Nikolaos "Nikos" Oikonomou (alternate spellings: Ikonomou, Ekonomou) (

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 ...

: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Οικονόμου; born February 19, 1973) is a former Greek 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 a current professional

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

. During his playing career, the 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) tall

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

was a four-time

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 ...

selection. He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022. Oikonomou also runs Basket4All, a basketball camp for young children. He hails from Emmanouil Pappas, Serres.

Club playing career

Oikonomou started his playing career with the Greek club

Ionikos Nikaias Ionikos Nikaias (full name Athlitikos Omilos Ionikos Nikaias, A.O. Ionikos Nikaias / ) is a Greek sports club, multi-sports club that is based in the suburban town of Nikaia, Attica, Nikaia within the Piraeus agglomeration. It was founded in 1965, ...

. From 1991 to 1998, he was a member of the Greek club Panathinaikos. He was one of the leaders of the team for many years. In 1993, he won the

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 ...

with Panathinaikos. He also played in the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

, at Tel Aviv, in 1994, and at Saragoza in 1995, coming in 3rd place both times. In 1996, he won with Panathinaikos, the

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 ...

championship, the

, and the

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...

, all in the same year. In 1998, he won with Panathinaikos, the Greek League championship, the first Greek championship of the team since 1984. He then moved to Italy, to play in the Italian League in 1999, where he played with

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

, and after a year, he moved from there back to Greece, to play for

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, ...

. In 2001, he transferred to Spanish club

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 ...

of the Spanish League. He later returned to the Greek League to play for Olympia Larissa, and he then left

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 ...

once again, to play in Russia for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Super League. He then continued his career playing back in Greece with Panionios, and finally, his last team was the Greek club Panellinios.

National team career

Oikonomou was a longtime member of the senior men's Greek national team. Some of the senior tournaments that he played at were the

EuroBasket 1993 The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entere ...

, where Greece finished in 4th place, the

EuroBasket 1995 The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

, where Greece again finished in 4th place, and the

EuroBasket 1997 The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a b ...

, where Greece also finished in 4th place. He also played at the

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, where Greece finished in 5th place, and at the 1998 FIBA World Championship, where Greece came in 4th place.

Coaching career

Oikonomou began his

ing career in 2008, when he became the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the local Greek amateur club Spata, of the lower Greek divisions. The next team he coached was Ionikos NF, which was playing in the 4th-tier Greek national amateur level at the time. He was then the head coach of was Olympias Patras, which was competing in the Greek 2nd Division at the time. He was next an assistant coach, working first as an assistant coach with Ikaros Kallitheas, and then as an assistant coach with Panionios. In 2013, he became the head coach of Ikaroi Serron, which was playing in the Greek 2nd Division at the time. In 2014, he became the head coach of

Livadeia Livadeia ( ''Livadiá'', ; or , ''Lebadia'') is a town in central Greece. It is the capital of the Boeotia Regional units of Greece, regional district. Livadeia lies north-west of Athens, west of Chalkida, south-east of Lamia (city), Lamia, ...

, a team that was also playing in Greece's 2nd Division. He was then the head coach of

, a team that was playing in Greece's 3rd-tier level national semi-pro competition at the time. In 2016, he became the head coach of the Greek 2nd Division club Panionios.Επίσημα ο Οικονόμου στον Πανιώνιο .
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Awards and accomplishments

Playing career

Greek junior national team

* 1989 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: * 1989 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: All-Tournament Team * 1989 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: MVP *

1992 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 1992 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (known at that time as 1992 European Championship for Men 'Under22 and Under') was the first edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The city of Athens, in Greece, hosted the tournament. Italy ...

Pro career

*2×

Winner: (1993, 1996) *6× Greek League All-Star: (1996 I, 1996 II, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2006) *

Champion: (

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

) *

Champion: (

) *4×

: (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) *2× Greek League Champion: (1998, 1999) * Greek League Best Five: (2005) * Greek Basket League Hall of Fame: (2022)

Head coaching career

* Greek 2nd Division Champion: (2017)

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileSpanish League Profile

Italian League Profile

Hellenic Basketball Federation Profile

Greek Basket League Profile

Greek Basket League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oikonomou, Nikos 1973 births Living people Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics BC Dynamo Moscow players FC Barcelona Bàsquet players Greek Basket League players Greek basketball coaches Greek expatriate basketball people in Spain Greek men's basketball players Ionikos N.F. B.C. coaches Ionikos Nikaias B.C. coaches Ionikos Nikaias B.C. players Livadeia B.C. coaches Liga ACB players Olympiacos B.C. players Olympia Larissa B.C. players Olympias Patras B.C. coaches Olympic basketball players for Greece Panathinaikos B.C. players Panellinios B.C. players Panionios B.C. coaches Panionios B.C. players Virtus Bologna players 1998 FIBA World Championship players Power forwards Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Basketball players from Piraeus