Georgios Printezis (alternate spelling: Giorgos) ( el, Γεώργιος Πρίντεζης, born February 22, 1985) is a Greek former 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 who spent the majority of his career with

Olympiacos 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 ...

of the

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 ...

and the EuroLeague. Printezis won back to back EuroLeague titles with Olympiacos in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. His game-winning shot against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

at the end of the 2012 EuroLeague Final, off an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

from

Vassilis Spanoulis Vassilis "Billy" Spanoulis ( el, Βασίλης Σπανούλης; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and current basketball coach for Peristeri of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. S ...

, is one of the all-time highlights in the history of the EuroLeague. He earned an

All-EuroLeague First Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

selection in

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. While representing 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 ...

, Printezis was instrumental in the bronze medal run at the

2009 EuroBasket The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

Professional career

Early years

In the 2006–07 season, Printezis was loaned by Olympiacos to Olympia Larissa in the Greek League, where he averaged 11.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. At the Greek All-Star Game weekend that season, he won the slam dunk competition. At the end of that season, he was also voted the Greek League Best Young Player. Following that success, he returned to Olympiacos.

Málaga

In 2009, he signed a 3-year contract with an

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

escape clause after the second year, worth

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

3.6 million euros with the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

club

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after th ...

Return to Olympiacos

On April 27, 2011, Printezis returned to his previous club,

, after being transferred from Málaga. In the EuroLeague's 2011–12 season's

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, he hit a game-winning shot, off an

from

, with .7 seconds remaining on the game clock, to give Olympiacos the EuroLeague championship, with a victory over

. On July 12, 2012, he signed a new three-year contract with Olympiacos. Prior to that, he had considered a three-year, 4.5 million

US dollars The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from Dollar, other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American ...

net income contract from Fenerbahçe Ülker, but he chose to stay with Olympiacos instead. With Olympiacos, he also won the 2012–13 season championship of the EuroLeague. On July 8, 2014, he extended his contract with Olympiacos until 2017. On June 14, 2017, Printezis signed a three-year contract extension with Olympiacos. He signed a one-year extension with the team on June 16, 2020. On July 15, 2021, Olympiacos announced that Printezis had agreed another one-year contract extension. On June 17, 2022, Printezis officially announced his retirement from professional basketball, after winning the

championship with Olympiacos. During his final season with the Reds, he served as the team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

NBA draft rights

Printezis was selected by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

in the second round, with the 58th selection overall of the 2007 NBA draft. The draft rights to Printezis were then acquired by the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

, in exchange for their second round draft pick in the 2008 NBA draft (Spurs used that pick to draft

Goran Dragić Goran Dragić (born 6 May 1986) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Dragon", he had played professional basketball in Slovenia and Spain before entering ...

, and immediately traded Dragić to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

to acquire the draft pick they used in 2009 to draft future

NBA All-Rookie Second Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

member

DeJuan Blair DeJuan Lamont Blair (born April 22, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Pittsburgh Panthers from 2007 to 2009. Blair entered the 2009 NBA draft where he was selected as the 37th overall ...

). On January 20, 2011, the Toronto Raptors traded his draft rights to the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

for Alexis Ajinça, a conditional second 2013 second round draft pick, and cash. On December 10, 2011, the draft rights to Printezis were traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

, along with

Tyson Chandler Tyson Cleotis Chandler (born October 2, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Chandler was drafted directly out of high school as the second overall pick of the 2001 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, then w ...

and the draft rights to

Ahmad Nivins Ahmad Naadir Nivins (born February 10, 1987) is a former American professional basketball player currently working as an assistant coach for the Lakeland Magic of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for Saint Joseph's. High school car ...

, in a three-way trade. The Mavericks received

Andy Rautins Andrew Jay Rautins (born November 2, 1986) is an American-born Canadian professional basketball player who last played for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League. He played for Syracuse University and was drafted by the NBA's New York Knicks in ...

from the Knicks, and a second round pick from the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

. The Wizards received

Ronny Turiaf Ronny Turiaf ( , ; born 13 January 1983) is a French former professional basketball player who played 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Turiaf grew up in France and played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the U ...

from the Knicks, in addition to a Dallas 2012 second round pick, a 2013 Knicks second round pick, and cash considerations. In the summer of 2012, Printezis turned down a one-year contract offer from the Knicks, that reportedly was for slightly more than the minimum

salary. On July 16, 2012, his and

Kostas Papanikolaou Konstantinos "Kostas" Papanikolaou ( gr, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Παπανικολάου; born 31 July 1990) is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroL ...

's draft rights were traded to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

, in a deal that sent

Raymond Felton Raymond Bernard Felton Jr. (born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Felton played college basketball for the University of North Carolina under head coach Roy Williams. At North Carolina, Felton led the Tar Hee ...

to New York. On February 21, 2013, his draft rights were subsequently traded to the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

, in a deal that sent

Eric Maynor Eric Demarqua Maynor (born June 11, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for Virginia Commonwealth ...

to the

. On July 15, 2014, his draft rights and

Thabo Sefolosha Thabo Patrick Sefolosha (; born May 2, 1984) is a Swiss former professional basketball player. He has also played in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder, Atlanta Hawks, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, in the Turkish Basketball ...

, were traded to the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

, in exchange for the draft rights to

Sofoklis Schortsanitis Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Greek: Σοφοκλής Σχορτσανίτης; born 22 June 1985) is a Greek former professional basketball player and Olympian. An All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2011, Schortsanitis won the EuroLeague title ...

, cash considerations, and a trade exception. On July 9, 2015, his draft rights, alongside a 2017 second-round pick, were traded to the Spurs, in exchange for

Tiago Splitter Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player who played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently serving as player development coach for the Brooklyn Nets. A ...

National team career

Greek junior national team

With the junior national teams of Greece, Printezis played at the 2001 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, the

2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the seventh edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The city of Brno, in the Czech Republic, hosted the tournament. Slovenia won their second title. Teams * * * * * * * * * * * * Squads Q ...

, and the

2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the eighth edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The city of Chekhov, in Russia, hosted the tournament. Russia won their first title. Ukraine and the Czech Republic were relegated to Divis ...

Greek senior national team

Printezis was selected to the

that played at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. He won the bronze medal at the

, and he also played at the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

. He was on the Greece national teams that played at the following tournaments: the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2013 EuroBasket, the

2014 FIBA World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

, the

2015 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 S ...

, the

2017 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

, and the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=6,

, 3 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , 3 , , 0 , , .9 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , , .7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , 1 , , 0 , , 5.2 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , -1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , 8 , , 0 , , 8.9 , , .611 , , .500 , , .500 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , .3 , , .0 , , 3.8 , , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , 21 , , 10 , , 19.0 , , .513 , , .238 , , .609 , , 3.2 , , .6 , , .3 , , .2 , , 6.7 , , 6.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , 20 , , 15 , , 18.7 , , .636 , , .500 , , .517 , , 3.3 , , .6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 8.8 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, 12 , , 6 , , 24.2 , , .517 , , .421 , , .750 , , 4.3 , , .8 , , .7 , , .2 , , 11.7 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , 14 , , 8 , , 15.6 , , .386 , , .182 , , .688 , , 2.7 , , .3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 5.6 , , 3.7 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2011–12† , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=10,

, 21 , , 4 , , 21.8 , , .500 , , .310 , , .864 , , 4.1 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .3 , , 10.6 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2012–13† , 29 , , 27 , , 20.9 , , .465 , , .312 , , .750 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .1 , , 10.5 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , 21 , , 14 , , 21.2 , , .443 , , .273 , , .659 , , 4.7 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .2 , , 10.2 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , 20 , , 13 , , 25.1 , , .486 , , .300 , , .696 , , 4.8 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .2 , , 12.2 , , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , 21 , , 20 , , 25.3 , , .561 , , .364 , , .698 , , 5.5 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 14.1 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , 32 , , 32 , , 25.4 , , .468 , , .403 , , .700 , , 5.1 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .2 , , 12.8 , , 14.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , 28 , , 27 , , 25.6 , , .466 , , .343 , , .691 , , 5.5 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .3 , , 12.0 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , 30 , , 26 , , 21.3 , , .480 , , .308 , , .621 , , 5.2 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .2 , , 10.6 , , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , 25 , , 21 , , 21.2 , , .552 , , .371 , , 690 , , 4.3 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , .2 , , 11.8 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 3 , , 2 , , 21.4 , , .700 , , .667 , , 100 , , 3.1 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , .2 , , 12.3 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 312 , , 225 , , 22.5 , , .540 , , .332 , , .689 , , 4.3 , , 1 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 10.4 , , 11.1

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

Olympiacos *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 ...

: (2012, 2013) *

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, also commonly referred to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs, or the FIBA Club World Cup, is a professional basketball clubs competition that is endorsed by FIBA and the NBA. Historically, its purpose has be ...

Champion: (

) *4× Greek League Champion: (2012, 2015, 2016, 2022) *2×

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 (2011, 2022)

Individual

*5× Greek League Best Five: (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) * Greek Youth All-Star Game:

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(2006) *6× Greek League Senior All-Star: (2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019) * Greek All-Star Game Slam Dunk Champion: (2007) * Greek League Best Young Player: (2007) * Greek League Most Improved Player: (2012) * Greek Cup Finals Top Scorer: (2012) * Greek League Women's Favorite Player: (2015) *

: (

) *

EuroLeague MVP of the Month The EuroLeague MVP of the Month is the award of Europe's premier level basketball league, the EuroLeague, for the most valuable player of each month of the season. The award began in the 2004–05 season, after the EuroLeague eliminated the Eur ...

: (April 2015) *3×

EuroLeague MVP of the Round The EuroLeague MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the Round, previously known as the EuroLeague MVP of the Week, is an award of Europe's premier level basketball league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the best player of each round of the season. Eac ...

: * EuroLeague 2010–20 All-Decade Team: 2020 *Olympiacos 2010–20 Team of Decade

Greek senior national team

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

Professional career

Early years

Málaga

Return to Olympiacos

NBA draft rights

National team career

Greek junior national team

Greek senior national team

Career statistics

EuroLeague

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

Individual

Greek senior national team

References

External links