page_title: Basketball in Greece
section_title: Notable foreign basketball players in Greece
hierarchical_section_title: Basketball in Greece / Notable foreign basketball players in Greece
caption_attribution_description: English: Dominique Wilkins during Euroleague semifinal (Greek league game 1995/96) against CSKA Moscow
context_page_description: Basketball in Greece erupted with the senior men's Greek national team's win at the EuroBasket 1987 in Athens, which caused a general basketball euphoria in the country. Since then, men's Greek national teams have reached constant 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 national team's triumph in 1987, Greece won a gold medal at the EuroBasket 2005, silver medals at the EuroBasket 1989 and the 2006 FIBA World Cup, as well as the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2009.
  At the professional club level, Greek men's basketball clubs have, at European Cup competitions, under both FIBA Europe and Euroleague Basketball, won 17 European championships, 9 of which have been at the 1st-tier EuroLeague level, as well as two world club championships at the FIBA Club World Cup, bringing the total amount of international titles won by Greek men's clubs to 19. At the women's professional club level, Athinaikos won the title of the 2nd-tier EuroCup in 2010.
context_section_description: With the financial rise of the professional men's club basketball competition, the Greek Basket League, during the 1990s, and the media interest for the league in Greece that was generated by large television viewership – there came a desire among viewers and fans to see Greek clubs bring in professional basketball players from abroad. Due to the Alpha 1 League's (its name at the time) immigration provisions, top foreign prospects chose the path of naturalization, in order to circumvent the league's rules. Among them were players from the former Yugoslavia, like Peja Stojaković and Marko Jarić, and from the ex-USSR, like Tiit Sokk. With the Bosman ruling in Europe in 1995, the Greek sports market was finally opened to foreign players, and as a result, today major players from around the world are active in the Basket League. The most notable foreign player that has played in the Greek League, is probably the American player Dominique Wilkins, who scored more than 26,000 points in the NBA, and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He left the Boston Celtics in 1995, and signed with Panathinaikos. Another well-known American player that moved to the Greek League, was the three-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, Byron Scott, who later became a head coach in the NBA. A super talent who moved to Greece from the NBA was Roy Tarpley. In 1986, Tarpley was selected by the Dallas Mavericks, in the first round, with the seventh (7th) overall pick of the 1986 NBA draft. Tarpley made the NBA All-Rookie Team in his first season, and won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award the following year, when he averaged 13.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. In 1991, he was banned from the league for violating the NBA's drug-use policies, and in the 1992–93 season, he decided to come to the Greek League, first for Sato Aris, and then for Olympiacos. Some of the other prominent American players that moved to the Greek League, were Ken Barlow, Walter Berry, Rolando Blackman, P. J. Brown, Antonio Davis, Tony Delk, Eddie Johnson, Jeff Malone, Audie Norris, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, David Rivers, the four-time NBA champion John Salley, the two-time NBA champion Cliff Levingston, the future NBA head coach Scott Skiles, and Mitchell Wiggins.
  Three of the most significant foreign European players in the history of the Basket League, are the Serbian player Dejan Bodiroga, the Croatian player Dino Rađja, and the Lithuanian player Šarūnas Jasikevičius. All three were named among the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors in 2008, and Bodiroga and Jasikevičius were also named to the EuroLeague 2001–10 All-Decade Team. Bodiroga, a two-time FIBA World Cup champion, and a three-time EuroBasket champion, played for four years with Panathinaikos, and with them he won the EuroLeague championship twice. Despite the fact that he never played in the NBA, he was widely regarded as one of the world's best players at that time. Following a successful NBA career, Rađja moved to the Greek League, and he later became one of the few players to star for both of the arch-rivals Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. Jasikevičius, who is widely considered one of the best European players of all-time, also moved from the NBA to the Greek League. Another well-known foreign European player to play in the Greek League was the Serbian player Dejan Tomašević.
  Other well-known foreign European players that have played in the Greek League include: the Serbs Boban Janković, Žarko Paspalj, Željko Rebrača, Zoran Savić, the Croats Arijan Komazec, Stojko Vranković, Zdravko Radulović, Damir Mulaomerović, and Nikola Vujčić, the Slovenes Rasho Nesterović and Jure Zdovc. As well as the Lithuanians Artūras Karnišovas, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, and Linas Kleiza. As well as the Frenchman Jim Bilba, the Ukrainian Alexander Volkov, and the Montenegrin Nikola Peković.
  There have also been some other notable foreign players that have played in the Greek League. Some of them include players like: the Puerto Rican player José "Piculín" Ortiz, the Israeli Oded Kattash, the German Michael Ko
caption: Dominique Wilkins
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