Giorgos Kolokithas (alternate spelling: ''Georgios'' and ''Kolokythas''; el, Γεώργιος (Γιώργος) Κολοκυθάς; November 2, 1945 – March 2, 2013) was a 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. He is considered one of the best scorers and players in Greek basketball history. He was named one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

in 1991.

Club career

Kolokithas played in his

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 ...

career with the Greek clubs Sporting and

Panathinaikos 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 ba ...

. While playing with Panathinaikos, he won 4 Greek League championships (1967, 1969, 1971, 1972). He scored a total of 3,529 points in the Greek League, having a personal record game of 51 points. In 1964, 1966, and 1967, he was the Greek League Top Scorer. In European-wide club competition, with Panathinaikos, he made it to the semifinals of the

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

(FIBA Saporta Cup) in 1969, and the semifinals of the FIBA European Champions' Cup ( EuroLeague) in 1972. He was a member of the

FIBA European Selection FIBA All-Star Games were all-star basketball exhibition games, which were also known as "FIBA Festivals". The "FIBA Festival All-Star Games" were held from 1964 to 1995. The FIBA European Selection teams won most of the FIBA Festival All-Star Ga ...

in 1970. He retired at age 28, after suffering a knee injury.

National team career

Kolokithas played in 90 games 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 ...

and scored 1,807 points. He had 25

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 ...

(games) in

FIBA 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 ...

games, and he scored 492 points (19.7 per game) in those games. At

FIBA EuroBasket 1967 The 1967 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1967, was the fifteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues First round Group A – Helsinki Group B – Tampere Knockout ...

, he was the Top Scorer of the tournament, scoring 206 points (22.9 per game). At

FIBA EuroBasket 1969 The 1969 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1969, was the sixteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. First round Group A – Caserta Group B – Naples Knockout stage Pla ...

, he repeated his success, being the Top Scorer of the tournament, with 159 points (22.7 per game). In 1971, Kolokithas retired from the Greece national squad, after scoring 35 points in his last game against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He later became the president of all the Greece national teams, and the vice-president of the

Hellenic Basketball Federation The Hellenic Basketball Federation ( el, Ελληνική Ομοσπονδία Καλαθοσφαίρισης, abbreviated as Ε.Ο.Κ.) is the main basketball governing body for the sport in Greece. It directs and oversees all of the national ba ...

Awards and accomplishments

Pro career

*3× Greek League Top Scorer: (1964, 1966, 1967) *4× Greek League Champion: (1967, 1969, 1971, 1972) *

: (1970) *

: (1991)

Greece national team

*2×

FIBA EuroBasket Top Scorer The FIBA EuroBasket Top Scorer is the FIBA Europe honor that is bestowed upon the leading scorer of each FIBA EuroBasket tournament. Radivoj Korać and Nikos Galis hold the scoring king record, finishing as the EuroBasket's top scorer on four oc ...

: (

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

)

Death

Kolokithas died, after suffering a heart attack, on March 2, 2013.Greek basketball is mourning the death of legend Kolokithas
article on Euroleague.net, March 02, 2013.

References

External links

Hellenic Basketball Federation Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolokithas, Giorgos 1945 births 2013 deaths Greek Basket League players Greek men's basketball players Panathinaikos B.C. players Power forwards (basketball) Sporting basketball players Sportspeople from Corinth