101 Greats of European Basketball

season, but when in mid-December he got the call from
“his” CSKA, he didn’t hesitate. He helped the team
reach the London Final Four, but in the semifinals, they
fell to his other club, Olympiacos, 69-52, on its way to
the title.
The duel against FC Barcelona for third place, a 74-
73 win, was the last important game in the long and
brilliant career of Theo Papaloukas. After those last 40
minutes as an active player, Papaloukas said:
“I am fortunate because my career started in a team
from the Athens regional league, Ethnikos Ellinoroson,
and I have been able to live all the basketball experiences
with the Greek national team, CSKA, Olympiacos and
Maccabi. A career like that is a blessing and a privilege
for any player. It is a very emotional moment for me. I
try to control myself and it’s not easy. My family is here
with me. It was a beautiful moment and I am happy it
ended up with a win.”
Triumph in Belgrade
When Papaloukas took to the streets of Athens at
10 years old to celebrate Greece’s title, the last thing
that could have crossed his mind was that he would repeat
the feat at EuroBasket 2005 with a win in Belgrade.
In the title game, Greece defeated Germany and its star,
Dirk Nowitzki, by a score of 78-62 with a great team effort.
But the key man was Papaloukas, with 22 points on
almost perfect shooting (6 of 10 twos, 3 of 4 threes and
1 of 2 free throws), 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
He committed only 1 turnover in 34 minutes, the same
playing time as Nikos Zisis. The win was in the hands of
the guards, especially Papaloukas. The all-tournament
team was formed by Papaloukas, Diamantidis, Nowitzki,
Juan Carlos Navarro and Boris Diaw.
One year later, the golden generation of Greece also
made it to the 2006 World Cup title game in Japan after
knocking off the favorite, Team USA, in the semis by
a 101-95 score. Spanoulis was the top scorer with 22
points, follows by Kakiouzis with 15, Sofoklis Schortsanitis
with 14 and Diamantidis with 12. But Papaloukas,
who scored 8, was pulling all the strings, dishing 12
of Greece’s 19 assists and pulling 5 rebounds – second-best
on the team – in 33 minutes. Alas, in the final,
Greece fell big to a great Spain with a painful loss, 70-
47, but those silver medals were more than well earned.
At the end of that year, FIBA Europe chose its Player of
the Year: Theo Papaloukas.
Final Four records
I was fortunate enough to follow Papaloukas for
many years. I saw him in all his Final Fours, in the EuroBaskets
of 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007, the Olympic
Games of 2004 and many EuroLeague games. I was
always fascinated by his way of playing: everything he
did looked easy, natural, logical. He was a very smart
player and his ideas were as fast as his passes. His
shooting was lethal for the rivals, and his penetrations
with changes of direction were unstoppable.
Of course, the EuroLeague All-Decade Team for
2001 to 2010 could not be imagined without Papaloukas.
He is there alongside Dejan Bodiroga, Dimitris
Diamantidis, J.R. Holden, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Trajan
Langdon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Anthony Parker, Ramunas
Siskauskas and Nikola Vujcic.
He would have gladly come off the bench for that
team, too, but more likely than not – even in that superstar
company – Theo Papaloukas would have been on
the court at the end of any important game, as he was
at all the big moments of his unique career.
101 greats of european basketball
Theodoros Papaloukas
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