Among the numerous well-known top class players who have played with the club over the years are Dominique Wilkins, Fragiskos Alvertis, Byron Scott, Nick Galis, John Salley, Dimitris Diamantidis, Antonio Davis, Stojko Vranković, Dino Rađja, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Dejan Bodiroga, Oded Kattash, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Panagiotis Giannakis, Fanis Christodoulou, Alexander Volkov, Marcelo Nicola, Hugo Sconochini, Željko Rebrača, Antonis Fotsis, İbrahim Kutluay, John Amaechi, Nikola Peković, Jaka Lakovič, Pepe Sánchez, Kostas Tsartsaris, Mike Batiste, Nick Calathes, Vassilis Spanoulis, Dejan Tomašević, Byron Dinkins, Ferdinando Gentile, Sani Bečirovič, Darryl Middleton, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Žarko Paspalj, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Dimos Dikoudis, Tiit Sokk, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Jason Kapono, Arijan Komazec, Edgar Jones, Romain Sato, Johnny Rogers, Tony Delk, Drew Nicholas, Stéphane Lasme, Roko Ukić, Robertas Javtokas, Jonas Mačiulis, Ioannis Bourousis, James Gist, Keith Langford, Jimmer Fredette, Kostas Sloukas and Kendrick Nunn.

In 1950 and 1951, Panathinaikos emerged as champions once again with the help of great athletes Faidon Matthaiou (considered the Patriarch of Greek basketball) and Nikos Milas.

In 1961, Panathinaikos won the Greek League championship with new leaders Georgios Vassilakopoulos, Stelios Tavoularis and Petros Panagiotarakos.

That was also the year that PAO took part for the first time in a European-wide competition, as they faced Hapoel Tel Aviv in the FIBA European Champions Cup 1961–62 season.

During this period, Kostas Mourouzis, nicknamed the fox of coaching, managed the team of the 4-K (the young Kontos, Koroneos, Kokolakis and Kefalos).

More specifically, in 1982, while coached by Kostas Politis, Panathinaikos succeeded in winning their first Greek double, as well as placing 6th in the FIBA European Champions Cup 1981–82 season.

During that season's group stage, Panathinaikos finished ahead of a strong CSKA Moscow team, after winning in the last seconds of a thriller game.

As a consequence, the team, despite playing some great games, only managed to retain the 3rd-place finish in Europe, and make the Greek League finals.

In the summer of 1995, they acquired the nine-time NBA All-Star, Dominique Wilkins, one of the top American players that ever played in Europe.

In the next season, Slobodan Subotić assumed head coaching leadership of the club, and convinced Dino Rađja to come to Panathinaikos.

The huge transfer of Radja was accompanied by three-time NBA champion Byron Scott and Fanis Christodoulou, and with the help of Alvertis, Oikonomou, and Koch, Panathinaikos finally won the Greek League again, after 14 years.

In order to achieve that, he signed the 1998 FIBA World Cup MVP, Dejan Bodiroga, while Nando Gentile, Pat Burke and Nikos Boudouris also joined the team.

The 1998–99 season proved very important for Panathinaikos, as Olympiacos, who had gained home court advantage in the Greek League playoffs, were prepared to return to the top.

Team captains Dimitris Diamantidis and Kostas Tsartsaris led the rebuilding effort for the Greens, who reached the EuroLeague quarterfinals, only to fall to FC Barcelona Regal in a 5-game series.

It was also announced that the team would go to the Greek League Finals under the guidance of the club's legend, Fragiskos Alvertis, who would serve as an interim caretaker coach.

The debut of the team was dreamy, as on 8 October 2015, Panathinaikos beat and eliminated Olympiacos, in an away match for the Greek Basketball Cup, by a score of 64–70.

[9] With coach Pitino on the bench, Panathinaikos transformed into a different team and managed to make an impressive comeback to the EuroLeague, finishing in the sixth place and getting into the playoffs.

Panathinaikos made an offer to coach Pitino, and although he was willing to stay in Greece for the next season, a family matter occurred, so he had to return home.

[11] Pedoulakis's third stint ended on 15 November 2019, as Panathinaikos fired him once again,[12] after team's poor performance on EuroLeague and elimination from the Greek Cup.

[13] On November 26, 2019, Rick Pitino typically and officially returned to Panathinaikos,[14] after overcoming the family matter that kept him away from the benches, signing a one-and-a-half-year contract, becoming team's head coach until the summer of 2021.

[15] However, on 20 March 2020, Panathinaikos and Pitino have agreed to end their cooperation, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic that has forced the suspension of play in EuroLeague and Greek Basket League.

On June 10, the owner of the team, Dimitris Giannakopoulos, held a press conference where he announced that he won't longer be involved with Panathinaikos, and that the club is up for sale for a price of 25 million euros.

[19] As a result of this, a new -and unusual- era began for the Greens, meaning that the team had to be rebuilt and operated based on the balance sheet, and that players with huge contracts couldn't stay with the club at the time.

[20] Also long-time Panathinaikos member through different roles, Manos Papadopoulos, who was very close to the Giannakopoulos family for over 30 years, left the Greens to join Zenit Saint Petersburg as the club's sports director.

[21] On June 26, 2020, Panathinaikos announced that the club's sport management will be represented by the team's legends and former players Dimitris Diamantidis and Fragiskos Alvertis, alongside former CEO Takis Triantopoulos.

On April 12, 2022, after a home defeat of a Greek Basket League regular season game against Olympiacos, in an unexpected turn of events, coach Priftis, general managers Diamantidis and Alvertis, and technical director Nikos Pappas were all fired by Panathinaikos, while president Panagiotis Triantopoulos resigned.

[34] Following this, Panathinaikos signed with Kostas Sloukas who instanly became the captain of the team, after leaving Olympiacos, Juancho Hernangomez, Mathias Lessort, Ioannis Papapetrou, Jerian Grant, Dinos Mitoglou, Luca Vildoza, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Dimitris Moraitis, Aleksander Balcerowski and just a few months later with their upcoming top-scorer Kendrick Nunn.

The following tables detail the shirt sponsors and kit suppliers by year: Panathinaikos' long-time home court is the O.A.K.A., which is the largest indoor venue in Greece.

[50] On 18 September 2021, during the 2021-22 pre-season and the beginning of the "3rd Pavlos Giannakopoulos tournament", "Green Kong", a different mascot was revealed, a grey haired gorilla sporting a Panathinaikos jersey.

In the 1981–82 season, Panathinaikos participated in the semifinals of the FIBA European Champions' Cup, after eliminating the teams of CSKA Moscow and Levski-Spartak, in that order.