L'Auditori 1899, located right next to Camp Nou, was dressed to the nines this morning for the occasion. FC Barcelona's basketball section is turning 100 years old, and naturally, the club is in celebration mode. A centennial doesn't come around every day.
At this event, we saw basketball legends from the club including Andrés Jiménez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Roberto Dueñas, Nacho Solozabal, and "Lagarto" De la Cruz, along with many current roster players and new head coach Alexander Sekulic. There was also significant institutional presence from the basketball world: Jesús Bueno, CEO of EuroLeague; Antonio Martín, president of the ACB; and Ferran Aril, president of the Catalan Basketball Federation. Barcelona president Joan Laporta and basketball section director Xisco Pujol were also in attendance, with Pujol addressing all those present.
Throughout this year, there will be various events to celebrate the milestone, including popular activities as part of the Festa Major de les Corts and recognition of women's basketball in March coinciding with International Women's Day. Today's event marked the official kickoff. It was also confirmed that there will be a Gala at Palau Blaugrana for Barcelona basketball fans, to be held in December. Special mention goes to the illustration created by former player Andrés Jiménez for the occasion. The event featured a warm retrospective of these first 100 years, recalling the club's beginnings through to today, with protagonists from throughout Barcelona basketball's history.
Barcelona president's closing remarks emphasized pride in the basketball section and all of the club's other sports programs, highlighting that Barcelona is the best multi-sport club with 50 European Cups.
In summary, it was a grand celebration of Barcelona basketball's centennial, complete with cake, which officially began today. It's time to enjoy this historic milestone for the blaugrana club.