Dimitrios Papanikolaou (alternate spelling: Dimitris) ( el, Δημήτρης Παπανικολάου; born February 7, 1977 in

Nea Liosia Ilion ( el, Ίλιον; before 1994: Νέα Λιόσια, ''Nea Liosia'') is a suburb in west Athens, Greece. With 85,000 inhabitants (2011), it is one of the largest suburbs of Athens. Geography Ilion lies southeast of the mountain Aigaleo, nor ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

) is a retired Greek professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and a professional

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

. He is 2.02 m (6 ft 7 in) tall. He spent most of his career playing at the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

positions, although he also played at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

position late in his career.

Playing career

Clubs

Papanikolaou began his professional career in 1992 with the Greek club Sporting Athens when he was transferred from the amateur club Asteras Neon Liosion. He then transferred to

Olympiacos Piraeus Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in the year 1995. With Olympiacos, he won 2

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

championships (1996, 1997), 2 Greek Cups (1997, 2002), the EuroLeague championship (

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

), and also the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

(1997). In 1997 summer Papanikolaou left Olympiakos for

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

, but he wasn't free for the Italian club until his 21st birthday. Finally, after 5 months without official action in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, he signed a new contract with Olympiacos. In 2002, he moved to Makedonikos Kozani, and then in 2003, he moved to

Panathinaikos Athens Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club b ...

. With Panathinaikos, they won 4

championships (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), 3 Greek Cups (2005, 2006, 2007), the EuroLeague championship (

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

), and also the

(2007). In 2007, he moved to

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

, in 2009 to

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

, and a year later he joined

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek language, Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 139,981 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the seventh-largest municipali ...

. He announced his retirement from professional basketball on August 22, 2011.

Greece national team

With the

Greece men's national under-16 basketball team Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, Papanikolaou won the gold medal at the

1993 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 1993 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship (known at that time as 1993 European Championship for Cadets) was the 12th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The cities of Trabzon, Giresun and Samsun, in Turkey, hosted the tournament. Gr ...

. With the

Greece men's national under-19 basketball team The Greek men's under-19 national basketball team (Greek youth national basketball team), ( el, Εθνική ομάδα καλαθοσφαίρισης Εφήβων Ελλάδας) is the representative for Greece in men's international youth bask ...

, he also won the gold medal at the

1995 FIBA Under-19 World Cup The 1995 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: 1995 Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19) was the 5th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship. It was held in multiple cities in Greece, from 12 to 22 July 1995. Host country ...

. With the

Greece men's national basketball team The Greece men's national basketball team ( el, Eθνική Oμάδα Καλαθοσφαίρισης Ελλάδος) represents Greece in international basketball. They are controlled by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body for ...

, Papanikolaou competed at the

1998 FIBA World Cup The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

, and finished in 4th place in the world with Greece. He also competed with Greece at the following

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

s: the

1997 EuroBasket The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a ber ...

, the

1999 EuroBasket The 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999, was the 31st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2000 Olympic Tournament, giving a berth ...

, the

2001 EuroBasket The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a b ...

, and the

2003 EuroBasket The 2003 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2003, was the 33rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as the Europe qualifier for the 2004 Summer Olympics, giving a berth ...

. Papanikolaou was also a member of the Greece team at the

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

; and he was also a member of Greece's team at the

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. In both Olympics, Greece managed to finish 5th in the world.

Coaching career

On January 24, 2012, Papanikolaou began his coaching career, as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

, where he stayed for about one month. In the summer of 2012, he became the head coach of Ilysiakos. In 2013, he became an assistant coach for the

. In 2014, he coached the Greece men's national under-17 basketball team at the

2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (Arabic: بطولة العالم لكرة السلة 2014 تحت 17 سنة ) was the 3rd edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship cont ...

Personal life

His hails are from

Preveza Preveza ( el, Πρέβεζα, ) is a city in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located on the northern peninsula at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epiru ...

and

Nafpaktia Nafpaktia ( el, Ναυπακτία), Latinized Naupactia, is the historical name for the region around the port town of Nafpaktos (Naupactus) in Central Greece. It is also the name of a municipality in the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, West G ...

ο Φον Δημητράκης του ελληνικού μπάσκετ
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Honors and accomplishments

Pro career

*6× Greek League Champion: (1996, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) *5×

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

Winner: (1997, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007) *2× EuroLeague

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

: (

) *2×

Champion (1997, 2007) *7× Greek League All-Star (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009) * Greek All-Star Game Slam Dunk Champion: (2001) *

EuroLeague All-Final Four Team The EuroLeague All-Final Four Team, or FIBA SuproLeague All-Final Four Team, was an award given by Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, to the top five basketball players of each season's EuroLeague Final Four competition. The EuroLeag ...

: (

)

Greece junior national team

: *

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileEurobasket.com ProfileDraftexpress.com ProfileGreek Basket League Profile

Hellenic Basketball Federation Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papanikolaou, Dimitrios 1977 births Living people AEK B.C. coaches AEK B.C. players Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Greek basketball coaches Greek Basket League players Greek men's basketball players Ilysiakos B.C. coaches Makedonikos B.C. players Olympiacos B.C. players Olympic basketball players of Greece Panathinaikos B.C. players Panionios B.C. players Basketball players from Athens Power forwards (basketball) Shooting guards Small forwards Sporting basketball players 1998 FIBA World Championship players