Olympiacos B.C. (), commonly referred to as Olympiacos and Olympiacos Piraeus, 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
club based in
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
, part of the major multi-sport club,
Olympiacos CFP
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 Association ...
. The parent club was founded in 1925, with the basketball team created in 1931, and their home ground is the
Peace and Friendship Stadium
The Peace and Friendship Stadium (), commonly known by its acronym SEF (Greek: ΣΕΦ), is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Piraeus, on the coastal zone of Attica, Greece. The arena is mostly known for being the home to EuroLeague ...
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 ...
s, 1
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 ...
, one Triple Crown, 15 Greek League titles, 12 Greek Cups and 3 Greek Super Cups. As a traditional European powerhouse, Olympiacos have also been 6 times EuroLeague runners-up and, having played a total of 9 finals, they are the Greek club with the most
EuroLeague Final
The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe.
Real Madrid have won the European championship o ...
appearances. They have also participated in 14
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 ...
s.
The first major achievement of Olympiacos in European competitions was their presence in the
1978–79 FIBA European Champions Cup
The 1978–79 FIBA European Champions Cup was the 22nd season of the European top-tier level professional basketball club competition FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague). The Final was held at the Palais des Sports, in Grenoble, ...
semi-finals group stage, but it was in the 1990s that Olympiacos made their biggest mark. They became the first ever Greek club that reached the
EuroLeague Final
The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe.
Real Madrid have won the European championship o ...
, being runners-up in two consecutive seasons (
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
and
1995
1995 was designated as:
* United Nations Year for Tolerance
* World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War
This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
), winning their first EuroLeague title in
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
, after a convincing 73–58 win to
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 ...
in Rome, which was a record margin win at the time for one-leg final in the competition's history. In the same season, they achieved the first Triple Crown for a Greek team and as European champions they played in the
1997 McDonald's Championship
The 1997 McDonald's Championship took place at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France.
Summary
The teams that took part in the 8th edition of the tournament were the Chicago Bulls, Paris Basket Racing (France), Olympiacos Piraeus (Gre ...
, where they met in the final the
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...
's
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 ...
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
. During the 1990s, besides their constant achievements in EuroLeague, also adding a third place in
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
, Olympiacos dominated 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 ...
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 ...
declared Olympiacos as the "Best European Team of the 1990s".
Olympiacos returned to the very top of European basketball in
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 ...
, when they reached the final against Barcelona in Paris, but mostly in
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, when they won their second EuroLeague title in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, by rallying from 19 points down in the championship game, to beat
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
62–61, on the last shot of the game, achieving the greatest comeback in European basketball finals history, and one of the greatest ever seen in European continental basketball. In
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 ...
, Olympiacos won their third EuroLeague title and became the only Greek club and only the third club in European basketball history to be crowned back-to-back European champions in the modern
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 ...
era, after beating
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 ...
100–88 in the London final. Later on, Olympiacos won the Intercontinental Cup, celebrating a third international title in 17 months.
Some of the greatest players in European basketball have played for Olympiacos over the years including: Charlie Yelverton, Carey Scurry,
Žarko Paspalj
Žarko Paspalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Жарко Паспаљ; born March 27, 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and sports administrator. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 1994, his sixteen and a half seasons career was mostly ...
Panagiotis Fasoulas
Panagiotis "Panos" Fasoulas (alternate spelling: Fassoulas; Greek: Παναγιώτης Φασούλας; born 12 May 1963, in Thessaloniki) is a Greek politician, and former professional basketball player. He was selected in the second round, w ...
Artūras Karnišovas
Artūras Karnišovas (born April 27, 1971) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player. He is the current executive vice president of basketball operations of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...
Alphonso Ford
Alphonso Gene Ford (October 31, 1971 – September 4, 2004) was an American professional basketball player. A 1.92 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, 98 kg (216 lbs.) shooting guard, he was one of the greatest scorers in college basketball histo ...
,
Tyus Edney
Tyus Dwayne Edney Sr. (born February 14, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Pepperdine Waves men's team of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Listed at , he played point guard. He played coll ...
,
Arvydas Macijauskas
Arvydas Macijauskas (born 19 January 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at tall, he played at the shooting guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest Lithuanian players of the 2000s, he won numerous ...
,
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
,
Nikola Vujčić
Nikola Vujčić (born 14 June 1978) is a Croatian former professional basketball player, and the current general manager (basketball), team manager of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv. During his playing career, he played ...
,
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Giorgos Angelopoulos
Giorgos K. Angelopoulos (alternate spellings: Georgios, George, Aggelopoulos) (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-Euro ...
, Olympiacos made a record transfer in 2008, by signing NBA player
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
, whose US$20 million
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 ...
contract for three years made him the highest-paid basketball player in the world ever, outside the NBA.
History
1930s–1960s
The club had its beginnings in the 1930s. Olympiacos was the first Greek team to familiarize itself with American style basketball, as Alekos Spanoudakis learned to imitate the American style jump shot, and his brother, Ioannis Spanoudakis (who was both player and
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 team), met basketball legend
Bob Cousy
Robert Joseph Cousy ( , born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA ...
, and practiced many of his secrets and techniques on the court. The Spanoudakis brothers led the club to its first Greek League championship in 1949. The second title did not come until 11 years later, in 1960, and allowed the Reds for the first time to qualify for the European Champions Cup (now called
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 ...
) ( 1960–61 season), which was their first ever participation at the European-wide level.
Giorgos Kastrinakis
Giorgos Kastrinakis (alternate spellings: Georgios, George) ( Greek: Γιώργος Καστρινάκης) (born June 9, 1950) is a retired Greek American professional basketball player. He played basketball professionally for many years in the ...
, Giorgos Barlas and on strong team players like Paul Melini and
Pavlos Diakoulas
Pavlos Diakoulas (alternate spelling: Paul) () is a retired Greek American professional basketball player and coach. During his pro club career, he played at the small forward, power forward, and center positions.
College career
Diakoulas play ...
. Olympiacos would win another Greek title and it did so in unprecedented fashion, running off 22 victories in 22 games. Reds completed the first double in their history, winning 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 ...
, while they did very well in the Cup Winner's Cup as well, reaching the last 8. The next year, Kostas Mourouzis was appointed as head coach and the team won the Greek cup, after eliminating Panathinaikos with a record-setting 110–68 away win (42 points difference, the highest ever in the games between the two teams). Melini led Olympiacos with 24 points, while Kastrinakis scored 22. In 1978 the team did their second double in 3 years, winning both the Greek championship (losing only 1 game) and their third Greek cup in a row, beating AEK 103–88 in the final.
In 1979 the club also had their first significant success in Europe, reaching the final round (Final-6) of the European Championship. The final round of that year was one of the toughest ever in the competition. Olympiacos finished 6th, winning only one game, the 79–77 home victory against
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...
. In general, Olympiacos was a tough home team and although they lost all the rest of their home matches, the scores were really close: 84–95 to Joventut Freixenet (77–91 away), 68–72 to
Emerson Varese
Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian first division LBA.
For past club spo ...
(67–92 away), 97–101 to
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 ...
(72–113 away), 83–88 to Bosna (72–89 away). Olympiacos won another
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 ...
title in 1980 which was the last of the successful Giatzoglou–Kastrinakis era. In 1979, 1980 and 1981 Olympiacos finished at the second place of the Greek championship.
Although the 1970s was the most successful decade for the team up to that time, the 1980s marked a low period for the Reds, who did not manage to play a major domestic role, being outshined by the up-and-coming superpowers from
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
,
Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect
* ...
and
PAOK
PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
. The team was led by Greek players such as Dimitris Maniatis and Argiris Kambouris, the hero of EuroBasket 1987, but their strong effort was not enough to bring any significant results. Well-known players such as Carey Scurry and
Todd Mitchell
Ernest Todd Mitchell (born July 26, 1966) is an American retired professional basketball player. He was a , small forward, and played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers from 1984 to 1988.Giannis Ioannidis
Giannis Ioannidis (alternate spellings: Ioannis, Yiannis, Yannis) (Greek: Γιάννης Ιωαννίδης; 26 February 1945 – 4 October 2023) was a Greek basketball player, professional basketball coach, and Greece New Democracy (ND) politic ...
left Aris to manage Olympiacos, the torpid giant, and created a tough, team-oriented, offensive basketball team. In addition to this, Olympiacos left the old Papastrateio Indoor Hall, to move into
Peace and Friendship Stadium
The Peace and Friendship Stadium (), commonly known by its acronym SEF (Greek: ΣΕΦ), is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Piraeus, on the coastal zone of Attica, Greece. The arena is mostly known for being the home to EuroLeague ...
(commonly called SEF), an
indoor arena
An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
at that time of 17,000 seats and the biggest in Greece until the
Olympic Indoor Hall
OAKA Basketball Arena, previously known as Olympic Indoor Hall of O.A.C.A., is a part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Spyros Louis Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (). It was completed in 1994 and is the largest indoor venue in Greece. It ...
was inaugurated in 1995. By that year the club had fully rebounded, climbing all the way back to rule Greece.
Five consecutive Greek Championships from 1993 to 1997 and two Greek Cups in 1994 and 1997, made the team the indubitable dominant club in Greece. During this period, Olympiacos was the best supported basketball team, not only in Greece but in Europe as well, as Peace and Friendship Stadium was full in most of their matches, making Olympiacos invincible in it. In addition to their domestic success, Olympiacos became the most successful team in 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 ...
of that period, leading
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 ...
to select them as the Best European Team in the decade of the 1990s.
5 Greek championships in a row, twice EuroLeague runners-up
In the 1992–93 season, in their first year in the FIBA European League, after a hard run which started in Hala Tivoli against Smelt Olimpija (for the second preliminary round) and continued in the top 16 round where Olympiacos ranked third in a tough group and qualified for the quarterfinal play-offs, together with Real Madrid Teka of
Arvydas Sabonis
Arvydas Romas Sabonis (; born 19 December 1964) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. Sabonis won the Euroscar six times and the Mr. Europa Award twice. He played in a variety of leagues, including the Spanish ...
Toni Kukoč
Toni Kukoč (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful period in European basketball, he was one of ...
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
, Athens which was held at their home court, Peace and Friendship Stadium, as they were eliminated by
Limoges CSP
Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges.
History
The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...
in the quarter-finals with 2–1 wins, after a breathtaking third game in Palais des Sports de Beaublanc (58–60), which was decided in the last seconds after an off-balance two-points shot by the Slovenian star
Jure Zdovc
Jurij "Jure" Zdovc (born 13 December 1966) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of Bursaspor of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). As a player, he was a tall point guard, who ...
. Domestically, despite finishing 4th in the Greek A1 regular season, Olympiacos eliminated in the quarter-finals with 2–0 wins the FIBA European Cup champions Sato Aris but at the same time lost to Aris (66–71) for the Greek Cup semi-final game in their homeseat and excluded from the 1993 Cup Final (the final was set by E.O.K. to take place in SEF). Finally Olympiacos won their first Greek Championship since 1978, defeating in the semi-finals with 3–1 wins a totally disappointed
PAOK
PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
by the failure at the Final Four in Athens, and then Panathinaikos in the finals with 3–1 wins as well, even though both of Olympiacos' opponents had the home-court advantage.
The following year, Olympiacos had a top-class roster with players like Roy Tarpley,
Žarko Paspalj
Žarko Paspalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Жарко Паспаљ; born March 27, 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and sports administrator. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 1994, his sixteen and a half seasons career was mostly ...
Panagiotis Fasoulas
Panagiotis "Panos" Fasoulas (alternate spelling: Fassoulas; Greek: Παναγιώτης Φασούλας; born 12 May 1963, in Thessaloniki) is a Greek politician, and former professional basketball player. He was selected in the second round, w ...
Milan Tomić
Milan Tomić (, Greek: Μίλαν Τόμιτς; born 24 July 1973) is a Serbian-Greek professional basketball coach and former player.
Tomić has spent almost all of his professional playing and coaching career in Greece, after he took Greek n ...
Yad Eliyahu Arena
Yad Eliyahu Arena, , known as the Menora Mivtachim Arena () and formerly as the Nokia Arena () for commercial reasons, is a large multi-purpose sports indoor arena that is located in southeast Tel Aviv, Israel. The arena is primarily used to host ...
,
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
for the first time in their history. After an impressive run in the top 16, achieving significant away wins for the first time in the European history of the club against Real Madrid Teka (58–57 in Palacio de Deportes) or against Benetton Treviso (79–73 in
Palaverde
Palaverde is an indoor sporting arena located in Villorba near Treviso, Italy. Opened in September 1983 it has been used mainly for basketball and volleyball.
History
The Palaverde was constructed under the impulsion and with the funding of th ...
) and a newfound home victory by 18 points difference against FC Barcelona Banca Catalana (82–64), the "Reds" qualified as group winners (11–3 record) for the quarter-final playoffs where they faced the ranked fourth of the group B, the Italian championsBuckler Beer Bologna of Yugoslav superstar Sasha Danilović and eliminated them hardly with 2–1 wins. In the Tel Aviv Final Four which was looked like an Athenaic-Catalan tournament demonstration, they faced their arch-rivals Panathinaikos in the semi-final (by the way the other semi-final was FC Barcelona Banca Catalana vs 7up Joventut), beating them 77–72 and becoming the first Greek team to ever play in the Euroleague Final. Paspalj scored 22 points and Tarpley recorded a
double-double
In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...
against Panathinaikos, scoring 21 points and grabbing no less than 16 rebounds for Olympiacos. The "Reds", despite being strong favourites to win the European crown, lost 57–59 to 7up Joventut in the final after a dramatic ending. Domestically, they had a very successful season, as they managed to celebrate the Double, winning an extremely competitive Greek Championship with 3–2 wins against PAOK Bravo of Bane Prelević, Walter Berry and Zoran Savić -who had been crowned
FIBA Korać Cup
The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...
champions two months earlier- and the Greek Cup as well, beating Stiebel Eltron Iraklis 63–51 in the final in SEF.
In the 1994–95 season, Olympiacos with 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 ...
veteran and 3-point specialist Eddie Johnson and the great Ukrainian combo-forward Sasha Volkov as additives in a very attached roster that was experienced from the participation in the next season Final Four of Tel Aviv, started the season as one of the favorites for participation in the Final Four and winning the European championship. In addition to domestic competitions Olympiacos had become regime and the goal was winning the double. The aim of the Greek Cup extinguished from the beginning after the defeat by Panathinaikos with the strangeness 40–42 in the knock-out match that held in the Sporting Indoor Hall because Olympiacos was punished for the events that take place in the fifth final of the last season play-offs against PAOK. In Europe the team launched their obligations with a resounding victory (77–42) at
Abdi İpekçi Arena
Abdi İpekçi Arena, formerly known as Abdi İpekçi Sports Complex, was a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul, Turkey, situated just outside the ancient city walls, in Yedikule.
History
Designed in 197 ...
against Efes Pilsen, continued with some extended victories at home (101–69 against risky Cibona, 84–53 against the decadent European champions of 7up Joventut, 89–64 against Buckler Beer Bologna), achieved the classical double win against
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...
of
Dirk Bauermann
Dirk Bauermann (born 10 December 1957) is a German professional basketball coach.
Playing career
Bauermann played sports club, club basketball in the German senior club of BBC Krefeld, from 1975 to 1981.
Club coaching career
Bauermann was an ass ...
, did the classical double defeat by the '' Limouzo'' of
Božidar Maljković
Božidar "Boža" Maljković ( sr-Cyrl, Божидар "Божа" Маљковић; born 20 April 1952) is a Serbian former professional basketball coach and current president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia.
He is one of the most successful b ...
, crashed (99–78) FC Barcelona Banca Catalana in SEF and eventually qualified as second from the group B with the homecourt advantage in their pocket. Olympiacos eliminated
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
, facing again their eternal enemies Panathinaikos in the semi-final. They defeated them one more time 58–52, with 27 points and 10 rebounds from club legend Eddie Johnson, including four decisive 3-pointers in the final minutes of the game, thus advancing to the EuroLeague Final for the second consecutive year. There, they played against another
Spanish
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
...
team, Real Madrid Teka, who were playing on their home soil and managed to defeat Olympiacos 61–73. Domestically, the Reds managed to win their third consecutive Greek Championship with 3–2 wins in the best-of-five finals against Panathinaikos, after a thrilling 45–44 home win against their arch-rivals in the decisive fifth and last match.
In the next season, 1995–96, although Olympiacos made an excellent course in the FIBA European League top 16 group stage and achieved a 10–4 record, he ranked third in the group because in the triple tie with
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
and the FIBA European Cup champions of Benetton Treviso had the disadvantage with 1–3 wins. In the quarter-finals Olympiacos faced Real Madrid Teka with home-court disadvantage and did not manage to make the Final Four for a third season in a row, losing the play-off series with 1–2 wins (68–49 win in Piraeus, 77–80 and 65–80 losses in Madrid). However, the season ended in an extremely memorable way, because in the last game of the best-of-five series of the Greek League Finals, Olympiacos smashed arch-rivals and European championsPanathinaikos with a thrashing 73–38 victory, an all-time record victory margin (35 points) for the Greek League Finals and the second largest winning margin in an Olympiacos–Panathinaikos game after Olympiacos' 110–68 (42-point margin) record away win against Panathinaikos in 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 ...
in 1977. Five players scored in double digits (
Rivers
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...
Berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...
and Sigalas 10 each) and led Olympiacos to their fourth consecutive Greek Championship in front of their ecstatic fans, who celebrated the title and the historic win in a euphoric frenzy at Peace and Friendship Stadium.
European Champions and Triple Crown Glory
In the 1996–97 season, with a new coach, Dušan Ivković at the bench, the Reds and their fans had more hope than ever for the European title. In the regular season of the EuroLeague Olympiacos' performance was not as good as it was in the previous years, but in the play-offs they were impressive, twice breaking their opponents home court advantage. Their first victim was Partizan. In a strange best of three series, Olympiacos won the first match with 81–71 in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, lost the second at Peace and Friendship Stadium (61–60), which disappointed their fans, and finally won the third game in Belgrade with 74–69, which advanced them to the quarter-finals where the defending champions Panathinaikos were waiting for them with a home court advantage. Panathinaikos was ready to stop their rivals and take the revenge for the last year's smashing 73–38 defeat in the Greek finals. In the first game of the series at Panathinaikos' home, the Athens Olympic Indoor Hall, Olympiacos once again thrashed the Greens, beating them 69–49 in front of their own fans. After the 20-point difference triumph in their rivals' court, they were only one win away from the Final Four. In the second match, at Peace and Friendship Stadium, in front of 17,000 ecstatic Reds fans, Olympiacos beat Panathinaikos once more by a score of 65–57 and advanced to the Final Four in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
Olympiacos were the unquestionable favorites to win the EuroLeague championship and they made it, after two dominating performances in the Final Four. They faced Smelt Olimpija in the semi-final and beat them 74–65, with David Rivers scoring 28 points. In the final, they played against FC Barcelona Banca Catalana, and after an impressive display, they won by a score of 73–58, and became European Champions for the first time in their history. Rivers led Olympiacos, scoring an average of 27 points in the two games, and was eventually voted Final Four MVP. The thousands of Olympiacos fans who filled Palaeur arena, were quick to sing that, "in Rome, in the final, we lifted the European title" (Greek: ''Στη Ρώμη και στον τελικό, σηκώσαμε Ευρωπαϊκό''). This remains one of the club's most popular chants to this day. Olympiacos went on to complete the coveted Triple Crown in convincing fashion: they won the Greek League title (with 3–1 wins against the season's surprise team AEK) and the Greek Cup (beating Dexim Apollon Patras 80–78 in the final, in
Olympic Indoor Hall
OAKA Basketball Arena, previously known as Olympic Indoor Hall of O.A.C.A., is a part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Spyros Louis Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (). It was completed in 1994 and is the largest indoor venue in Greece. It ...
), to mark the most successful season in the club's long history. Olympiacos became the first Greek team to ever win the Triple Crown, and remained the only to do so one up until 2007.
McDonald's Championship finalists against the Chicago Bulls
In October of the same year, the club played in the
1997 McDonald's Championship
The 1997 McDonald's Championship took place at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France.
Summary
The teams that took part in the 8th edition of the tournament were the Chicago Bulls, Paris Basket Racing (France), Olympiacos Piraeus (Gre ...
, in Paris. Having defeated
Atenas
Atenas () is a district of the Atenas canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Its urban area is referred as Atenas city.
Toponymy
Its name means Athens ''(Αθήνα)'', the capital of Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Repu ...
in the semi-final by 89–86, Olympiacos played against 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 ...
champions
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
in the final. The game was played under zone-friendly European rules (the games between NBA and FIBA teams were played under a mixture of NBA and FIBA rules at that time), but, out of respect for the Bulls, Olympiacos never used a zone defense. Olympiacos was defeated 78–104, by the Bulls, and one of the greatest basketball players ever,
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...
.
In the 1997–98 season, Olympiacos were once again the favorites in all the competitions they were taking part. They started the season with an impressive record of consecutive wins in Greece and Europe. But in the second half of the season, things went wrong for the team. Olympiacos played in the round of 16 of the EuroLeague, with a home court advantage against Partizan in a three-game series, but they lost both matches in Athens and
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
and the European Champions suffered an early and disappointing elimination. In the Greek Cup's Final Four, they faced Panathinaikos for the 3rd place and they won easily.
In the Greek League, Olympiacos finished the regular season in second place, behind Panathinaikos. In the semi-finals, Olympiacos faced PAOK, having a home court advantage in a best of three series. In the first match in Athens, Olympiacos took a tight 66–65 win and held the advantage. They lost the second match in Thessaloniki, and the last game was held again in Athens. Olympiacos lost 58–55 in
Neo Faliro
Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica (region), Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gu ...
, marking the first ever defeat for the team in Peace and Friendship Stadium during the Greek playoffs. The Reds did not have the chance to defend their crown and they ended up in third place, with a 3–1 series win over AEK.
The 1998–99 season did not begin well, because in the season's opening match of the Greek Cup, Olympiacos was eliminated by PAOK. The Reds played once again in the EuroLeague Final Four, and although they were considered the favorites to win the title, they lost 71–87 in the semi-final to the eventual winners Žalgiris. They finished third, defeating Teamsystem Bologna 74–63 in the 3rd place game. In the Greek League they were the favorites to win the championship, but despite having the home advantage in the finals against Panathinaikos, they were defeated in the last game of the series at home and lost the title. That was the first time Olympiacos lost a playoff game to Panathinaikos in SEF after 10 consecutive wins.
In the 1999–2000 season, Olympiacos did not make the EuroLeague playoffs, as they were eliminated in the round of 16 by Union Olimpija. On the contrary, they finished first in the regular season of the Greek League and entered the playoffs having home court advantage. But in the semi-finals they played against fourth-placed
PAOK
PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
and they were eliminated, losing the first game at home and the second one in Thessaloníki. Olympiacos faced AEK for the third place and won.
2000s
2000–2002
In the 2000–01 season, Olympiacos played in the first EuroLeague competition that was organized by
EuroLeague Basketball
Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...
, but despite having home court advantage in the playoffs they were eliminated by Tau Cerámica. In the Greek League Finals, they finished second.
In the 2001–02 season, the club managed to win 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 ...
, their first trophy since 1997, in a Final Four tournament that was held at Peace and Friendship Stadium. They beat Panathinaikos 83–75 in the semi-final and
Maroussi
Marousi or Maroussi (), also known as Amarousio (), is a city and a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens urban area, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was '' Athmonon'' () and it r ...
74–66 in the final. Then they came within one victory of the EuroLeague Final Four. They played in the Top 16 in a group against Panathinaikos, AEK and Union Olimpija, with only the first placed team advancing to the Final Four. After Olympiacos completed an easy 92–75 win over Panathinaikos with
Alphonso Ford
Alphonso Gene Ford (October 31, 1971 – September 4, 2004) was an American professional basketball player. A 1.92 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, 98 kg (216 lbs.) shooting guard, he was one of the greatest scorers in college basketball histo ...
scoring 21 points in the opening home match, another home win against AEK, and an away win against Olimpija, they played an away game against Panathinaikos and lost 78–88. The score of that game gave the Reds the aggregate advantage in case they finished on the top of the group along with their rivals, a scenario that looked highly probable. However, in the fifth group game, the weakest team of the group, Union Olimpija, stunned Olympiacos in Athens by winning their single game in the group. This put Olympiacos in second place and despite their away win against AEK in the last game of the group, their unexpected loss against Olimpija kept them out of the Final Four in Bologna. In the Greek League the Reds eliminated
Peristeri
Peristeri (Greek language, Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a city and a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 133,630 inhabitants (2021 census), ...
in the quarter-finals and managed to break the home court advantage of Panathinaikos in the first game of the playoffs semi-final with a well-deserved 80–89 win in OAKA and after a thrilling second win at home with 80–76, they eliminated them and made it to the finals. In the finals, they managed to break AEK's home court advantage in the first game of the series (82–74) and after a second comfortable win at SEF in Game 2 (75–70) they were very close to the title. Despite starting the finals with those two comfortable wins, their 2–0 lead did not prove enough as they lost three games in a row and let the title slip away.
Olympiacos was one of the EuroLeague's most dangerous teams in 2002–03 as well. They had a decent regular season, finishing third in a tough group of eight teams and qualified to the next phase at the expense of teams like
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 ...
and Partizan. The club came closer than any team to knocking off the eventual champions
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 ...
in two heartbreaking games in the EuroLeague Top 16 groups (55–58, 77–80) and proved, despite the fact that they were not at their best during the early 2000s, that they were able to beat any team at any time.
2003–2005 crisis
The 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons were the worst in the modern history of Olympiacos. In both seasons, the team was eliminated in the Greek Cup and finished in the 8th place of the Greek League. Especially in the latter season, Olympiacos had a dismal performance in the EuroLeague, which filled many of the club's fans with uncertainty.
2006: Rebirth
The 2005–06 season saw the return of the Red giants, which overcame the previous down years with a nice combination of young talent and experienced veterans which paid off for the club.
Players added to the club like Renaldas Seibutis, Quincy Lewis, Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Georgios Printezis and, above all,
Sofoklis Schortsanitis
Sofoklis Schortsanitis ( Greek: Σοφοκλής Σχορτσανίτης; born 22 June 1985) is a Cameroonian-Greek former professional basketball player and Olympian.
An All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2011, Schortsanitis won the Eu ...
, were viewed by some to be a possible solid core of players for the team for many years to come. That season seemed to be very promising for the Red giants. However, the promising Reds were eliminated from the Greek Cup in their first knock-out match of the competition. Olympiacos survived a difficult EuroLeague regular season and shined in the Top 16, advancing to the quarterfinal playoffs. The Reds were just a win away from making it to the Final Four for the first time since 1999.
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...
won the best-of-three playoff series 2–1, but game 3 went down to the wire. Experience proved to be a decisive factor in the final 2 minutes of the game, when the hosts managed to seal a 77–73 win and advanced to the Final Four in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
.
Tyus Edney
Tyus Dwayne Edney Sr. (born February 14, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Pepperdine Waves men's team of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Listed at , he played point guard. He played coll ...
earned EuroLeague February MVP honors, as well as ranking third in assists at the end of the regular season and second in the Top 16. Olympiacos also shined in its domestic competition, as the Reds made it to the Greek League finals for the first time in five years by surviving a thrilling five-game series against
Maroussi
Marousi or Maroussi (), also known as Amarousio (), is a city and a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens urban area, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was '' Athmonon'' () and it r ...
. Despite their losing in the final playoff series, it was clear that the Reds were back where they used to be, becoming a team able to challenge for every title.
In the 2006–07 season, with the signings of head coach Pini Gershon and
Arvydas Macijauskas
Arvydas Macijauskas (born 19 January 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at tall, he played at the shooting guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest Lithuanian players of the 2000s, he won numerous ...
, the Reds were one of the favorites to claim 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 ...
crown, but they did not manage to qualify to the Athens Final Four. They were eliminated from the Greek Cup as well. In the Greek League playoffs, they made it to the finals after winning 3–2 a best of five semi-final against Aris. Although Olympiacos had to overcome their home court disadvantage, they won the last match in Thessaloniki and made it to the best of five finals, having again a home court disadvantage, this time against Panathinaikos. The club had to beat their arch-rivals to win their first
Greek Championship
The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...
since 1997. But they finished second in one of the best final series ever played in the Greek League. At the opening game of the series in Panathinaikos' home, the Reds lost 72–79, but they won the second game in Peace and Friendship Stadium 76–72. In the third match, Olympiacos lost 86–85 in overtime, with the Reds complaining furiously against the referees, who did not call a clear foul against Scoonie Penn with only 3 seconds left in the game. Olympiacos won the next game easily, 78–68 in Piraeus, but in the last away game, the Reds lost 76–89.
2007–2008 season
In the 2007–08 season, Olympiacos was once again considered amongst the favorites to reach the Final Four of the EuroLeague. It was also considered one of the two favorites, along with Panathinaikos, to win the Greek championship. In the Greek League regular season the team had a record of 22 wins and 4 defeats, and had the second most prolific offensive team in the league. In the quarter-finals of the playoffs, Olympiacos swept AEK Athens in a best-of-three series and in the semi-finals they beat Maroussi in a best-of-five series, 3–2. They finally finished second, losing in the finals of the Greek League. They also reached the final of the Greek Cup after 4 years, but they did not manage to take the title. In the EuroLeague, the team qualified for the third phase of the competition (quarter-finals). They played against the eventual winners
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
and despite grabbing a thrilling away win in the first match of the series in CSKA Universal Sports Hall in Moscow (76–74 with
Qyntel Woods
Qyntel Deon Woods (born February 16, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He played mainly at the small forward position, but he also played at the shooting guard position, on occasion.
Early life and college career
Woods ...
scoring 20 points and
Lynn Greer
Lynn Terence Greer Jr. (born October 23, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. He was an All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in 2003–04 Eur ...
sinking a spectacular game-winning
buzzer beater
In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...
which ended CSKA's 27-game winning streak at home), they lost the second game in Piraeus and were eventually eliminated by 2–1 wins after the third game in Moscow.
2008–2009 season: Return to Euroleague Final Four
The 2008–09 season began with high expectations due to a big
budget
A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
,
Nikola Vujčić
Nikola Vujčić (born 14 June 1978) is a Croatian former professional basketball player, and the current general manager (basketball), team manager of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv. During his playing career, he played ...
Lynn Greer
Lynn Terence Greer Jr. (born October 23, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. He was an All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in 2003–04 Eur ...
Sofoklis Schortsanitis
Sofoklis Schortsanitis ( Greek: Σοφοκλής Σχορτσανίτης; born 22 June 1985) is a Cameroonian-Greek former professional basketball player and Olympian.
An All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2011, Schortsanitis won the Eu ...
and Georgios Printezis. The club's season was only moderately successful however, as they reached the finals of both the Greek Cup and the Greek Championship. In the Greek Championship regular season, the team set a record with 25 wins against only 1 defeat, but in the finals of the Greek League playoffs, they lost the series 3–1, despite having the home court advantage. In the EuroLeague, they reached the Final Four for the first time in 10 years, eliminating
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 3–1 wins. Having secured the home advantage, they won the first two games in Piraeus (88–79 and 79–73) and managed to secure an away win (75–78) in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
in Game 4 of the series, thus advancing to the EuroLeague Final Four after 1999. In the Final Four in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, they faced arch-rivals Panathinaikos in a close, heartbreaking thriller: Olympiacos trailed by two points and had the ball for the last possession. The ball went to Bourousis but his close shot bounced out, with Childress being unable to score with a last-second tip as well. Despite the loss in a match that could have easily gone either way, the team's great effort and the club's return to the elite of European basketball were clear signs of their future success.
2009–2010 season: EuroLeague runners-up
The 2009–10 season was the best in a long time for Olympiacos. The management wanted to bring another big player to the team, after
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
. And they did, agreeing with the Lithuanian
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 ...
player of the
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...
, Linas Kleiza. With the help of these two and under the guidance of coach
Panagiotis Giannakis
Panagiotis "Notis" Giannakis (, ; born January 1, 1959), alternatively spelled Panayiotis Yiannakis or Yannakis, is a former Greek professional basketball player and coach. He is considered to be one of the greatest sportspeople of Greece. He st ...
the club managed to take the Greek Cup defeating their arch-rivals Panathinaikos 68–64 in the final.
In 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 ...
, the Reds had an impressive run in the regular season and the Top 16, finishing as group winners in both phases. In the quarter-final playoffs, the faced the Polish champions Asseco Prokom and eliminated them with 3–1 wins, reaching for the second consecutive season the EuroLeague Final Four which was held in Paris. In the semi-final the team managed to defeat Partizan 83–80 in overtime in a thrilling match, with Kleiza scoring 19 points. Olympiacos returned to the EuroLeague Final after 1997, facing Regal FC Barcelona, the very team they had beaten in the 1997 Final. History did not repeat itself, as Olympiacos lost 68–86 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 ...
in the final.
In the Greek Championship finals, the club lost 3–1 wins to Panathinaikos after an intense third game that would have put them ahead 1–2, with the Reds having again huge complaints over the referees' performance. The fourth game of the series was disrupted several times and the arena was cleared of all fans to complete the remaining few minutes.
2010s
2010–2011 season
In July 2010, Olympiacos offered a three-year contract worth €13,200,000
euros
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
gross income
For households and individuals, gross income is the sum of all wages, salaries, profits, interest payments, rents, and other forms of earnings, before any deductions or taxes. It is opposed to net income, defined as the gross income minus taxes ...
to the famous
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 ...
guard
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
, and came to an agreement with the player. The great Serbian coach Dušan Ivković agreed with the club, and with a roster of players such as
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
,
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Rasho Nesterović
Radoslav "Rasho" Nesterović ( sr-Cyrl, Радослав "Рашо" Нестеровић, , ; born May 30, 1976) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. He holds citizenship in both Slovenia and Greece. During his career in the NBA, ...
2010–11 Euroleague
The 2010–11 Turkish Airlines Euroleague was the 11th season of the modern era of professional Euroleague Basketball, and the first under the title sponsorship of Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous incarnation as the FIBA Eu ...
. In the opening game of the Top 16, Olympiacos got a 70–84 defeat in Athens, against Fenerbahçe Ülker, but one month later, Olympiacos defeated the Turkish champions with a 65–80 win in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, and took the first place of the Top 16 Group H. In the quarter-finals, Olympiacos faced
Montepaschi Siena
Mens Sana Basketball Siena, also known as simply Mens Sana, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871.
Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from spon ...
. In the first game of a best-of-five series, the Reds achieved a great performance, defeating Montepaschi with an 89–41 score, at the Peace and Friendship stadium, in Athens, but the Italian club managed to win the second game (65–82), breaking the home advantage of the Reds. Olympiacos did not manage to win any of the next two away games, and got eliminated from the 2011 EuroLeague Final Four. On 15 May 2011, Olympiacos defeated arch-rivals Panathinaikos, 74–68, in the Greek Cup Final, and won the ninth Greek Cup in the club's history. In the Greek League, Olympiacos took the first place in the regular season, but despite earning home-court advantage for the finals, they lost the first game at home, and suffered a 3–1 defeat in a best-of-five series, as they let a chance at the championship slip away.
2011–2012 season: European and Greek champions
In the summer of 2011, Olympiacos saw many experienced players leave the team, after a reduction of the team's budget by over 50%. The youthful team under coach Dušan Ivković initially heavily depended on team leader
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
, losing games regularly when he was not playing. The team that the press thought might not even qualify for the Top 16, improved dramatically over the course of the season, and under the great performances of
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
Vangelis Mantzaris
Evangelos "Vangelis" Mantzaris (Greek language, Greek: Ευάγγελος "Βαγγέλης" Μάντζαρης; born April 16, 1990) is a Greek professional basketball player for Mykonos B.C., Mykonos of the Greek A2 Basket League, Greek A2 Elit ...
, Olympiacos managed to reach the
2011–12 Euroleague Final Four
The 2012 Euroleague Final Four was the concluding EuroLeague Final Four tournament of the 2011–12 Euroleague season. It was held on May 11–13, 2012. The tournament was hosted at the Sinan Erdem Dome, in Istanbul, Turkey. Olympiacos won its sec ...
in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, after breaking the home-advantage of the Italian champions,
Montepaschi Siena
Mens Sana Basketball Siena, also known as simply Mens Sana, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871.
Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from spon ...
, winning with a 75–82 score in the first game of a best-of-five series in Italy, in a reversal of the previous season's quarter-finals. Going to Istanbul as an outsider, Olympiacos upset the odds, and beat the two favourites, FC Barcelona Regal in the semi-final, with a score 68–64, and
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
in the final, with a 62–61 score, coming back after trailing by 19 points in the most dramatic final in the history of EuroLeague. Printezis scored a game-winner, off an assist from Spanoulis, with a few tenths of a second left, to complete the epic comeback, and give Olympiacos the win, and the second EuroLeague Championship in their history. Vassilis Spanoulis, the man who provided the assist for Printezis' buzzer-beating hook-shot, was voted Final Four MVP. The most successful season of the Reds since 1997, was completed by seizing the
Greek Championship
The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...
as well. They eliminated
PAOK
PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
in the quarter-finals, and
Panionios
Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...
in the semi-finals, securing their spot in the Greek Finals undefeated. They entered the Greek Finals having the home-court advantage, after their first place in the regular season, and their impressive 23–1 record. There, Olympiacos faced their arch-rivals Panathinaikos, and won the best-of-five series 3–2 (84–78, 84–72, 82–76), celebrating the tenth Greek Championship in their history, and their first since 1997.
2012–2013 season: Back-to-back European champions
After the end of a dreamy season, both domestically and internationally, legendary coach Dušan Ivković decided to leave the club, leaving the club's owners, the Angelopoulos brothers, with a hard decision regarding his replacement. The club's owners decided to hire the highly promising Greek coach
Georgios Bartzokas
Georgios Bartzokas (alternate spellings: Giorgos, George, Mpartzokas) ( born June 11, 1965) is a Greek former professional basketball player, and the current head basketball coach for Olympiacos B.C., Olympiacos of the Greek Basketball League (G ...
(who had very successful tenures in
Marousi
Marousi or Maroussi (), also known as Amarousio (), is a city and a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens urban area, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the History of Athens, ancient Athenian Republic; its ...
and
Panionios
Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...
NBA Champion
The NBA Finals is the championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held at the conclusion of its postseason. All NBA Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Easter ...
Marko Kešelj
Marko Kešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Кешељ, born 2 January 1988) is a Serbian politician and retired professional basketball player serving as the state secretary in the Ministry of Sports since 4 November 2022. He previously served as a memb ...
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...
Euroleague Basketball Company
Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...
era ( Euroleague 2000–01 season to present), and only the third club in history since the establishment of the modern era Final Four format in 1987–88 season, to achieve that honour. After a solid display in both the regular season and the Top 16, they qualified for the quarter-finals, having earned the home advantage. They faced
Anadolu Efes
Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü, commonly referred to as Anadolu Efes or simply Efes, is a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul. Founded in 1976, the club was formerly known as Efes Pilsen until 2011. Efes is the 2021–22 EuroLeagu ...
, and managed to eliminate the Turkish side, by winning the best-of-five series 3–2, after a thrilling Game 5 in SEF. Olympiacos managed to rally from a 15-point second-quarter deficit to win the game, with an 82–72 scoreline, thus securing the chance to defend their European crown in the Final Four. In the Final Four, Olympiacos managed to put forth two outstanding basketball displays. After rolling past
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
with a smashing 69–52 win in the semi-final, they managed to beat
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 ...
The O2 Arena
The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...
, roaring back from a 17-point deficit in the first quarter, and scoring 90 points in the remaining three-quarters.
EuroLeague MVP
The EuroLeague MVP, or EuroLeague Regular Season MVP, is the EuroLeague awards, award bestowed to the player that is deemed to be the "Most valuable player, Most Valuable Player" during the regular season of the EuroLeague. The EuroLeague ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
led the charge with 22 points (all in the second half), and was eventually voted Final Four MVP for the second consecutive season, and third overall in his career. Thus joining
Toni Kukoč
Toni Kukoč (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful period in European basketball, he was one of ...
, as the only two players in history to achieve that distinction on three occasions. Acie Law scored 20 points with 5 assists, and Kyle Hines added 12 points with 3 blocks, one of which was a spectacular chase-down block on a fast break layup attempt by Nikola Mirotić.
2013 FIBA Intercontinental champions
After winning the EuroLeague championship for the second straight season, Olympiacos qualified to play at the 2013 edition of 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 ...
, against the 2013
FIBA Americas League
The FIBA Americas League ( Portuguese: ''FIBA Liga das Américas'', Spanish: ''FIBA Liga de las Américas''), officially abbreviated as the LDA, was the premier intercontinental basketball club competition played annually by clubs of the entire ...
champions, Pinheiros Sky, for the official Club World Cup title. The two-game
aggregate score
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...
Barueri
Barueri ( or ) is a Brazilian municipality in the State of São Paulo located in the northwestern part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 276,982 (2020 est.) in an area of .
Its boundaries are Santana de Parnaíba to ...
, São Paulo, and Olympiacos dominated the series. They won both games quite convincingly (2–0), winning the first game of the series by a score of 81 to 70, and the second game by a score of 86 to 69. Team
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Vassilis Spanoulis was named the 2013 FIBA Intercontinental Cup MVP. Olympiacos lifted the trophy in front of their ecstatic fans from the Greek community of Brazil, and celebrated their third international title in less than 2 years. In the EuroLeague, they reached the
quarter-finals
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, where they played against
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 ...
, the very team they had beaten in the previous year's final. Real Madrid entered the series with home-court advantage, and Olympiacos couldn't overturn the situation, losing the series 3–2 to the Spanish champions, after five intense games, and missing the chance to defend their back-to-back European crown.
2014–2015 season: Euroleague runners-up, Greek Champions
In the 2014–15 season, Olympiacos had another great season, reaching the EuroLeague Final, and seizing the Greek Championship in a convincing way. In EuroLeague, after an impressive run in the regular season and the Top 16, they qualified for the quarter-finals for the tenth consecutive season (
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
–
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 ...
), which was an all-time record in European basketball history at the time, shared with
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 ...
, the very club they were drawn to play against for a Final Four spot. FC Barcelona entered the series with the home-court advantage, and won the first game at home. Olympiacos bounced back from the loss, and managed to put on a top-class display in Game 2, beating FC Barcelona 63–76, at
Palau Blaugrana
Palau Blaugrana (, meaning in English language, English "Blue and Shades of red#Garnet, Garnet Palace") is an arena in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, belonging to FC Barcelona. The 7,585 seating capacity arena is home to the FC Barcelona Bàsquet, ...
. With the home-advantage in their hands, the Reds beat FC Barcelona twice at
Peace and Friendship Stadium
The Peace and Friendship Stadium (), commonly known by its acronym SEF (Greek: ΣΕΦ), is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Piraeus, on the coastal zone of Attica, Greece. The arena is mostly known for being the home to EuroLeague ...
, winning the playoff series 3–1. Game 4 of the series was nothing less than a dramatic thriller. The game was tied at 68–68, with only 5.2 seconds remaining on game the clock. Olympiacos had possession of the ball, and just a small amount of time for a last play. The ball went to Georgios Printezis (hero of the 2012 EuroLeague Final), who hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to secure the Final Four spot for his team (71–68), with Olympiacos fans erupting in frenetic celebrations. In the Final Four in Madrid, Olympiacos beat
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
, 70–68, in the semi-final, coming back from a 9-point deficit in the last four minutes of the game. Captain
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
led Olympiacos to the final, by scoring 11 points in the last minutes of the 4th quarter, by hitting some really tough shots in the game's last crucial minutes. In the EuroLeague Final, Olympiacos did not manage to win their third EuroLeague title in four years, as they lost to rivals
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 ...
, who played the final at their home court. Despite the title loss, Olympiacos proved yet again their dominating presence in European basketball, as they had become the most successful club in European basketball since 2008, with two EuroLeague Championships (2012, 2013), three other
EuroLeague Finals
The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is European professional club basketball pyramid, the highest level tier, and most important professional sports, professional sports club, club bask ...
appearances (2010, 2015, 2017), and six
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 ...
appearances in seven years (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017).
In Greece, Olympiacos had a great regular season, ending up with an impressive record of 25 wins and only 1 defeat. In the playoffs, they reached the finals, after eliminating
Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect
* ...
in the semi-finals (3–1 series win). In the finals, they totally dominated the series, and swept their arch-rivals Panathinaikos, with a 3–0 series win (76–70, 69–76, 93–74). Winning the 2015 Greek Championship in convincing fashion. Team head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos' guidance, as well as the team's solid performance, both defensively and offensively, paved the way for the historic 3–0 series sweep in the Greek League Finals, which was met with big celebrations from Olympiacos fans, at the title ceremony in SEF.
2015–2016 season: Championship in OAKA, back-to-back Greek Champions
The 2015–16 season proved historical for Olympiacos, who had gained home court advantage in the Greek League playoffs, after a 25–1 regular season record. In the Greek League finals they faced their arch-rivals Panathinaikos and despite losing the first game at home, they managed to win the best-of-five series 3–1, to clinch its second consecutive title at Panathinaikos home court.
Olympiacos captain
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
scored a buzzer-beating three-pointer in front of
Nick Calathes
Nicholas William Calathes (Greek language, Greek: Νικόλαος Γουίλιαμ "Νικ" Καλάθης, born February 7, 1989) is a Greek-American professional basketball player for AS Monaco Basket, AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A and th ...
, helping Olympiacos win the second game of the series with 68–66, breaking Panathinaikos' home court. Then, with the best-of-five series being 2–1 in favour of Olympiacos, the two teams faced each other again in O.A.C.A. Vassilis Spanoulis, shocked Panathinaikos again, this time at the last second of the second overtime of the game: Panathinaikos led by two points and Spanoulis, who was being guarded by
Dimitris Diamantidis
Dimitrios 'Dimitris' Diamantidis ( ; born 6 May 1980) is a retired Greek professional basketball player, who spent the last twelve seasons of his EuroLeague career with Panathinaikos BC, Panathinaikos. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Europ ...
(in what proved to be the last match of his career), stepped back from him and buried a buzzer-beating three point shot from 9 meters distance, winning the match and the title inside their rivals' home court, in front of 19,000 stunned Panathinaikos fans.
Vassilis Spanoulis scored 25 points in Olympiacos 82–81 decisive win and was voted
Greek Basket League MVP
The Greek Basketball League MVP or Greek Basketball League Full Season MVP is the yearly Most valuable player, MVP Greek Basketball League awards, award that is awarded by the Greek basketball league system, 1st-tier professional basketball league ...
and
Greek Basket League Finals MVP
The Greek Basketball League (GBL) Finals MVP, or Greek Basketball League Playoffs Finals MVP Greek Basketball League awards, award (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνικού Α1 Μπάσκετ Πρωταθλήματος Tελικός MVP) is the ye ...
.
2018–2019 season: Withdrawal from the League in 2019 with the motto: "Until the end"
The 2018–19 season was the most turbulent in Olympiacos and Greek basketball history. It was the season that the ongoing feud between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos peaked, following Olympiacos decisions after their long-lasting protests for the relationship of the
Hellenic Basketball Federation
The Hellenic Basketball Federation (abbreviated HBF; , abbreviated as Ε.Ο.Κ.,) is the main basketball governing body for the sport in Greece. It directs and oversees all of the national basketball teams of Greece, including both the junior a ...
with Panathinaikos, the officiating in the games between the two arch-rivals and the exclusion of
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 ...
referees from national competitions.
Initially, in the 2018–19 Greek Cup semi-final against Panathinaikos, Olympiacos decided to withdraw and to not return for the second half of the game in protest for the referees decisions, despite the possible sanctions for the team for leaving the game. In the following day, Olympiacos announced that they would not play again any league or cup game against Panathinaikos, unless it was officiated exclusively by foreign referees, as well as any national competition game against any opponent, if any of the forementioned Cup semi-final's referees (Anastopoulos, Manos and Panagiotou) was set to officiate; furthermore, Giannakopoulos was not anymore allowed to enter the Peace and Friendship Stadium under any capacity he might be using, also asking from the authorities to investigate the extremely low betting odds for Panathinaikos to win the Cup semi-final, after the referees' names were announced. At first, Olympiacos was punished with a deduction of 6 points from the same year's league table.
Olympiacos announced that their decisions were fully supported by the parent club's
Olympiacos CFP
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 Association ...
chairman, Michalis Kountouris. As the time for the game of the 2018–19 Greek League's second round was approaching, Olympiacos officially informed the Hellenic Basketball Federation that they insist on their position not to play any game officiated by the three forementioned referees, or any game against Panathinaikos that will not be officiated by foreign referees. Previously, Panathinaikos had expressed their opposition to the demand of the Reds. After the announcement of the Greek referees who were going to officiate the forthcoming derby, Olympiacos announced that they would not participate in the game, and even a last minute meeting under the Greek Deputy Minister for Sports ended with a quarrelling between the people of the two clubs and with Panathinaikos' owner Giannakopoulos cursing Olympiacos' owners and chanting about the forthcoming relegation of his club's eternal enemy. PAO was awarded the away win for this game by 20–0 and Olympiacos was penalized with point deduction.
For the last matchday of the league's regular season, the central refereeing committee announced that Anastopoulos, one of the three referees of Cup semi-final, was drawn to officiate Olympiacos' home game against Promitheas Patras, after Giannakopoulos pressure for the three referees to be included in the draw for the Reds game. That meant that if Olympiacos insisted on their position not to take part in a game officiated by Anastopoulos, Manos and Panagiotou, then the red giant would be relegated to the second division, a penalty for any team that forfeits two league games. Finally, Anastopoulos was replaced after his request not to officiate the game, which took place regularly, something that led Panathinaikos to protest with their withdrawal from their last regular season game against Kymi, which was awarded the win and escaped relegation, while the Greens were punished with a 6-point deduction.
In the final standings of the regular season, Panathinaikos with −6 points and Olympiacos with −8 points, and one more point not awarded to each one, were ranked in the 3rd and 6th place respectively despite having the two best records, which meant that they were to play against each other in the first playoffs round. However, Olympiacos proceeded to legal action, asking from the high council for the solution of athletic disputes to void the last matchday of the regular season, pointing out that all referees assignments were illegal, thus the playoffs were postponed for one week. The
Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association
The Hellenic Basketball Association (HEBA), is a governing body for the sport of basketball in Greece. In Greek language, Greek, it is officially known as the Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος Ανωνύμων Καλαθοσφαιρικών ...
decided to confirm the final standings, with Olympiacos talking about violation of the sporting legislation.
Olympiacos announced that they would not compete in the playoffs against Panathinaikos, since not only were foreign referees not appointed, but also two of the Cup semi-final referees (Anastopoulos and Manos) were drawn to officiate the first playoffs derby. In the face of this possibility
EuroLeague Basketball
Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...
president, Jordi Bertomeu, accused the Hellenic Basketball Federation of not intervening to resolve the dispute between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, describing the situation of the Greek basketball and the forthcoming relegation of Olympiacos as unthinkable. Olympiacos, finally, did not appear in the first playoffs game at Panathinaikos home arena, which meant that the Reds would get relegated to the second division for forfeiting two league games, Later, the Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association officially announced the relegation of Olympiacos to the
Greek A2 Basket League
The Greek A2 Basket League (), 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 Basketball Federation (E.O.K.). The league is also known as th ...
, due to the non-participation in a league playoffs game; Olympiacos were eliminated for the rest of the playoffs and were also placed at the bottom of the final standings, with all their results voided and non-replaceable.
The club's former coach, Ioannis Sfairopoulos, stated that Olympiacos chose the extreme way to change a situation that existed for years, something they tried to do in various ways in the past but nothing worked, and that they have to change the status in Greek basketball. Panathinaikos' coach,
Rick Pitino
Richard Andrew Pitino (; born September 18, 1952) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University (New York City), St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece national basketball t ...
, stated that Greek basketball needs Olympiacos and asked from them to change their mind. Hellenic Basketball Federation's president, George Vassilakopoulos, after his long-lasting silence, stated: ''"It will be a disaster for basketball, for such a great club with a history like Olympiacos to play in the second division and a solution must be reached fast. I'm clear about this"''. Newly appointed Greek Deputy Minister for Sports, Lefteris Avgenakis, and Vassilakopoulos, both agreed that Olympiacos should be part of the Greek Basket League and that a solution should be found, while his predecessor, Giorgos Vasiliadis, also accused of his passive stance, revealed that he had requested
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 ...
to send foreign referees to the league games. However, no action was taken maybe due to Panathinaikos constant threats that they would withdraw from the league, if Olympiacos remained in the first division. In the meantime, Olympiacos appeals about the league last matchday's legality were rejected, and they decided to take the Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association to the sports court.
Finally, Olympiacos announced that they decided to register an entirely separate squad for the 2019–20 Greek second division and 2019–20 Greek Cup, for reasons of legality, and that squad would be a secondary "B" team, with a different name ( Olympiacos B Development Team) and using the Peace and Friendship Stadium's practice court as their home arena, with the senior team playing exclusively in
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 ...
, which ''"has all the elements that characterize a serious, modern and reliable league"'', according to their announcement. After losing the first EuroLeague game of the season against ASVEL, Olympiacos and David Blatt parted ways. His assistant Kęstutis Kemzūra became the head coach of the team until the end of the season.
2020s
2021–2022 season: Return with Euroleague Final Four and domestic Treble (Greek Champions, Greek Cup Winners, Greek Super Cup Winners)
After the 2021
Hellenic Basketball Federation
The Hellenic Basketball Federation (abbreviated HBF; , abbreviated as Ε.Ο.Κ.,) is the main basketball governing body for the sport in Greece. It directs and oversees all of the national basketball teams of Greece, including both the junior a ...
elections, the situation changed and finally the old establishment with the 82-years old Vassilakopoulos was replaced by new faces. Olympiacos returned to the Greek Basket League after 2 years with great success: they won the 2021–22 Greek Basket League, beating their arch-rivals Panathinaikos with 3-0 wins in the finals (74–61, 78–72, 93–74), the 2021–22 Greek Cup, beating Panathinaikos by 81–73 in the final in
Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
, as well as the 2022 Greek Super Cup, beating Panathinaikos once again by a 67–52 scorline in the final in
Rhodes
Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
. Therefore, they completed a domestic Treble, winning the season's all three available Greek titles.
Apart from the 2022 Treble, Olympiacos returned to the Final Four of the Euroleague. They finished in the second place in the 2021–22 EuroLeague Regular Season and they were drawn to play against
AS Monaco
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...
in the 2022 EuroLeague Playoffs. Olympiacos managed to eliminate AS Monaco with 3–2 wins in the best-of-five playoff series, winning the last match in Piraeus with a 94–88 scoreline. In the Final Four in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, Olympiacos finally finished in the fourth place, after losing the semi-final to Anadolu Efes in the last second of the game.
2022–2023 season: Championship in OAKA, back-to-back domestic double (Greek Champions, Greek Cup Winners), Euroleague finalists
Olympiacos won the
Greek championship
The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...
and
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 ...
again in season 2022–23, thus completing a back-to-back domestic double. They won their 14th Greek Championship with 3–1 wins, after defeating Panathinaikos 63–35 in OAKA, in game 4 of the finals.
In 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 ...
, they finished first in the regular season of the competition, with a record of 24–10 and having the best defense, a unique fact for a Greek team in European competitions. Olympiacos reached the final of the event, where they were defeated 78–79, conceding a 2-point shot with 3 seconds left in the game.
On May 2, 2023, the famous
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
praised Olympiacos, describing them as the best basketball team outside the NBA.
2023–2024 season: Greek Cup Winners, Euroleague final 4
Olympiacos won the
Greek Basketball Cup
The Greek Basketball Cup or Hellenic Basketball Cup (also stylized as Basket Cup; Greek: Κύπελλο Ελλάδος καλαθοσφαίρισης ανδρών) is the top-tier level annual professional basketball national cup competition i ...
in season 2023-24.
In 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 ...
Olympiacos finished fifth in the regular season of the competition and qualified to the Euroleague Final 4 after winning Barcelona at playoffs.
In July 2024, Olympiacos announced the come back of Sasha Vezenkov after a one-year absence during which he was playing basketball for Sacramento Kings.
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
Since 1985, Olympiacos had a specific kit manufacturer and a shirt sponsor. The following table shows in detail the shirt sponsors and kit manufacturers of Olympiacos by year:
Arena
Olympiacos' long-time home court is the
Peace and Friendship Stadium
The Peace and Friendship Stadium (), commonly known by its acronym SEF (Greek: ΣΕΦ), is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Piraeus, on the coastal zone of Attica, Greece. The arena is mostly known for being the home to EuroLeague ...
(
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 ...
: Στάδιο Ειρήνης και Φιλίας ''or'' ΣΕΦ – SEF), which is an indoor arena that is located in Faliro,
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
, exactly opposite of the
Olympiacos FC
Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós'', "Olymp ...
football department's home stadium,
Karaiskakis Stadium
The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium (), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium (, ), is a Association football, football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the home ground of the Piraeus football club Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos. It i ...
. The arena opened in 1985, and Olympiacos has been using it since 1991. It was originally one of the biggest European indoor arenas, with an original capacity of 17,000 seats, however, its capacity was reduced to 12,171 seats for the
2004 Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
.
Currently, it can seat up to 14,950 with lower additional tiers of seats added to it. 12,000 (11,640 permanent seats, and 360 temporary seats) is the current capacity of the arena for Olympiacos home games. SEF hosted the indoor volleyball tournament of the 2004 Summer Olympics, and it was also the host venue of the EuroBasket 1987, and the
1998 FIBA World Championship
The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), and hosted in Greece ...
. The arena was renovated for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
File:Peace and Friendship stadium.jpg, SEF's court before an Olympiacos game.
File:Peace and Friendship stadium 02 03 2014.JPG, Outside view of SEF.
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 ...
Greek Super Cup
The Greek Super Cup (), formerly known as the Friendship and Solidarity Cup () is a Greek association football one-match competition, which is contested annually either between the champions of the previous Super League Greece season and the hold ...
: Winners (3) (record):
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
,
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
, 2024
European Competitions
*
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 ...
Final Four
In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
(14):
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
,
1995
1995 was designated as:
* United Nations Year for Tolerance
* World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War
This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
,
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
,
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
,
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
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 ...
,
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
,
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
,
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
,
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
,
2025
So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
International Competitions
*
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 ...
: Winners (1):
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 ...
Double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
The biggest wins in FIBA Champions Cup and EuroLeague
Home wins
Away wins
The biggest wins in FIBA Saporta Cup
The biggest wins in FIBA Korać Cup
Matches against NBA teams
On 18 October 1997, Olympiacos became the first Greek team to play against an
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 ...
NBA champions
The NBA Finals is the championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held at the conclusion of its postseason. All NBA Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Easter ...
, the
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
, in the final of the
1997 McDonald's Championship
The 1997 McDonald's Championship took place at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France.
Summary
The teams that took part in the 8th edition of the tournament were the Chicago Bulls, Paris Basket Racing (France), Olympiacos Piraeus (Gre ...
in Paris. The game was played under zone-friendly European rules (the games between NBA and FIBA teams were played under a mixture of NBA and FIBA rules at that time), but, out of respect for the Bulls, Olympiacos never used a
zone defense
Zone defense is a type of defensive system, used in team sports, which is the alternative to man-to-man defense; instead of each player guarding a corresponding player on the other team, each defensive player is given an area (a zone) to cover.
...
. Olympiacos lost 78–104, with the legendary
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...
scoring 27 points in the game.
In October 2009, Olympiacos visited the United States on their 2009
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 ...
tour, and played against the
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 ...
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...
, at
Quicken Loans Arena
Rocket Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The building is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). It also serves as a sec ...
.
----
----
Seasons
:
*Olympiacos decided to
forfeit
Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke
* "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from '' Wonder What's Next''
* '' Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers
...
halftime
In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...
2018–19 Greek Basket League
The 2018–19 Greek betshop.gr Basket League was the 79th season of the Greek Basket League, the top-tier level professional club basketball league in Greece. The season started on 7 October 2018, and ended on 15 June 2019. Panathinaikos OPAP won ...
season, Olympiacos decided to
forfeit
Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke
* "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from '' Wonder What's Next''
* '' Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers
...
their playoffs series against Panathinaikos, over reffing disputes. That led to their
relegation
Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
, and a loss of all of their season wins, as a punishment by the Greek Basket League.
Statistics
Greek League records
A1 Regular seasons (Wins–Losses)
Individual awards
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 ...
*
Panagiotis Fasoulas
Panagiotis "Panos" Fasoulas (alternate spelling: Fassoulas; Greek: Παναγιώτης Φασούλας; born 12 May 1963, in Thessaloniki) is a Greek politician, and former professional basketball player. He was selected in the second round, w ...
Fabricio Oberto
Fabricio Raúl Jesús Oberto (; born March 21, 1975) is an Argentine-Italian color analyst and former professional basketball player. At , he played as a center and power forward. With the LNB club Atenas, in his native Argentina, Oberto began ...
Žarko Paspalj
Žarko Paspalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Жарко Паспаљ; born March 27, 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and sports administrator. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 1994, his sixteen and a half seasons career was mostly ...
*
Artūras Karnišovas
Artūras Karnišovas (born April 27, 1971) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player. He is the current executive vice president of basketball operations of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...
*
Arvydas Macijauskas
Arvydas Macijauskas (born 19 January 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at tall, he played at the shooting guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest Lithuanian players of the 2000s, he won numerous ...
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players
FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in 1991, by FIBA Magazine.
History Background
In June 1991, FIBA organised the Jubilee Game between Europe an ...
50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors
The 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008) of FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague history were awarded and chosen on February 3, 2008, in Madrid, Spain. The occasion was the fiftieth anniversary since the founding of the inaugural s ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
*
Nikola Vujčić
Nikola Vujčić (born 14 June 1978) is a Croatian former professional basketball player, and the current general manager (basketball), team manager of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv. During his playing career, he played ...
Georgios Bartzokas
Georgios Bartzokas (alternate spellings: Giorgos, George, Mpartzokas) ( born June 11, 1965) is a Greek former professional basketball player, and the current head basketball coach for Olympiacos B.C., Olympiacos of the Greek Basketball League (G ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Alphonso Ford
Alphonso Gene Ford (October 31, 1971 – September 4, 2004) was an American professional basketball player. A 1.92 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, 98 kg (216 lbs.) shooting guard, he was one of the greatest scorers in college basketball histo ...
EuroLeague Best Defender
The EuroLeague Best Defender is an annual basketball EuroLeague awards, award of the European professional club basketball system, European premier level EuroLeague. It is awarded to the best defensive player throughout the season, up until the E ...
*
Bryant Dunston
Bryant Kevin Dunston Jr. (; born May 28, 1986) is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional basketball player for BC Žalgiris, Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. He a ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
EuroLeague MVP
The EuroLeague MVP, or EuroLeague Regular Season MVP, is the EuroLeague awards, award bestowed to the player that is deemed to be the "Most valuable player, Most Valuable Player" during the regular season of the EuroLeague. The EuroLeague ...
*
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Žarko Paspalj
Žarko Paspalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Жарко Паспаљ; born March 27, 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and sports administrator. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 1994, his sixteen and a half seasons career was mostly ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Alphonso Ford
Alphonso Gene Ford (October 31, 1971 – September 4, 2004) was an American professional basketball player. A 1.92 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, 98 kg (216 lbs.) shooting guard, he was one of the greatest scorers in college basketball histo ...
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
(
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 ...
Nikola Vujčić
Nikola Vujčić (born 14 June 1978) is a Croatian former professional basketball player, and the current general manager (basketball), team manager of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv. During his playing career, he played ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer
The EuroLeague Finals Top Scorer is the individual EuroLeague awards, award for the player that gained the highest point (basketball), points in the EuroLeague Finals, the championship finals of the European professional club basketball system, E ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Giorgos Angelopoulos
Giorgos K. Angelopoulos (alternate spellings: Georgios, George, Aggelopoulos) (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-Euro ...
Greek Basket League MVP
The Greek Basketball League MVP or Greek Basketball League Full Season MVP is the yearly Most valuable player, MVP Greek Basketball League awards, award that is awarded by the Greek basketball league system, 1st-tier professional basketball league ...
*
Panagiotis Fasoulas
Panagiotis "Panos" Fasoulas (alternate spelling: Fassoulas; Greek: Παναγιώτης Φασούλας; born 12 May 1963, in Thessaloniki) is a Greek politician, and former professional basketball player. He was selected in the second round, w ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Greek Basket League Finals MVP
The Greek Basketball League (GBL) Finals MVP, or Greek Basketball League Playoffs Finals MVP Greek Basketball League awards, award (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνικού Α1 Μπάσκετ Πρωταθλήματος Tελικός MVP) is the ye ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Alphonso Ford
Alphonso Gene Ford (October 31, 1971 – September 4, 2004) was an American professional basketball player. A 1.92 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, 98 kg (216 lbs.) shooting guard, he was one of the greatest scorers in college basketball histo ...
(2001–02)
*
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
Georgios Bartzokas
Georgios Bartzokas (alternate spellings: Giorgos, George, Mpartzokas) ( born June 11, 1965) is a Greek former professional basketball player, and the current head basketball coach for Olympiacos B.C., Olympiacos of the Greek Basketball League (G ...
Sofoklis Schortsanitis
Sofoklis Schortsanitis ( Greek: Σοφοκλής Σχορτσανίτης; born 22 June 1985) is a Cameroonian-Greek former professional basketball player and Olympian.
An All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2011, Schortsanitis won the Eu ...
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 ...
)
*
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
(
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 ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
Žarko Paspalj
Žarko Paspalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Жарко Паспаљ; born March 27, 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and sports administrator. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 1994, his sixteen and a half seasons career was mostly ...
(1991–92)
*
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
Alec Peters
Alec Jeffrey Peters (born April 13, 1995) is an American-born naturalized Bosnian professional basketball player for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for Valparaiso University, where h ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
(
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 ...
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
Bryant Dunston
Bryant Kevin Dunston Jr. (; born May 28, 1986) is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional basketball player for BC Žalgiris, Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. He a ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
Vangelis Mantzaris
Evangelos "Vangelis" Mantzaris (Greek language, Greek: Ευάγγελος "Βαγγέλης" Μάντζαρης; born April 16, 1990) is a Greek professional basketball player for Mykonos B.C., Mykonos of the Greek A2 Basket League, Greek A2 Elit ...
Image:2022-03-10 ALBA Berlin gegen Olympiacos Piraeus (EuroLeague 2021-22) by Sandro Halank–140.jpg, Moustapha Fall
Image:Bryant Dunston 2 (cropped).JPG,
Bryant Dunston
Bryant Kevin Dunston Jr. (; born May 28, 1986) is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional basketball player for BC Žalgiris, Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. He a ...
Pavlos Diakoulas
Pavlos Diakoulas (alternate spelling: Paul) () is a retired Greek American professional basketball player and coach. During his pro club career, he played at the small forward, power forward, and center positions.
College career
Diakoulas play ...
Panagiotis Fasoulas
Panagiotis "Panos" Fasoulas (alternate spelling: Fassoulas; Greek: Παναγιώτης Φασούλας; born 12 May 1963, in Thessaloniki) is a Greek politician, and former professional basketball player. He was selected in the second round, w ...
Panagiotis Karatzas
Panagiotis Karatzas (; 18th century – 1824) was a Greece, Greek revolutionary leader in Patras during the Greek Revolution of 1821. During his childhood he showed his bravery and defiance against the Ottoman Empire, often fighting with Turkish ...
Vassilis Kavvadas
Vassilis Kavvadas (alternate spellings: Vasilis, Vasileios) (Greek: Βασίλης Καββαδάς; born December 28, 1991) is a Greek professional basketball player for Iraklis of the Greek Basketball League. He is 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) tall an ...
Vangelis Mantzaris
Evangelos "Vangelis" Mantzaris (Greek language, Greek: Ευάγγελος "Βαγγέλης" Μάντζαρης; born April 16, 1990) is a Greek professional basketball player for Mykonos B.C., Mykonos of the Greek A2 Basket League, Greek A2 Elit ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
Giannis Paragios Yannis, Yiannis, or Giannis (Γιάννης) is a common Greek given name, a variant of ''John'' (Hebrew) meaning "God is gracious." In formal Greek (e.g. all government documents and birth certificates) the name exists only as Ioannis (Ιωάνν� ...
Sofoklis Schortsanitis
Sofoklis Schortsanitis ( Greek: Σοφοκλής Σχορτσανίτης; born 22 June 1985) is a Cameroonian-Greek former professional basketball player and Olympian.
An All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2011, Schortsanitis won the Eu ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Fabricio Oberto
Fabricio Raúl Jesús Oberto (; born March 21, 1975) is an Argentine-Italian color analyst and former professional basketball player. At , he played as a center and power forward. With the LNB club Atenas, in his native Argentina, Oberto began ...
Nikola Vujčić
Nikola Vujčić (born 14 June 1978) is a Croatian former professional basketball player, and the current general manager (basketball), team manager of the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv. During his playing career, he played ...
:*
Andrija Žižić
Andrija Žižić (born 14 January 1980) is a Croatian former professional basketball player and executive. Standing of 2.07 m (6 ft 9 ½ in) tall, he played at both the power forward and center positions. He is currently the sporting directo ...
Chris Welp
Christian Ansgar Welp (January 2, 1964 – March 1, 2015) was a German professional basketball player. During his playing career, he was a , center. He played three seasons in the NBA. He was the MVP of the 1993 EuroBasket.
College career
Wel ...
(†)
* Israel:
:*
Yotam Halperin
Yotam Halperin (; born January 24, 1984) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He is currently the sporting director for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Premier League and the Champions League. He is a 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) t ...
* Italy:
:*
Daniel Hackett
Daniel Lorenzo Hackett (born December 19, 1987) is an American-Italian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he can play at both the point guard and shooting gu ...
* Lithuania:
:*
Artūras Karnišovas
Artūras Karnišovas (born April 27, 1971) is a Lithuanian professional basketball executive and former player. He is the current executive vice president of basketball operations of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...
Arvydas Macijauskas
Arvydas Macijauskas (born 19 January 1980) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Standing at tall, he played at the shooting guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest Lithuanian players of the 2000s, he won numerous ...
Zoran Erceg
Zoran Erceg (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Ерцег; born 11 January 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally. Standing at , he played the power forward positi ...
Žarko Paspalj
Žarko Paspalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Жарко Паспаљ; born March 27, 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and sports administrator. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 1994, his sixteen and a half seasons career was mostly ...
Miloš Teodosić
Miloš Teodosić ( sr-cyr, Милош Теодосић, born March 19, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team ...
:*
Milan Tomić
Milan Tomić (, Greek: Μίλαν Τόμιτς; born 24 July 1973) is a Serbian-Greek professional basketball coach and former player.
Tomić has spent almost all of his professional playing and coaching career in Greece, after he took Greek n ...
:*
Dušan Vukčević
Dušan Vukčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Вукчевић; born 14 November 1975) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and coach, who last served as an assistant coach for Peristeri Athens of the Greek Basket League and the ...
:*
Marko Kešelj
Marko Kešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Кешељ, born 2 January 1988) is a Serbian politician and retired professional basketball player serving as the state secretary in the Ministry of Sports since 4 November 2022. He previously served as a memb ...
:*
Aleksej Pokuševski
Aleksej Pokuševski ( sr-cyr, Алексеј Покушевски; born 26 December 2001) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Partizan Mozzart Bet of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS), the ABA League and the EuroLeague. Standing ...
Patrick Beverley
Patrick Beverley (born July 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Ligat HaAl and the EuroCup. Originally from Chicago's West Side, Beverley played college basketball for the Arkansa ...
Josh Childress
Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the Natio ...
:*
Tremmell Darden
Tremmell Lequincy Dushun Darden (born December 17, 1981) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for Crailsheim Merlins of the German Basketball Bundesliga. Standing at , he plays at the small forward and power forward ...
Bryant Dunston
Bryant Kevin Dunston Jr. (; born May 28, 1986) is an American-born naturalized Armenian professional basketball player for BC Žalgiris, Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. He a ...
:*
Tyus Edney
Tyus Dwayne Edney Sr. (born February 14, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Pepperdine Waves men's team of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Listed at , he played point guard. He played coll ...
:*
Blue Edwards
Theodore "Blue" Edwards (born October 31, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Edwards now coaches at his alma mater, Greene Central High School in Snow ...
Alphonso Ford
Alphonso Gene Ford (October 31, 1971 – September 4, 2004) was an American professional basketball player. A 1.92 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, 98 kg (216 lbs.) shooting guard, he was one of the greatest scorers in college basketball histo ...
Lynn Greer
Lynn Terence Greer Jr. (born October 23, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. He was an All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in 2003–04 Eur ...
Shawn James
Shawn James (born September 10, 1983) is a Guyanese-American former professional basketball player. Standing at , he played at the power forward and center positions. In 2010–11, he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier Leagu ...
Oliver Lafayette
Oliver Lafayette (born May 6, 1984) is an American-born former Croatian professional basketball player. Standing at , he played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. A two-time EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup winner, Lafayette has also won ...
Von Wafer
Vakeaton Quamar "Von" Wafer (born July 21, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles.
Wafer has previously played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with t ...
Qyntel Woods
Qyntel Deon Woods (born February 16, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He played mainly at the small forward position, but he also played at the shooting guard position, on occasion.
Early life and college career
Woods ...
Milan Tomić
Milan Tomić (, Greek: Μίλαν Τόμιτς; born 24 July 1973) is a Serbian-Greek professional basketball coach and former player.
Tomić has spent almost all of his professional playing and coaching career in Greece, after he took Greek n ...
Vassilis Spanoulis
Vassilis Spanoulis (), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (), or Billy Spanoulis (; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco Basket, AS Mon ...
Kostas Papanikolaou
Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou (; born 31 July 1990) nicknamed "Air Pap" is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. Standing at 2.04 m (6'8 "), he play ...
Michalis Kyritsis
Michalis Kyritsis (alternate spellings: Mihalis, Kiritsis) (, 2 September 1945) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball coach, coach. During his playing career, at a height of tall, he played at the point guard position.
...
(1989–91)
*
Giannis Ioannidis
Giannis Ioannidis (alternate spellings: Ioannis, Yiannis, Yannis) (Greek: Γιάννης Ιωαννίδης; 26 February 1945 – 4 October 2023) was a Greek basketball player, professional basketball coach, and Greece New Democracy (ND) politic ...
Panagiotis Giannakis
Panagiotis "Notis" Giannakis (, ; born January 1, 1959), alternatively spelled Panayiotis Yiannakis or Yannakis, is a former Greek professional basketball player and coach. He is considered to be one of the greatest sportspeople of Greece. He st ...
(2008–10)
*
Georgios Bartzokas
Georgios Bartzokas (alternate spellings: Giorgos, George, Mpartzokas) ( born June 11, 1965) is a Greek former professional basketball player, and the current head basketball coach for Olympiacos B.C., Olympiacos of the Greek Basketball League (G ...
Below is the official presidential history of Olympiacos B.C. Before 1991,
Olympiacos CFP
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 Association ...
president was responsible for the management of the basketball team. In 1991, the department became professional and
Sokratis Kokkalis
Sokratis Kokkalis (Greek: Σωκράτης Κόκκαλης; born 1939) is a Greek businessman, founder and principal shareholder of Intracom Holdings.
He was the son of Petros Kokkalis and spent his youth as a political refugee in East Ge ...
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 ...