Gymnastikos Syllogos Iraklis Basketball Club ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής Κ.Α.Ε., ) 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 ...

team that is located in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. It serves as the senior men's basketball section of the

multi-sport club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

of G.S. Iraklis. Iraklis currently plays in the second-tier level

Greek A2 Basket League The Greek A2 Basket League ( el, Ελληνική Α2 Μπάσκετ Λιγκ, link=no), is a professional basketball league in Greece. It is the 2nd-tier level of pro competition, among clubs in the country. It is organized by the Hellenic Ba ...

. The team's colors are blue and white. Iraklis won the Greek National Championship in 1928 and 1935, and has also reached 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 ...

final three times. Some of the greatest players in Greek, European and worldwide basketball have played for Iraklis over the years including:

Lefteris Kakiousis Eleftherios "Lefteris" Kakiousis ( el, Ελευθέριος "Λευτέρης" Κακιούσης; born 7 June 1968 in Thessaloniki, Greece) is a retired Greek professional basketball player and a professional basketball coach. He played at t ...

, Jure Zdovc, James Donaldson, Walter Berry,

Xavier McDaniel Xavier Maurice McDaniel (born June 4, 1963), nicknamed "X-Man", is an American retired professional basketball player who, at 6 ft 7 in, played both small forward and power forward. He played in college at Wichita State University. H ...

Roy Tarpley Roy James Tarpley (November 28, 1964 – January 9, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He played the power forward and center positions in the National Basketball Association (NBA), earning an NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award i ...

Nikos Chatzivrettas Nikolaos (Nikos) Chatzivrettas (alternate spelling: Hatzivrettas) (Greek: Νικόλαος (Νίκος) Χατζηβρέττας; born May 26, 1977) is a retired Greek professional basketball player. Chatzivrettas is 1.97 m (6 ft 5 in) tall ...

Vasily Karasev Vasily Nikolayevich Karasev (russian: Василий Николаевич Карасев; born April 14, 1971) is a Russian former professional basketball player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of Zenit Saint Petersburg. Profess ...

, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dimitris Diamantidis and

Sofoklis Schortsanitis Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Greek: Σοφοκλής Σχορτσανίτης; born 22 June 1985) is a Greek former professional basketball player and Olympian. An All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2011, Schortsanitis won the EuroLeague title ...

History

The Iraklis parent athletic club was founded in 1908, and initially featured football. The club was named after

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adopt ...

(or

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted th ...

), the

mythical Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

Greek

demigod A demigod or demigoddess is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the " divine spark" (spiritual enlightenment). ...

. The basketball team of Iraklis was established in 1921. Iraklis won the inaugural Greek League championship in 1928. To win the championship, Iraklis had to eliminate

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

and Near East, before beating VAO in the championship game. The team won its second Greek championship in 1935. Also in the team's history, three times Iraklis finished in second place in the Greek Championship (1936, 1962, and 1964), three times Iraklis has been a

Finalist (1981, 1994, and 1996), and two times Iraklis made it to the semifinals of the European 2nd-tier level league

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised ...

. Iraklis reached the semifinals of the 1994–95 FIBA European Cup, where they competed against Taugrés. Iraklis won the first game 79–78, but lost the next two games, to be eliminated 2–1 in a best of three series. In 1996, an Iraklis team led by former

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 ...

players

and

, reached the

Final Four. By beating

Apollon Patras :''The first version of this article has been based in the text of :el:Α.Σ. Απόλλων of the Greek Wikipedia published under the GFDL.'' A.S. Apollon Patras (Greek:''A.Σ. Απόλλων Πατρών'') is a multi-sports club that is bas ...

in the semifinal, Iraklis reached the final, where it then lost 85–74 to Panathinaikos. Iraklis has also twice competed in the top European continental competitions. The club played in the European top-tier level European Champions' Cup in the 1995–96 season, and also competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000–01 season.

Recent history (2005-present)

In 2006, Iraklis was

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the

, after finishing 13th in the first-tier Greek League. In 2010, after four seasons in the second-tier level Greek League, the team was promoted back up to the top-tier Greek Basket League. After one season in the Greek top-tier level, Iraklis was again relegated down to the A2, with two matches left in the season. At the end of the season, Iraklis chose to play in the third-tier level of Greek basketball, the

Greek B Basket League The Greek B Basket League, or Greek B Basketball League (Greek: Ελληνική Β Μπασκετ Λιγκ), is a national basketball league in Greece. It is also known as the Second National Championship, B National Championship, Second National ...

, in order to clear its debts. The club was promoted to the

in 2013, after finishing 2nd in its group, and after

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 139,981 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the seventh-largest municipality of Greece by ...

failed to receive financial clearance to participate in the league. In the 2018–19 season, Iraklis won the promotion playoffs of the Greek A2 League, and was promoted up to the top level

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

, for the first time in 8 years. During the 2019–20 season, Iraklis is taking part in the

organized by the

Hellenic Basketball Federation The Hellenic Basketball Federation ( el, Ελληνική Ομοσπονδία Καλαθοσφαίρισης, abbreviated as Ε.Ο.Κ.) is the main basketball governing body basketball in Greece, for the sport in Greece. It directs and oversees a ...

. The season started in October 2019 and was scheduled to end in June 2020. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the championship was terminated earlier. Iraklis took the 7th place with 29 points, having 9 wins and 11 losses in a total of 20 games. In the 2020–21 season, Iraklis returned to European competitions, taking part in the qualifying round of the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Interconti ...

and later on in the 2020–21

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA's European-wide second level. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in natio ...

where the club reached the Top16 round having 3 wins and 1 loss. In the 2020–21 season Iraklis took the 10th place with 29 points, having 7 wins and 15 losses in a total of 22 games.

In European-wide competitions

Honours and titles

European competitions

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA ...

: Semifinalists (2): 1994–95, 1996-97

Domestic competitions

* Greek League : Champions (2): 1927–28, 1934–35 : Runners-up (3): 1935–36, 1961–62, 1963–64 *

: Runners-up (3): 1980–81, 1993–94, 1995–96 *

Greek Second Division Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ances ...

: Champions (2): 1974–75, 1977–78

Home arena

In earlier times, Iraklis played its home games at the Thessaloniki Forum. Iraklis currently plays its home games in the

Ivanofeio Sports Arena Ivanofeio Sports Arena ( el, Ιβανώφειο Κλειστό Γυμναστήριο, ) is an indoor sports arena that is located in Thessaloniki, Greece. Its capacity is 2,500 spectators, and it is mainly used as the home court of the Greek pro ...

, an arena with a seating capacity of 2,500. The arena opened in 1987, and it was expanded to its current capacity in 1991. Ivanofeio is situated in the

city center, and it is owned by the GS Iraklis multi-sport club.

Supporters

The most prominent supporters' club of the team is ''Aftonomi Thira 10'' (meaning Autonomous Gate 10), a fan club with a total of 15 branches in Northern Greece. The fan club is known for holding an antiracist stance, as it participates in the ''Ultras Antiracist Festival''. Other activities of the fan club include the publication of a magazine, and the conducting of an annual festival. Other minor supporters' clubs are ''SFISE'', ''Blue Boys'', ''A.P.A.T.S.I.'', and ''Iraklis Fan Club of Athens''. In a 2013 opinion poll, Iraklis was ranked as the 6th most popular basketball club in Greece, gathering 2.8% of the participating supporters' votes.

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

Notable players

* David Ancrum (1987–92) * Vangelis Angelou (1995–96) * Walter Berry (1994–95) * Roderick Blakney (2001–02) * Steve Burtt Sr. (1995) * Steve Bucknall (1996–98) *

(1997–02) * Dimitris Diamantidis (1999–04) *

Byron Dinkins Byron Stewart Dinkins (born June 15, 1967) is a retired American professional basketball player who played two seasons in the NBA, from 1989 to 1991. He played college basketball for UNC Charlotte. After his stint in the NBA Dinkins pursued a pro ...

(1998–00) * James Donaldson (1993–94) * Toney Douglas (2021–22) * Justin Hamilton (2004–05) *

Olivier Hanlan Olivier Hanlan (born February 15, 1993) is a Canadian professional basketball player for Gaziantep Basketbol of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He played college basketball for the Boston College Eagles of the NCAA and was the first player for B ...

(2019–21) * Savvas Iliadis (2002–05, 2011) * Buck Johnson (1998–00) *

(1987–97, 2004–05, 2009–10) * Dimitris Kalaitzidis (2002–05, 2016–20) *

Georgios Karagkoutis Georgios Karagkoutis (alternate spellings: Giorgos, Karagoutis) ( el, Γιώργος Καράγκουτης) (born February 15, 1976 in Greece), is a retired Greek professional basketball player. At a height of 2.08 m (6 ft. 10 in.) tall, he ...

(2000–02) *

(2000–01) * Takis Karatzoulidis (1971–85) *

Manthos Katsoulis Mathaios "Manthos" Katsoulis ( el, Μάνθος Κατσούλης; born 20 July 1956) is a Greek former professional basketball player. College career Katsoulis played college basketball at McGill University, with the McGill Redmen (1982� ...

(1990–93) * Vassilis Kavvadas (2019–21) *

(1995–96) *

Erik Meek Erik Joal Meek (born January 17, 1973)
''www.dukeupdate.com.'' Retrieved May 12, 2013. is an American retired professi ...

(1996–97, 2001–02) * Igor Milošević (2003–05) * Aristeidis Moumoglou (1960–67, 1970–72) * Dimitris Papadopoulos (1985–94, 1996–97) * Lazaros Papadopoulos (1996–01, 2003–04) * Michalis Polytarchou (2018–19) * Vladimir Petrović-Stergiou (2009–11) * Sotiris Sakellariou (1971–84) *

(2000–03) * Charles Smith (1997) * Nikos Stavropoulos (1992–93) *

(1996) * Christos Tsekos (1986–92) * Jure Zdovc (1993–96) File:Papodopoulos.jpg, alt=Papadopoulos playing for Greece, Papadopoulos played a total of six seasons with Iraklis, in 1996–2001, and 2003–2004. File:Sofoklis Schortsanitis naional team (cropped).jpg, alt=Schortsanitis playing for Greece, Schortsanitis played with Iraklis, from 2000 to 2003. File:Diamantidis.jpg, alt=Diamantidis playing for Greece, Dimitris Diamantidis played with Iraklis, from 1999 to 2004.

Head coaches

References

External links

Official Website

Eurobasket.com Team Profile
;Press
Blue Arena
{{Greek A2 Basket League Iraklis Thessaloniki Basketball teams established in 1924 Basketball teams in Greece