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). 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 Chicago Bulls in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes referred as "Scarpette Rosse" because team officials imported red Converse All-Star shoes for players from the United States. The tag line stuck, and the nickname is still used by many fans today.
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.
PAOK BC, commonly known in European competitions as PAOK, is the professional basketball department of the major Greek multi-sports club A.C. PAOK, which was founded in 1926, and is based in Thessaloniki. The club's basketball section was founded in 1928. The club's home arena is the PAOK Sports Arena, which is an indoor arena with a seating capacity of 8,142 people.
Panagiotis "Notis" Giannakis, 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 started his senior career at the age of just 13 at Ionikos Nikaias and after noticeable success, he achieved extraordinary success as a player with Aris Thessaloniki from 1984 to 1993, in partnership with Greek basketball's biggest star Nikos Galis along with the rest of the squad, while achieving victory as the national team captain in EuroBasket 1987 in Athens, Greece's first major tournament win in non-Olympic sport which, along with Aris' extraordinary success, cultivated the sport in the country. At the end of his career, he won the EuroLeague with Panathinaikos in 1996 As head coach, he most prominently led Greece to its second European trophy in EuroBasket 2005 at Serbia and Montenegro, where a team of new and talented stars shone brightest under the nurturship of Giannakis. He would repeat the success the next year, acquiring the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, where the team most notably scored a decisive win against the USA stars of the NBA in the semi-final, which would be USMNBT's last loss in a tournament until 2019. However, Greece's arch rivals Spain would defeat Giannakis' team in the final, as they would do again in the semi-finals of the 2007 EuroBasket. Outside of the Greek national team, he would coach Greek clubs like Aris, where he had the most success as player, Olympiacos, where he achieved renewed success, and the China men's national basketball team. As a player, he was primarily a point guard, but he could also play at the shooting guard position. During his playing career, Giannakis was also widely-known under his nickname of "O Drákos", or "The Dragon" in English.
David Lee Rivers is an American former professional basketball player and coach. A 5’11”(1.80 m ) tall point guard, he reached star status in the EuroLeague, mainly while playing with Olympiacos, under head coach Dušan Ivković. Rivers played 3 seasons in the NBA, one with the Los Angeles Lakers (1988–89) and two more with the Los Angeles Clippers. He played college basketball at the University of Notre Dame.
The McDonald's Championship was an international men's basketball competition that featured a representative of the National Basketball Association against champion club teams from Europe, the National Basketball League, and South America. The competition was launched as McDonald's Open in 1987 with FIBA sanctioning the event and it was renamed as McDonald's Championship in 1995. FIBA EuroLeague champions participated in the competition from its third edition in 1989, while NBA champions would join from 1995 and onwards.
Joseph John Arlauckas is an American former professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent. During his playing career, he played at the power forward position. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball.
Georgios "Giorgos" Diamantopoulos is a Greek former professional basketball player. At a height of 6'5" tall, he played as a shooting guard-small forward. In the prime of his career, he possessed great scoring ability.
Vassilis Lipiridis is a retired Greek professional basketball player. At 2.02 m tall, he played at the power forward position.
Kevin Dornell Magee, was an American basketball player who played most of his professional career for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He played at the power forward and center positions. Magee played college basketball for the UCI Irvine Anteaters, earning All-American honors in both seasons. In 1993–94, he led the Israel Basketball Premier League in rebounds.
Ferdinando Gentile, commonly known as Nando Gentile, is an Italian former professional basketball player and coach. Playing as a point guard, Gentile had a successful pro club playing career, amassing a slew of team trophies won in Italy and Greece, including the EuroLeague title.
Riccardo Pittis is a former Italian professional basketball player. At a height of 2.03 m tall, he played at the small forward position. During his basketball playing career, he was nicknamed Acciughino. He was among the 105 player nominees for the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors list.
Augusto "Gus" Binelli is a retired Italian professional basketball player and coach. At a height of 2.15 m tall, and a weight of 118 kg (260 lb), he played at the center position. Binelli was drafted in the second round, of the 1986 NBA draft, by the Atlanta Hawks, though he never played in the NBA.
Roberto Premier is an Italian former professional basketball player and basketball coach. At a height of 1.97 m tall, he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions. He was the FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer, in 1984.
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.
Ekpedeme Friday "Ekpe" Udoh is a Nigerian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and the Baylor Bears. In the 2010 NBA draft, he was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the sixth overall pick.
Claudio Coldebella is an Italian former professional basketball player, coach and executive, currently general manager of Pallacanestro Reggiana.
José Antonio Montero Botanch is a retired Spanish professional basketball player.
