spanish and European powerhouse.
🤪 Sonó la bocina… ¡y se desató la EUFORIA en la cancha!
Lo hicieron.
Son CAMPEONES de #LigaEndesa.QUÉ LOCURAAAA, @valenciabasket 🔥 pic.twitter.com/gVETJPc3zF
— Liga Endesa (@ACBCOM) June 24, 2026
The future may not be simple. Club president Juan Roig all but acknowledged Jean Montero’s likely departure during the title celebrations. “It has been a pleasure to have him here, and it will be a pleasure to welcome him back one day,” Roig said about the Dominican guard. Also Pedro Martínez, never a coach prone to excessive praise, added: “It has been a pleasure to witness the birth of a star.”
Still, Valencia fans can cherish this forever.
This team now belongs to both club and Spanish basketball history. Their style of play —heavily influenced by principles backed by advanced analytics— has established a blueprint many teams will attempt to replicate. But reproducing something like this is far from easy, especially when the level of talent is lower.
In the ACB Finals, Pedro Martínez and Valencia Basket came remarkably close to basketball perfection.
It may be a long time before we see a team play the game this well again.