Giannis Giannoulis (alternate spellings: Gioannis, Yannis, Ioannis, Yiannis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Γιάννης Γιαννούλης; born June 5, 1976) is a Greek-Canadian 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. During his playing career, at a height of 2.08 m (6'10") tall, he played at both 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 ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

positions.

Early years

Giannoulis was born on 5 June 1976, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Considered a great young talent at the

position, Giannoulis began playing youth

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

basketball in Greece, with the junior

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

s of Filathlitikos Karditsa and Ampelokipoi. After spending time with the youth teams of

Esperos Kallitheas Esperos (in el, Π.Ο.Κ. Έσπερος) is a sports club in Kallithea (within greater Athens, Greece), founded in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of the country (1941–44). History Started as a football club and participated during World Wa ...

in 1992, he joined the junior team of PAOK Thessaloniki, where he played from 1992 to 1994. With PAOK, he won the Greek Under-18 club championship, in 1994.

Professional career

Europe

Giannoulis began his pro career with the senior men's club of PAOK Thessaloniki. He was an

All-EuroLeague Second 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 ...

member in the EuroLeague 2000–01 season, while playing with PAOK. In the next season, he won the EuroLeague 2001–02 championship, with

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 ...

. A failed

drug test A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of drug ...

, at the end of the 2001–02 season, cost Giannoulis a ban from all European continental competitions for 2 years, which was a great blow to his career.

United States

Giannoulis played with the

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 ...

club 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 ...

, during the 2002–03 NBA

preseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, under the name of "Ioannis Giannoulis". He then signed with the

Yakima SunKings The Yakima SunKings are a basketball team located in Yakima, Washington, covering the central Washington sports market of Yakima, Tri-Cities, and Ellensburg and plays at the Yakima SunDome. The team competed in the Continental Basketball Associa ...

, of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

, in November 2002. He also played with the

Huntsville Flight Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

(later known as the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The f ...

), of the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

, during the 2002–03 season, after joining the club in February 2003. After playing with the Flight in just two games, Giannoulis requested to be waived from the D-League team, and then returned to the Greek League.

Return to Europe

After playing professionally in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during his drug ban, Giannoulis returned to Europe to play in the Greek League, for the 2003–04 season. Giannoulis played with

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'') ...

in the European-wide secondary level EuroCup competition's 2007–08 season, and had a very good individual season; and that same year, in the Greek League 2007–08 season, he helped to lead Panionios to a 3–2 series playoff victory over

Maroussi Marousi or Maroussi ( el, Μαρούσι, also Αμαρούσιο ''Amarousio'') is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was Athmon ...

, in the league's next season's 3rd place EuroLeague qualifier series. He then played with Panionios in the following EuroLeague 2008–09 season. In his club career, Giannoulis played with some of the following European teams: PAOK Thessaloniki,

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 ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintain ...

, and

Doukas The House of Doukas, Latinized as Ducas ( el, Δούκας; feminine: Doukaina/Ducaena, Δούκαινα; plural: Doukai/Ducae, Δοῦκαι), from the Latin title ''dux'' ("leader", "general", Hellenized as 'ðouks'', is the name of a Byzant ...

. During his career, he competed at the highest European

level, the EuroLeague, in a total of eight seasons ( 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2006–07, 2008–09). In those eight seasons, he played in a total of 94 EuroLeague games, in which he averaged 6.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Giannoulis played with the

Cypriot League The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

in the 2009–10 season. After that, he began a long career playing in the Greek

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

, starting with the Greek club Vouliagmeni, in the 2010–11 season.

National team career

Greek junior national team

Giannoulis was a member of the junior national teams of Greece. With Greece's junior national teams, he played 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 ...

, where he won a gold medal. He also played with Greece at the

1994 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 1994 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְ� ...

, and at the

1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship (known at that time as 1996 European Championship for Men 22 and Under') was the third edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Bursa and Istanbul, in Turkey, hosted the tournament ...

Greek senior national team

Giannoulis was also a member of the senior men's Greek national team. He competed with Greece at 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 ...

, and 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 ...

. After being banned from continental competitions for two years, due to a failed drug test, he was removed from the senior Greek national team and he was never recalled to it after that. With Greece's senior national team, he had a total of 63

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

.ΓΙΑΝΝΟΥΛΗΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ .
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References

External links

Official Twitter Account

Euroleague.net ProfileRealGM.com ProfileProBallers.com ProfileEurobasket.com ProfileSpanish League Archive Profile

Greek Basket League Profile

Hellenic Basketball Federation Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giannoulis, Giannis 1976 births Living people AEL Limassol B.C. players Aris B.C. players Baloncesto Málaga players Basketball people from Ontario BC Kyiv players Canadian expatriate basketball people in Spain Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Canadian people of Greek descent Centers (basketball) Doukas B.C. players Esperos B.C. players Greek Basket League players Greek expatriate basketball people in Spain Greek expatriate basketball people in the United States Greek men's basketball players Huntsville Flight players Liga ACB players MENT B.C. players P.A.O.K. BC players Panathinaikos B.C. players Panionios B.C. players Sportspeople from Karditsa Power forwards (basketball) Real Betis Baloncesto players Basketball players from Toronto Yakima Sun Kings players