Just over a month ago, point guard Chris Duarte (28 years old, Dominican Republic) arrived in Malaga, his new basketball home, to introduce himself as a new Unicaja player and compete in the imminent Liga Endesa season, which starts on October 4th. street, was enough to define it as the place of dreams: “Based on the way people told me about the city, I already felt it was the best. The lifestyle, the schools, the security, the food… You want your team to be the best it can be off the court. And when I arrived I didn’t want to leave. Everything is beautiful: the buildings, the architecture, the streets, the people walking outside…”, he explains.
Duarte, Unicaja’s new signing, joins a competition with a spectacular cast of stars: the return of Ricky Rubio, Joventut’s prodigal son; Jean Montero, Duarte’s compatriot and three-time Best Young Player of the Endesa League; the young Spanish talents and future pillars of the National Team Sergio de Larrea (Valencia Basket) – recent champion of the Endesa Super Cup and MVP of the tournament –, Juan Núñez (Barcelona) and Izan Almansa (Real Madrid), the incombustible and best assistant of all time Marcelinho Huertas (La Laguna Tenerife)…
They are actors from a league that, although it has dozens of small and interesting stories, has several plot threads that are impossible to ignore:
- The first, Perhaps it will be an assault on the throne of Real Madrid, champions in the last two editions, with Barcelona, Unicaja, Valencia Basket and UCAM Murcia as the main candidates.
- The second, the emergence and definitive confirmation of the young talent that fills the league.
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The third, the emergence and adaptation of market bombs such as the Americans Trey Lyles (Real Madrid) and Miles Norris (Barcelona), the Argentine José Vildoza (Bàsquet Girona) or Duarte himself.
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The room, the return of the legend of the Spanish national team, Sergio Scariolo, to a bench in the national competition, in this case that of Real Madrid.
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The fifth, the change of scene in the broadcasts, now in charge of DAZN, with former player Víctor Claver and former coach Pablo Laso as commentators.
- The sixth, the journey of newly promoted San Pablo Burgos.
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The seventh,
the debut of the Roig Arena, Valencia Basket’s new pavilion… We leave it here because the best thing is to connect to the league to find out for yourself.
A narrative woven by increasingly fierce, dizzying and strategic basketball, something that Duarte quickly realized: “It’s more tactical: the spaces are more limited and there is less one-on-one, less clarity.
This concept of a lively game is endorsed by the American Abby Meyers, recently arrived at the Endesa Women’s League, who at the age of 26 signed with Perfumerías Avenida do Maccabi (Israel): “I had never played in the Spanish league, but I had friends who said very good things, especially about the fast pace of the game.
Meyers, a graduate of the American universities of Princeton and Maryland, started playing basketball at the age of seven, when she jumped in the “driveway” with his friends, that road that prototypically surrounds any American residential city. He never thought that his steps would take him to Salamanca, a city where he has lived for a month “of rapid growth, getting to know the players and the coach and adapting to Spanish basketball”: “Off the court, what I like most is the relaxed life that exists. Being able to have a quiet coffee, for example. And I love the atmosphere, there are always a lot of people and it’s very friendly”, he describes.
Meyers, one of the pillars of Perfumerías Avenida, an eight-time League champion club, will try to end the recent hegemony of Valencia Basket, which with three victories in recent editions dominates Spanish women’s basketball, which has already experienced its first tournament, the LF Endesa Super Cup, in which Casademont Zaragoza was proclaimed winner.
“We have no expectations other than to be better every day and grow. Obviously, many of us and I have winning backgrounds and we want to win, of course. There is a lot of talent here,” explains the American. Exponents of this talent that Meyers speaks of are players such as Awa Fam and Raquel Carrera (Valencia Basket), Helena Pueyo (Casademont Zaragoza), Juana Camilión (Movistar Estudiantes), Iyana Martín, her partner at Perfumerías Avenida, now absent due to illness…
A league whose new motto is ‘Nothing stops us’, and which launches two more new features: a specific profile on Instagram and a league fantasy official.
But the Spanish championship, for Duarte and Meyers, is not just a basketball opportunity. It also means a way of life different from that of their countries of origin. For Dominicans, who value their family’s well-being above all else, Málaga gives them the opportunity not to worry about security issues and to do things that were more complicated in the United States. “At first it was difficult for us, but then my children started going to school and they liked it. My daughter does ballet and my son plays basketball and football. “Tranquility and a good life”, he sums up.
Asked about the inevitable gastronomic plan, Duarte says he is looking forward to the tuna and sardine almadraba. Meyers, in turn, has already tried all the typical dishes, such as omelet and paella: “My favorite food, yes, is ham.
In relation to the fans, Duarte considers that the fans – as in some Latin American countries they call fans – of Unicaja “are much more familiar”: “We see children running everywhere and adults sitting down enjoying the game. Meyers sums up his vision of Salamanca fans in three words: “They are enthusiastic, loyal and passionate. I think this defines us well as a team. We are a family. Let’s go Avenida!” he exclaims.
The 2025-26 basketball year begins with more sporting attractions and passions than ever before. The values, however, are always the same. And they are notorious for beginners: “Sport is more than a game: it teaches, educates. It pushes you to create goals and take care of your mental and physical health.
Emotion, music and commitment
Emotion, music and sporting commitment. The values of the Liga Endesa were revealed again at the presentation on September 23 of the 2025-26 season of the competition, held in Madrid, a party that was attended by several stars such as Willy Hernangómez (Barcelona), Santi Yusta (Casademont Zaragoza), Ricky Rubio (Joventut Badalona), Marcelinho Huertas (La Laguna Tenerife), Edy Tavares (Real Madrid) and Jean Montero (Valencia basketball); and led by masters of ceremonies Sergio Bezos and Alejandra Llambés, with a closing musical performance by La Azotea (one of the winning groups of the last Endesa Play competition) and DJ Mickey Pavón. The event confirmed the good health of the league and the historical coexistence between Endesa and ACB, as endorsed by the parties involved and by the president of the CSD, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, special guest at the event: “The Endesa and ACB relationship demonstrates that public-private alliances work.
A week earlier, on September 15, the Endesa Women’s League also inaugurated the new field, with Marta Fernández and Pablo Lolaso hosting the event and music by Moni Montes, one of the talents supported by Endesa. The event was attended by players such as Andrea Vilaró (Perfumerías Avenida), Awa Fam and Raquel Carrera (Valencia Basket) and Aina Ayuso (Hozono Global Jairis), among others. The players are, in the words of Elisa Aguilar, president of the FEB, “the main protagonists, with unquestionable talent”: “But behind them are the clubs, who want to be more demanding and professional every year. I add here referees, coaches, sponsors… and if we add that to Endesa’s participation we have a competition in which ‘Nothing stops us'”, he concluded referring to the competition’s new motto.
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