Basketball in Greece
Panellinios featured 5 great players, known as the "Golden Five" ("Chrysi Pentada"), or "The Fabulous Five":[1] Themis Cholevas (PG), Dinos Papadimas (SG), Mimis Stefanidis (SF), Panos Manias (PF), and Aristeidis Roubanis (C).
The Spanoudakis brothers, Ioannis and Alekos, who were players of Olympiacos, were among the first early important pioneers of the modern style sport in the country.
During this era, the club featured famous Greek players such as: Georgios Kolokithas, Apostolos Kontos, Dimitris Kokolakis, Memos Ioannou, and Takis Koroneos.
Panathionaikos' great team to begin the decade of the 1980s, featured players like: Apostolos Kontos, Dimitris Kokolakis, Takis Koroneos, David Stergakos, Memos Ioannou, and Liveris Andritsos.
During these years, Aris was coached by Giannis Ioannidis, and was led by the legendary Greek players Nikos Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis.
During the club's dynasty, it also featured players like: Lefteris Subotić, Nikos Filippou, Vangelis Vourtzoumis, Vassilis Lipiridis, Georgios Doxakis, Manthos Katsoulis, and Michalis Romanidis.
[5] The Greece men's national basketball team qualified for the 1986 FIBA World Cup, and finished the tournament in 10th place.
In those days, PAOK was coached by Dušan Ivković and Soulis Markopoulos, and featured players like: Bane Prelević, Walter Berry, Panagiotis Fasoulas, Cliff Levingston, Ken Barlow, Zoran Savić, Efthimis Rentzias, and Peja Stojaković.
In those years, Olympiacos was coached by Giannis Ioannidis and Dušan Ivković, and featured players like: Žarko Paspalj, Walter Berry, Argiris Kambouris, Georgios Sigalas, Franko Nakić, Milan Tomić, Dragan Tarlać, Roy Tarpley, Panagiotis Fasoulas, Efthimis Bakatsias, Eddie Johnson, Sasha Volkov, David Rivers, Nasos Galakteros, Willie Anderson, Dimitris Papanikolaou, Chris Welp, and Aleksey Savrasenko.
The 1996 EuroLeague champion team was coached by Božidar Maljković, and featured players like: Fragiskos Alvertis, Dominique Wilkins, Stojko Vranković, Panagiotis Giannakis, Michael Koch, and Nikos Oikonomou.
In those years (1997–98 to 2001–02), Panathinaijos featured players like: Fragiskos Alvertis, Dino Rađja, Byron Scott, Fanis Christodoulou, Nikos Oikonomou, Antonis Fotsis, Georgios Kalaitzis, Nando Gentile, Nikos Boudouris, Željko Rebrača, Johnny Rogers, Oded Kattash, Darryl Middleton, İbrahim Kutluay, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Giannis Giannoulis, Pepe Sánchez, Michael Koch, and the great Serbian legend, Dejan Bodiroga.
In those years, AEK was coached by Dušan Ivković and Dragan Šakota, and featured players like: İbrahim Kutluay, Andrew Betts, Michalis Kakiouzis, Dimos Dikoudis, Martin Müürsepp, Nikos Chatzis, Geert Hammink, J. R. Holden, Christos Tapoutos, Jim Bilba, Ioannis Bourousis, Pero Antić, Arijan Komazec, Chris Carr, and Nikos Zisis.
During these years, the club featured several well-known players, such as: Dimitris Diamantidis, Antonis Fotsis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Dimos Dikoudis, Mike Batiste, Sani Bečirovič, Drew Nicholas, Dušan Kecman, Giorgi Shermadini, Stratos Perperoglou, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Dejan Tomašević, Nikola Peković, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, and Vassilis Spanoulis.
The 2005 and 2006 medal-winning teams were coached by Giannakis, and featured players like: Dimitris Diamantidis, Theo Papaloukas, Vassilis Spanoulis, Nikos Zisis, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Michalis Kakiouzis, Dimos Dikoudis, Antonis Fotsis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Ioannis Bourousis, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, and Panagiotis Vasilopoulos.
Panagiotis Giannakis also later became the senior team's head coach, and he led the Greeks to win the European Championship (EuroBasket) again, in the year 2005, at Belgrade.
In the 1987 EuroBasket tournament's final, which was played in Piraeus, at Peace and Friendship Stadium (SEF), Greece defeated the heavily favored Soviet national basketball team (which included star player Šarūnas Marčiulionis) in overtime, by a score of 103 to 101.
Greece also won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket, which was held in Serbia, after defeating Dirk Nowitzki-led Germany, in the finals, by a score of 78 to 62.
Greece's senior men's national basketball team took part in the World Cup for the first time at the 1986 tournament, where they finished in tenth place.
At the 2006 FIBA World Cup, which was held in Japan, Greece won the silver medal, after defeating the heavily favored USA, by a score of 101 to 95 in the semifinals.
Located at the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, the Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos Indoor Hall holds 1,500 spectators, and is still home to the ladies' basketball department of Panathinaikos.
It holds 19,250 spectators (21,098 standing room capacity), and it is still one of the two biggest indoor sports halls in Europe, where regular basketball games are held.
Other well-known foreign European players that have played in the Greek League include: the Serbs Boban Janković, Žarko Paspalj, Željko Rebrača, Zoran Savić, the Croats Arijan Komazec, Stojko Vranković, Zdravko Radulović, Damir Mulaomerović, and Nikola Vujčić, the Slovenes Rasho Nesterović and Jure Zdovc.
In recent years, key American players like Byron Dinkins, Maurice Evans, Alphonso Ford, Lawrence Funderburke, J.R. Holden, Roger Mason, Jeremiah Massey, Von Wafer, Josh Childress, and Acie Law have also played in the Greek League.
Another foreign head coach who worked in the Greek League was the multiple FIBA World Cup, and EuroBasket champion Duda Ivković.
More recently, this phenomenon has begun to change as many Greek clubs, most notably long-time rivals Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, have offered top-notch salaries, to once again attract Greece's top players back home.
More recently, Pat and Nick Calathes, born and raised in Florida, who are descended from their Greek grandfather, chose to start their professional careers in Greece.
Both remained at PAO through the 2011–12 season, after which they left Greece to continue their careers elsewhere in Europe (Pat in Israel and Nick in Russia).
Michael Bramos is another American born player from the Greek diaspora, that chose to begin his pro career in Greece with Peristeri.
Recently, the Greek diaspora produced players like: Tyler Dorsey, Naz Mitrou-Long, and Zach Auguste, whom have chosen to represent Greece internationally.
Live broadcasts of the Greek League men's national championship, and European-wide professional club games are also offered by the country's large number of sports radio stations.
