101 Greats of European Basketball

The man who
changed the Greek
League
Greece became the 1987 European national
champion in Piraeus and during
that decade discovered its biggest
star in Nikos Galis, who arrived from
the United States to give a big boost to
Greek basketball. However, experts may
debate whether the big explosion of the Greek League
started with the arrival of Zarko Paspalj. Simply put,
he was the first foreign superstar to play in the league.
After him, many followed, and Greek teams have since
won the EuroLeague title eight times. But someone
had to be the first to show the others the way.
Paspalj coming to Olympiacos in September of 1991
was the first stone of a big project that sought to turn
the Greek League into one of the best in Europe. I was a
direct witness to Paspalj’s arrival. Back then, I was the
director of Kos, a basketball magazine in Belgrade, and
I was invited to his presentation in Athens. I traveled together
with Zarko and his wife Milka. Not even he knew
what was in store for him. In the old Athens airport, in
the Glyfada area, thousands of fans were awaiting their
new idol. The famous trumpet with the well-known
melody of the Olympiacos fans welcomed the new star.
The official act was also spectacular. Without scoring
a single point or even wearing the jersey, Paspalj was
already a superstar.
It’s true that Paspalj came to Olympiacos, at 25 years
old, with an already successful career. He was a member
of the great Yugoslav national team; he had played
in a more-than-talented Partizan club; and he had been
among the European pioneers in the NBA. A highly-rated
player, Paspalj was a modern forward, a player ahead of
his time. With a height of 2.07 meters, he was a forward
by definition, but he was very versatile and fast, with
big hands. He was left-handed, which always made it a
little more difficult for defenders. He had a good shot,
but his speed allowed him to get quick fastbreak points. I
already lost count of the times I saw, in both Partizan and
the Yugoslav national team, Vlade Divac take a rebound
and fire a long pass to his great friend Paspalj, who was
already on his way to the opponent’s basket. His talent
would serve to revolutionize basketball in Greece.
“He is one of the most important foreign players in
the history of Greek basketball, and many people here
think that Paspalj has to be ranked No. 1 for everything
he has done for his teams and the whole Greek
basketball system,” my colleague, the eminent Greek
basketball journalist Vassilis Skountis, told me. “But it
was not only his basketball class and his special style as
a left-hander and a point-scoring machine. The fans fell
in love with him because of his personality, dedication
and great character.”
From Podgorica to Belgrade
Zarko Paspalj is Montenegrin, born on March 27 of
1966 in the small town of Pljevlja, like the great coach
Bogdan Tanjevic. When he was 10 years old, his family
moved to Podgorica, where Zarko started playing for
the youth categories at Buducnost. There, he met Luka
Pavicevic and Zdravko Radulovic, two future stars of
Yugoslav basketball. Paspalj made his debut in the first
division at only 17 years old, in the 1983-84 season,
101 greats of european basketball
Zarko Paspalj
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