International Top Teams – Panathinaikos Athens

In this new series (‘International Top Teams’) the focus is on the rest of the world. There are more than enough good teams that aren’t playing in the NBA. Since some of them are not that reknown, we will present international top teams to you and tell you about their history, their famous players and their fans.

City & Location:

Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world’s oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years, and the earliest human presence around the 11th–7th millennium BC^.  Classical Athens was a powerful city-state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development of the port of Piraeus. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely because of its cultural and political impact on the European continent and in particular the Romans. Gongfu Tea Cupmodern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2015, Athens was ranked the world’s 29th richest city by purchasing power and the 67th most expensive in a UBS study.

History & Achievements:

The parent athletic club was founded in 1908, while the basketball team was founded in 1922, being one of the oldest in the country. They are the only unrelegated team with participation in every First Division Championship until today (together with Aris BC). Panathinaikos has developed into the most successful basketball team in Greek basketball’s history, and among the best in Europe, creating its own dynasty. They have won 34 Greek Basket League Championships, 16 Greek Cups, 9 Doubles (all records), 6 Euroleague Championships, 1 Intercontinental Cup and 2 Triple Crowns. They hold also the record for the most consecutive Greek League titles, as they are the only team to have won 9 consecutive Championships (2003-2011), such as the record for the most consecutive Greek Basketball Cup titles (5 seasons from 2004 to 2009).

Panathinaikos is the only team on the European continent to win as many as six Euroleague titles, since the establishment of the modern era Euroleague Final Four format in 1988 (no other club has won more than four Euroleague championships in this period). Overall, and on the basis of the club’s achievements, in both Greece and Europe, Panathinaikos BC is the most successful Greek team ever in the history of Greek sports.

They hold a long-term rivalry with Olympiakos and matches between the two teams are referred to as “Derby of the eternal enemies”.

Notable Players (Former & Current):

Current Roster:

Nick Calathes being the most famous (he played in the NBA until last season), Kuzmic and Pappas should also be known internationally.

Former Players:

Fans:

This is something Panathinaikos is well know for, well, at least in Europe.

You can’t compare the support to the NBA. It is more comparable to European soccer fans. Chanting, cheering, singing, even lighting fireworks (INDOOR!) during the whole game. I’ve had the chance to see them live in the arena before and it is something you have to experience yourself – there are no words that do them (the fans) justice. IT IS UNREAL!

The team, which is famous for their fans’ passionate support, also set a record (broken in 2009) for the highest home game attendance in the history of the Euroleague, which is 20,000 fans, achieved at a home match in OAKA against Benetton Treviso on March 29, 2006, for the second phase of the Euroleague 2005-06.

An attendance of 18,900 fans has also been achieved three times in home matches of the Greens, against Efes Pilsen in 2005 and TAU Cerámica (twice) in 2006. While PAO no longer holds the record for largest Euroleague home crowd, it still holds the honor of being involved in the record match. PAO was the opponent for Partizan Belgrade when it drew 22,567 to Belgrade Arena for a 2009 match. Τhe record was broken again on April 18, 2013 on 4th Euroleague Game (Euroleague 2012-13) against FC Barcelona Bàsquet. It was estimated that the number of viewers reached 30,000 (over 25.000 officially).

(source: wikipedia)