Athlete (1957)
Nikos Galis is one of the greatest basketball players in the history of basketball, and one of the greatest national athletes of Greece. Born in the USA to Greek parents, he joined Aris of Thessaloniki and then Panathinaikos Athens during the late 70s to early 90s.
In 1987, Galis led the Greek national team to a gold medal in the Eurobasket and a silver medal in 1989. Galis and his team achieved an unbelievable 80 game winning streak, winning eight Greek League Championships, seven of which were consecutive, and six Greek cups. He received the Alphonso Ford Trophy as the EuroLeague top scorer twice, in 1991-91 and 1993-94. Among his other achievements are being the all-time leader of the EuroLeague both in scored points and points per game, shooting 13/13 in 1993 against his former team Aris Thessaloniki, scoring more than 55 points 10 times in a game, and being the Greek cup all-time scoring leader (33.5). He holds the FIBA Basketball World Cup record for highest career scoring average (33.5 per game) and the record for most points scored in a single tournament (33.7). Galis won the Mister Europa European Player of the Year award and the Euroscar in the same year. In 1987 he was named Mediterranean Player of the Year as well as the world’s 10th best athlete from all sports. He is one of six Euroscar European winners to have been inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame and was chosen among the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors and FIBA’s 50 Greatest Players in 1991.
After his retirement, Galis founded a basketball camp in Greece where 3000 kids participate annually. Today, he is considered a basketball legend, being highly respected among the global basketball community. Former basketball player, coach, and brother of basketball legend Dražen Petrović had said: “Although Drazen is my brother, for the best athlete of 1987, I voted for Galis.”
Bibliography
- Psarakis, Yiannis. ”Nikos Galis – Europe’s Greatest -Ever Scorer”. Fibaeurope. Web. 22 July, 2016.