The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams. It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.
Toni Kukoč 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 the first established European stars to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "The Waiter", Kukoč played for four NBA teams between 1993 and 2006, winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1996. He is a three-time NBA champion, having won championships with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in 1996, 1997, and 1998.
Predrag Stojaković, known by his nickname Peja, is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant general manager and director of player personnel and development of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.
Arvydas Romas Sabonis is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. Recognized as one of the best European players of all time and one of the best big man passers in the history of the game, he won the Euroscar six times and the Mr. Europa Award twice. He played in a variety of leagues, including the Spanish ACB League, and spent seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing the center position, Sabonis won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics, in South Korea, for the Soviet Union, and later earned bronze medals at the 1992 Olympic Games and 1996 Olympic Games representing Lithuania. He retired from professional basketball in 2005. Sabonis was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft, but he did not play his first NBA game until 1995, at the age of 30.
Dino Meneghin is an Italian former professional basketball player. He is widely considered to be the best Italian player ever, as well as one of Europe's all-time greats. A 2.06 m tall center, Meneghin was born in Alano di Piave, Veneto. On 20 November 1966, when he was 16 years old, he played in his first game in the Italian League, with Ignis Varese. He played the last game of his career at the age of 45.
Nikolaos Georgalis, commonly known as either Nikos Galis, or Nick Galis, is a Greek former professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playing days was nicknamed, "Nick The Greek", "The Gangster", and "The Iron Man", is widely regarded as Europe's greatest scorer to ever play the game, and as one of the all-time greatest players in FIBA international basketball history. In 1991, Galis was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players. In 2007, he became an inaugural member of the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2017, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2022, he was inducted in to the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame.
Theodoros Papaloukas, commonly known as Theo Papaloukas or Thodoris Papaloukas, is a retired Greek professional basketball player. He was a four-time All-EuroLeague selection, a member of the EuroLeague 2000–10 All-Decade Team and was named one of the 50 greatest EuroLeague contributors in 2008. A revolutionary figure in basketball, as illustrated by his unique ability to come off the bench and alter the course of an encounter, and his uncanny feel for the game, he symbolized the rise of European basketball in the new millennium.
Jon Robert "J.R." Holden is a retired American-Russian professional basketball player, currently serving as an NBA Director of Player Personnel for the Brooklyn Nets. Holden was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At 1.85 m (6'1") tall, he could play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, but he primarily played at point guard.
Dimitrios 'Dimitris' Diamantidis is a retired Greek professional basketball player, who spent the last twelve seasons of his EuroLeague career with Panathinaikos. Widely regarded as one of the greatest European players ever to grace the game, he marked his era by being the most versatile player in the EuroLeague, serving as an inspiration to a whole generation of young European stars. Diamantidis is the only Greek player who is a member of both the EuroLeague 2000–10 All-Decade Team and the EuroLeague 2010–20 All-Decade Team.
Miloš Teodosić is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. He also represents the National Basketball Team of Serbia internationally. He primarily plays the point guard and shooting guard positions. He is a six time All-EuroLeague selection, and was voted EuroLeague MVP in 2010.
The EuroLeague Final Four Most Valuable Player Award is presented and awarded to the basketball player who has exhibited the most exceptional play during the EuroLeague Final Four. The award often goes to the best player on the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague's best team. It is generally considered to be the most prestigious individual award in European professional club basketball.
Dragan Kićanović is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player.
The Mister Europa European Player of the Year Award was an annual basketball award created in 1976, and given until 2010, by the panel of journalists of the Italian weekly magazine Superbasket. Its purpose was to praise the best basketball player with European citizenship for a given season, regardless of where he played in the world, including the NBA. The award was judged on the basis of both sports club and national team performances and accomplishments.
The FIBA Europe Young Men's Player of the Year Award was an annual Player of the Year (POY) award that was given by FIBA Europe, the European division of FIBA, the international governing body of the sport of basketball, to the best basketball player with European citizenship, aged 22 and under of the year. The inaugural award was given out in the year 2005 to Nikos Zisis of Greece. The vote was decided upon by a panel of basketball experts and also by fan voting.
The Euroscar European Player of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given to the year's best male European basketball player. Its name is a portmanteau of Europe and Oscar, and the award is often referred to as "European basketball’s Oscar”.
Basketballin Greece erupted with the win of the Greece men's national basketball team at the 1987 EuroBasket in Athens, which caused a general basketball euphoria in the country. Since then, the Greece men's national teams have achieved consistent international success, leading Greece to join Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Spain, France, and Lithuania in the circle of European basketball powers. In addition to the Greece national team's triumph in 1987, they won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket, silver medals at the 1989 EuroBasket, and the 2006 FIBA World Cup, and the bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket.
EuroLeague Awards were established in the 1987–88 season, when the EuroLeague's modern era and the EuroLeague Final Four first began. More awards were created starting with the 2000–01 basketball season, when Euroleague Basketball Company essentially took over the management of the premier level European competition from FIBA Europe.
The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honored first by being a part of the FIBA Festival, and later by being selected to the FIBA EuroStars. Under FIBA, the EuroLeague also originally featured a EuroLeague Final Four Team selection, which was a forerunner of the All-EuroLeague Team award, and which consisted of the five best players of the EuroLeague Final Four.
The EuroLeague MVP, or EuroLeague Full Season MVP, is the award bestowed to the player that is deemed to be the "Most Valuable Player" during the full season of the EuroLeague. The EuroLeague is the top-tier level European-wide men's professional club basketball league in Europe. The award has existed and been awarded by the EuroLeague since the 2004–05 season. It was originally awarded for play that included the league's regular season, top 16 stage, and playoffs, and currently is awarded for play that includes the regular season and playoffs, as the top 16 stage was eliminated.
Aleksandar Vezenkov, most commonly known as Sasha Vezenkov, is a Bulgarian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a 2.03 m tall stretch power forward.
Dirk Nowitzki won the FIBA Europe Player of the Year award 2 times (2005, 2011).
Andrei Kirilenko won the FIBA Europe Player of the Year award 2 times (2007, 2012).
Pau Gasol (center) won the FIBA Europe Player of the Year award 2 times (2008, 2009).
Tony Parker won the FIBA Europe Player of the Year award 2 times (2013, 2014).
Dirk Nowitzki 
Pau Gasol (2) 
Andrei Kirilenko (2) 
Tony Parker (2)
Dallas Mavericks 
Theo Papaloukas 
Miloš Teodosić 
