Antonis Fotsis (alternate spelling: Antonios, Greek: Αντώνης Φώτσης; born April 1 or 2, 1981) is a Greek professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Ilysiakos. He was also the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the

Greece men's national basketball team The Greece men's national basketball team ( el, Eθνική Oμάδα Καλαθοσφαίρισης Ελλάδος) represents Greece in international basketball. They are controlled by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body fo ...

. He is a tall power forward, sometimes as a small ball center, or even as a

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular c ...

, if needed.

Professional career

Europe

Born in Maroussi,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

, Fotsis began his career as one of the biggest European prospects. Fotsis began his professional career in 1996, with the Greek League club Ilysiakos. He quickly earned a reputation as a very talented young player when playing in the club's senior team. He then transferred to the Greek club Panathinaikos (PAO) in 1997, just at the age of sixteen. It is a fact of significant importance that he started his career as a point guard, and later moved to the

, and then power forward positions. Due to his early guard playing status, he was later always recognized as one of the best power forwards in Europe, regarding basketball technique. While being the most dominant-youth aged talent in Greece at the time, he twice participated in the

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international men's basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year since 1995, except from 2001–2003, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of internationa ...

All-World Team (1998, 1999). He got little playing time in his first 2 seasons with Panathinaikos, but he managed to become one of the team's key players during the 1999–00 season. With Panathinaikos, he won the EuroLeague championship that same season, while being barely nineteen. One year later, he became a starter on the Panathinaikos team that made it to the FIBA SuproLeague

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

NBA

Fotsis was selected by the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

(who were relocated to Memphis right after the draft) in the 2nd round (48th overall) of the

2001 NBA draft The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27, 2001 in New York City, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA. The selection of Kwame Brown by the Washington Wizards, ...

. In his one and only season in the

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

, he appeared in 28 games for the Grizzlies during the

2001–02 NBA season The 2001–02 NBA season was the 56th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their third straight championship, beating the New Jersey Nets 4–0 in the 2002 NBA Finals. Notable occurre ...

, averaging 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He scored a career high 21 points against the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was estab ...

on January 19, 2002. His final NBA game was on April 17th, 2002 in a 94 - 109 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics where he recorded 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Return to Europe

After spending the 2001–02 season in the

with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

, he returned to Panathinaikos for the 2002–03 season, and became one of the team's leaders, while scoring an average of 14.5 points per game in EuroLeague. With PAO, he won both the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most i ...

and the Greek League championship that year. In 2003, he moved to the Spanish League club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. With Real Madrid, he was one of the key contributors on the teams that made it to the EuroCup Finals in 2004, and won the Spanish League championship in 2005. In 2005, he then transferred to the

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

club

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

. With Dynamo Moscow, Fotsis was one of the two leaders of the Russian team, along with fellow Greek player Lazaros Papadopoulos. Fotsis won the EuroCup championship in 2006 with Dynamo. One year later, he reached the EuroLeague quarterfinals with Dynamo, where his team lost to Panathinaikos. On March 21, 2007, in a winner-take-all EuroLeague 2006–07 season showdown with Italian League power Benetton Treviso, for second place in their Top 16 group, and a place in the quarterfinals, Fotsis scored 22 points, and set a single-game EuroLeague post year 2000 record with 24 rebounds, helping Dynamo score a 68-65

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

win. In 2008, he returned to Panathinaikos. It was his second return to the club, and he was in the starting lineup for the team, as they won the coveted

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * T ...

during the 2008–09 season. Fotsis was a key contributor to the Triple Crown winners, with his good defensive play and clutch baskets. He also played more minutes than any other "Greens" player in the

2009 Euroleague Final Four The 2009 Euroleague Final Four was the concluding Euroleague Final Four tournament of the 2008–09 Euroleague season. It was held on May, 2009. All of the games were held at the O2 World, in Berlin Germany. Panathinaikos won the title, which ...

. In the 2009–10 season, Panathinaikos again won the Greek League championship. That same season, Fotsis was named the Greek League MVP for the month of April. He played more minutes than any other "Greens" player in the EuroLeague that season, showing his defensive skills as well. In July 2011, he signed 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 ...

of the Italian League, for two seasons. On July 2, 2013, Panathinaikos announced that they had signed Fotsis for three seasons. In 2016, Fotsis signed a new two-year contract with Panathinaikos. On July 25, 2017, he parted ways with Panathinaikos. In August 2017, he announced his return to Ilysiakos, the first team of his professional career back in 1996.

National team career

With the junior national team of Greece, Fotsis won the bronze medal at the

1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is si ...

. He played with the senior men's

at the

EuroBasket 2003 The 2003 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2003, was the 33rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as the Europe qualifier for the 2004 Summer Olympics, giving a bert ...

, and the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was also a member of the Greek men's national teams that won the gold medal at the

EuroBasket 2005 The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

and the silver medal at the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised ...

. He also played at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and he became the

of Greece's senior national team before the

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

tournament, where Greece won the bronze medal. He was also a member of the Greek men's national teams that played 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 men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

, the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 cha ...

, the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France defeated Lithuania in t ...

. He is the 7th all-time leading scorer of the Greek senior men's national team, with 1,734 points scored in his career (9.4 points per game).

Personal life

Fotsis has had the nickname of "

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

" since his adolescent years, when his teammates in the Greek junior national teams named him after the well-known comic-strip figure, because of his ability at that age to be an overwhelmingly gliding presence above the basketball rim. In his prime, Fotsis was a good shot blocker, a capable offensive rebounder, and an excellent 3-point shooter, especially for a power forward. He was also very physical on the defensive end of the court, thanks to his athleticism. He also holds Turkish citizenship.Fotsis became Turkish citizen.
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Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 20 , , 15 , , 28.2 , , .510 , , .467 , , .885 , , 5.7 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 14.4 , , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 6 , , 19.0 , , .460 , , .364 , , .649 , , 3.6 , , .5 , , .6 , , .5 , , 7.3 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 22 , , 30.5 , , .483 , , .443 , , .847 , , 7.0 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , 13.8 , , 17.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2008–09† , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 22 , , 9 , , 23.9 , , .509 , , .433 , , .714 , , 4.7 , , .7 , , .8 , , .6 , , 7.2 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 16 , , 13 , , 23.3 , , .507 , , .313 , , .826 , , 5.5 , , .6 , , .4 , , .7 , , 6.2 , , 10.7 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

† , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 22 , , 16 , , 24.2 , , .530 , , .380 , , .647 , , 5.1 , , .8 , , .8 , , .7 , , 8.4 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 15 , , 24.4 , , .471 , , .362 , , .737 , , 4.9 , , .9 , , .6 , , .4 , , 8.4 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, style="text-align:left;", Olimpia Milano , 10 , , 10 , , 25.4 , , .429 , , .415 , , 1.000 , , 4.2 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , 7.5 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 29 , , 12 , , 23.4 , , .413 , , .358 , , .793 , , 4.3 , , .7 , , .3 , , .2 , , 6.0 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 27 , , 11 , , 23.5 , , .563 , , .506 , , .733 , , 4.1 , , .8 , , .4 , , .2 , , 7.7 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 26 , , 1 , , 16.3 , , .563 , , .403 , , .75 , , 3.0 , , .3 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.8 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 24 , , 4 , , 12.5 , , .533 , , .323 , , .80 , , 2.4 , , .2 , , .1 , , .1 , , 2.1 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 200 , , 129 , , 24.6 , , .491 , , .413 , , .778 , , 4.9 , , .8 , , .7 , , .5 , , 8.7 , , 10.7

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 28 , , 1 , , 11.4 , , .404 , , .304 , , .850 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .3 , , .4 , , 3.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 28 , , 1 , , 11.4 , , .404 , , .304 , , .850 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .3 , , .4 , , 3.9

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

* 3× EuroLeague

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

: (2000, 2009, 2011) * 10× Greek League Champion: (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2017) * 6×

Winner: (2003, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

) *

Champion: (2009) * Spanish League Champion: (2005) * ULEB Cup Champion: (2006)

Individual

*2×

All-World Team: (1998, 1999) * Greek League Best Young Player: (2001) *Holds the Euroleague Basketball Company era Single Game Rebounding Record: (24) ( only counts games played since the 2000–01 season) *4× EuroLeague Player of the Week * EuroLeague 2001–10 All-Decade Nominee: (2010) *6× Greek League All-Star: (2001, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014) *Greek League All-Star Game MVP: (2011) *

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provide coverages of every professional and semi-professional leagues around the world. Although primarily focusing on European basketball, th ...

: All-Greek A1 Forward of the Year: (2011) * Italian League All-Star Game: (2012)

Greek junior national team

Greek senior national team

: *

2006 Stanković Continental Champions' Cup 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

: *

: *9× Acropolis Tournament Champion: (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

) *3× Acropolis Tournament MVP: (2002, 2008, 2011)