José Rafael "Piculín" Ortiz Rijos is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. He played in the NCAA, NBA, various European teams, and in Puerto Rico's Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN).
Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos, also known simply as Panathinaikós, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the most successful multi-sport clubs and one of the oldest clubs in Greece. The name "Panathinaikos" was inspired by the ancient work of Isocrates Panathenaicus, where the orator praise the Athenians for their democratic education and their military superiority, which use it for benefit of all Greeks.
Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team.
Apollon Limassol FC is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship title four times, the cup nine times and the Super Cup four times.
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 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball. In 2022, he was inducted in to the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame.
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.
Panagiotis "Panos" Fasoulas is a Greek politician, and former professional basketball player. He was selected in the second round, with the 37th overall pick, by the Portland Trail Blazers, in the 1986 NBA draft. However, he never decided to play in the NBA. During his pro club career, Fasoulas won multiple team titles and individual awards.
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.
Theofanis "Fanis" Christodoulou is a Greek former professional basketball player. He played mainly at the small forward position, but his complete all-around skills allowed him to play at all five basketball positions. During his playing career, many sports journalists called him "The European Charles Barkley". While his nickname among his teammates was "Bembis" ("Baby").
Panathinaikos B.C., also known simply as Panathinaikos, currently also known as Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens for sponsorship reasons, is the professional basketball team of the major Athens-based multi-sport club Panathinaikos A.O. It is owned by the Giannakopoulos family.
Edgar Jones is a retired American professional basketball player, who had a career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1980 to 1986.
Aris Basketball Club known in European competitions as Aris Thessaloniki, is the professional basketball team of the major Thessaloniki-based Greek multi-sport club A.C. Aris Thessaloniki. Aris BC was founded in 1922, eight years after the founding of the multi-sport club and the football team. Their traditional home arena is Alexandreio Melathron.
AEL Limassol Basketball Club, also known as PAYABL EKA AEL for sponsorship reasons and commonly referred to as AEL, is the basketball team of the AEL multi-sport club, based in Limassol, Cyprus. Nicknamed "the Queen" of Cypriot Basketball, AEL is a founding member of the Cyprus Basketball Federation and in the years since, the club has established itself as one of the most successful basketball teams in Cyprus.
Jon Anthony Korfas is a Greek-American former professional basketball player and coach. During his professional playing career, Korfas won all three of the FIBA Europe continental-wide titles on the club level. With Panathinaikos Athens, he won the top-tier level FIBA EuroLeague championship, during the 1995–96 season. He also won the second-tier level FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup championship in the 1990–91 season, and the third-tier level FIBA Korać Cup championship in the 1993–94 season with PAOK Thessaloniki. With Panathinaikos, he also won the world club title, as he won the 1996 edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. He was also selected to the FIBA EuroLeague All-Final Four Team at the 1993 FIBA EuroLeague Final Four.
Michalis Romanidis is a retired Greek professional basketball player. At 1.99 m tall, he played at the small forward and power forward positions.
Giannis Giannoulis (alternate spellings: Gioannis, Yannis, Ioannis, Yiannis is a Greek-Canadian former professional basketball player. During his playing career, at a height of 2.08 m tall, he played at both the power forward and center positions.
Jurij "Jure" Zdovc 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 1.98 m (6'6") tall point guard, who began his professional playing career with the Yugoslav Second Division club Smelt Olimpija.
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.
Kenneth Benard Gabriel is an American professional basketball player who last played for Basket Brescia Leonessa of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). At a height of 6'9" tall, he plays at the power forward position. He played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers.
Vicki Hall is an assistant coach with the Indiana Fever since 2021. Before joining the WNBA team, Hall served as the head coach of the Indiana State Sycamores women's basketball team from 2018 to 2021. As a basketball player, Hall accumulated 1,755 points with Brebeuf High School. She was the 1988 Naismith Prep Player of the Year and Gatorade High School Basketball Player of the Year. With the Texas Longhorns women's basketball team from 1988 to 1993, Hall reached the final eight of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament between 1989 and 1990 and had 1,831 career points. Apart from college basketball, Hall won gold at the 1990 FIBA World Championship for Women and the 1990 Goodwill Games with the American women basketball team.
