Ioannis Bourousis, commonly known as Giannis Bourousis (alternate spelling: Yannis,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Μπουρούσης; born November 17, 1983) is a Greek former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and basketball executive. He is the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the Greek basketball club ASK Karditsa. During his playing career, at a height of 7 ft in (2.15 m) tall and a weight of 270 lb. (122 kg), Bourousis played at the center position. Bourousis, who was a two-time All-EuroLeague First Team selection, was compared to

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

center Vlade Divac, by

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

' head coach

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball executive and former coach who is the president for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the List of current NBA head co ...

. Bourousis was on the senior Greek national team that won the gold medal at 2005 EuroBasket in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, and he also played an instrumental role as Greece won the bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket. He was also a member of the Greek national teams that finished in fourth place at the 2007 EuroBasket, and in fifth place at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. The indoor basketball arena Giannis Bourousis Karditsa New Indoor Arena, which is located in Karditsa, Greece, is named after him, in his honor.

Early years and youth career

Bourousis originally began his athletic career training to be a professional

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, but he grew too tall for the sport, and so he took up playing basketball, at the age of 18. He began playing basketball as a member of the

youth club A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, v ...

s of the Greek club G.S. Karditsas.

Professional career

Bourousis began his professional career in the year 2001, with AEK Athens of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

. In 2006, he transferred to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

of the Spanish ACB League. Later that same year, he joined the Greek

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

club Olympiacos Piraeus. In 2009, he was offered a 3-year $12 million contract by the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

club the

. However, he turned down San Antonio's offer, and instead signed a 3-year contract extension with Olympiacos worth

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

5.1 million euros

net income In business and Accountancy, accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and Amortization (a ...

. The contract contained a €1 million buyout amount, which could only be used to sign with an

team. After 5 years with

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, the club decided to terminate his contract. In the summer of 2011, just weeks before signing with

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, Bourousis was involved in a doping-related media controversy in Greece, after an unrelated

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match-fixing probe of his (then future) father-in-law, Makis Psomiadis. However, Bourousis was quickly cleared of any suspected wrongdoing, after he submitted to drug testing for

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

protocols, which are overseen by the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

, in order to be cleared to play with the Greek national team at the 2011 EuroBasket. On July 6, 2011, Bourousis agreed to a two-year contract with the Italian A League club

. In July 2013, Bourousis signed a contract with the Spanish League club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. With Real Madrid, Bourousis won the

Spanish Supercup Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

title in 2013, and the Spanish King's Cup title in 2014. In the summer of 2014, Real Madrid picked up their team option to keep him in the club for one more season. In the 2014–15 season, Bourousis won the EuroLeague 2014–15 season championship, after his team, Real Madrid, defeated his former team,

, by a score of 78–59 at the

2015 EuroLeague Final Four The 2015 Euroleague Final Four was the concluding EuroLeague Final Four tournament of the 2014–15 Euroleague season. The Final Four was held on 15 and 17 May 2015. All of the games were played at the Barclaycard Center, in Madrid, Spain. It was ...

. Real Madrid also eventually finished the season winning the 2014–15 Spanish League championship, after a 3–0 series score in the ACB Finals against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. With that trophy, Bourousis' club won the Triple Crown. In September 2015, Bourousis signed a contract with the Spanish ACB team

Saski Baskonia Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D commonly known as Saski Baskonia () and also simply as Baskonia, is a professional basketball team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLea ...

. On December 30, 2015, he was named Spanish League Player of the Month, after being MVP of the week three times in the first half of the

2015–16 ACB season The 2015–16 ACB season was the 33rd season of the Spanish basketball league, also called Liga Endesa in its sponsored identity. The regular season started on October 10, 2015, and ended on May 22, 2016. The playoffs was played from May 26 to Jun ...

. He repeated his win again as the Spanish League's Player of the Month in January 2016, after averaging 18.5 points and 7 rebounds per game, including 24 points scored in his team's win against Real Madrid. On May 23, 2016, he was named the Spanish League's MVP of the 2015–16 season, after averaging 12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.9 steals per game. On July 12, 2016, Bourousis signed a two-year contract with the Greek club

Panathinaikos Athens Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of ...

. On July 4, 2017, Panathinaikos announced the termination of Bourousis' contract. On July 10, 2017, Bourousis signed with the

Zhejiang Lions The Zhejiang Guangsha Lions () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. Guangsha is the name of the club's corporate sponsor, but to prevent con ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

(CBA). Bourousis spent the 2020–21 season with the Greek Basket League club Peristeri Athens. He averaged 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. On September 28, 2021, Bourousis signed with ASK Karditsa of the Greek 2nd Division, where he played during the 2021–22 season. After that season, he retired from playing pro club basketball.

National team career

Greek junior national team

Bourousis was a member of the Greek Under-20 junior national team that won the gold medal at the

2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (known at that time as 2002 European Championship for Young Men) was the sixth edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Kaunas, Alytus and Vilnius, in Lithuania, hosted the tourname ...

, in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Greek senior national team

Bourousis was on the senior Greek national team that won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. During an international friendly game between the national teams of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, during the 2010 Acropolis Tournament, the Serbian player,

Nenad Krstić Nenad Krstić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Крстић, born July 25, 1983) is a Serbian basketball executive and former professional player. Krstić represented and captained the Serbian national basketball team internationally. Standing at 2.12 m ...

, hit Bourousis on the head with a chair. "I thought he was a fan attacking me", Krstić declared the next day. Bourousis first pressed charges against Krstić and decided to sue, but he quickly changed his mind and dropped the charges and the lawsuit. Bourousis was also a member of the Greek men's national teams that competed at the:

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 Septem ...

, the 2011 EuroBasket, the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2013 EuroBasket, the

2014 FIBA World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from 30 August to 14 September 2014. Hosted by Spain, it was the la ...

, the

2015 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

, the 2016 Turin FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2017 EuroBasket, and the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

Executive career

After he retired from playing professional club basketball, Bourousis began working as a basketball

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

. In 2021, he became the

Chairman of the Board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of Directors of the Greek basketball club ASK Karditsa.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="4", AEK Athens , 3 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .429 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.7 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , 12 , , 0 , , 7.9 , , .500 , , .000 , , .429 , , 2.2 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.8 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , 18 , , 0 , , 11.0 , , .510 , , .167 , , .500 , , 3.7 , , .3 , , .4 , , .4 , , 3.4 , , 4.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , 11 , , 8 , , 23.3 , , .438 , , .333 , , .833 , , 7.2 , , .3 , , .5 , , .5 , , 8.5 , , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="5",

, 19 , , 13 , , 16.0 , , .678 , , .409 , , .727 , , 5.7 , , .8 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , 8.6 , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , 21 , , 10 , , 19.4 , , .500 , , .432 , , .769 , , 5.2 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.2 , , 5.8 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , 22 , , 7 , , 21.3 , , .591 , , .259 , , .625 , , 7.4 , , .7 , , .7 , , .5 , , 12.5 , , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , 17 , , 2 , , 16.4 , , .531 , , .471 , , .765 , , 4.8 , , .7 , , .9 , , .6 , , 8.8 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 18 , , 11 , , 17.5 , , .530 , , .367 , , .678 , , 6.6 , , .7 , , .6 , , 1.3 , , 10.7 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2",

Milano Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nearly 1.4 million, while i ...

, 15 , , 14 , , 22.4 , , .466 , , .176 , , .688 , , 6.4 , , .5 , , .7 , , .7 , , 9.0 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 9 , , 8 , , 24.1 , , .573 , , .385 , , .745 , , 8.3 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .7 , , 14.0 , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2",

, 29 , , 29 , , 21.0 , , .524 , , .353 , , .817 , , 5.9 , , .9 , , .4 , , .8 , , 8.3 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2014–15† , 28 , , 10 , , 11.8 , , .505 , , .200 , , .727 , , 3.3 , , .9 , , .5 , , .4 , , 5.0 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Baskonia , 29 , , 0 , , 25.1 , , .502 , , .383 , , .811 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", 8.7* , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .8 , , 14.5 , , 21.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 33 , , 7 , , 18.2 , , .399 , , .291 , , .788 , , 4.8 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .5 , , 7.8 , , 10.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 284 , , 119 , , 18.2 , , .513 , , .345 , , .744 , , 5.6 , , .9 , , .6 , , .7 , , 8.5 , , 11.5

Domestic leagues

Awards and accomplishments

Greece men's national team

Under-20

Senior

* 2005 EuroBasket: * 2009 EuroBasket:

Club career

;AEK Athens * Greek League Champion: (2002) ;Olympiacos * 2×

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

Winner: (2010, 2011) ;Real Madrid *

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

(

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

) * Spanish League Champion: (

) * 2×

Spanish Cup The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

Winner: (

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

) * 2×

Winner: (

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

) * Triple Crown: Champion (2015) ;Panathinaikos * Greek League Champion: (2017) *

Winner: (2017) ;ASK Karditsas * Greek 2nd Division Champion: (2022)

Individual

* 2×

All-EuroLeague The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

First Team: (2009, 2016) * EuroLeague MVP of the Month: (March 2016) * 8×

EuroLeague MVP of the Round The EuroLeague MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the Round, previously known as the EuroLeague MVP of the Week, is an EuroLeague awards, award of European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level basketball league, the EuroLeague, t ...

* EuroLeague rebounding leader (

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

) *

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com, also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provides coverage of every professional and semi-professional club basketball league from around the world, as well as many amateur level lea ...

's All-

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

Defensive Team: (2011) *

FIBA EuroStar FIBA EuroStars was an annual All-Star Game showcase of the sport of European professional club basketball. It was organized by FIBA Europe. Commonly considered to be the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars Game featu ...

: (2007) * Spanish League MVP: (2016) * All-Spanish League Team: (2016) * 2× Spanish League Player of the Month: (December 2015, January 2016) * 6× Greek League All-Star: (2006, 2007, 2008,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, 2010, 2011) * Greek All-Star Game MVP: (2009) * 3× Greek League Best Five: (2008, 2009, 2011) * 2× All-Greek League Defensive Team: (

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

) * Greek League rebounding leader: (2007) * 4×

's All-Greek League Defensive Team: (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)

Early years and youth career

Professional career

National team career

Greek junior national team

Greek senior national team

Executive career

Career statistics

EuroLeague

Domestic leagues

Awards and accomplishments

Greece men's national team

Under-20

Senior

Club career

Individual

References

External links