The BBL rejects Ulm’s criticism, but also offers a possible future solution.
The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) has rejected ratiopharm Ulm’s sharp criticism in the debate about a possible postponement of two games in the playoff final series.
The league must “always operate within the framework of the game rules that apply to all clubs,” the BBL said in a statement on Monday.
“After the two clubs could not agree in the current case,” it is up to the league to decide whether a “game regulation exists for ‘important reason’,” the statement continued.
Noa Essengue (l.) next to Ben Saraf
However, this was not the case – accordingly, the BBL’s decision to reject the application reflects the “spirit of competition as defined by the clubs in the valid game rules.”
On Sunday, Ulm announced that the BBL had rejected a request to reschedule a possible fourth and fifth game against Bayern Munich.
Two Ulm players in the NBA Draft
The background to this application is the possible participation of Ulm talents Ben Saraf and Noa Essengue in the NBA Draft, which would conflict with these games.
Saraf and Essengue are candidates for the NBA Draft, which will take place on June 25 and 26 in New York. However, games four and five of the BBL final series are currently scheduled for the 24th and 26th. On Sunday, Ulm lost the final opener with 66:82 and fell behind 0:1 in the best-of-five series.
In its statement on Monday, the BBL also struck conciliatory tones, saying that the league knows “the efforts and successes of ratiopharm ulm in the development of young players.”
Accordingly, with regard to further future conflicts of interest, it should now “be up for discussion and voting at an upcoming meeting of the clubs” whether the NBA Draft should be taken into account in the planning in the future.