Michalis Pelekanos (alternate spelling: Mihalis) (

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 ...

: Μιχάλης Πελεκάνος) (born May 25, 1981) is 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who last played for Oiakas Nafpliou of the Greek 2nd Division. He is a 199 cm (6'6") tall

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 ...

Early years and life

Pelekanos was born on 25 May 1981, in Koridalos,

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

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 ...

. At a young age, he began playing the sport of basketball with the youth teams of the Greek sports club

Peristeri Peristeri (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 municipality of Greece by ...

. The

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 ...

is based in

, which is a suburb of Athens.

Professional career

Pelekanos began his

pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...

career in Greece with Peristeri Athens of the Greek League. He later joined the Greek club

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 Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

, followed by the Greek club Panellinios Athens. After a career year at Panellinios, where he made the home crowd fans chant his name during games, due to his exciting defensive plays and highlight reel dunks, Pelekanos moved to the EuroLeague giants Real Madrid of 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 ...

. In 2008, he signed a 3-year contract 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 ...

2.1 million euros net income with the Greek club Olympiacos Piraeus. In August 2009, he was loaned by Olympiacos to the Greek club Maroussi Athens. He won both the EuroLeague and Greek League championships, with Olympiacos in 2012. He then signed with the Greek club

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

, for the 2012–13 season. In July 2014, he moved to the

Romanian League The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

club CSU Ploiești, on a one-year deal. With Ploiești, he won the Romanian League championship. In July 2015, he returned to Aris, signing a two-year contract with the club.Aris brings back Pelekanos.
/ref> He was officially released from the team on July 21, 2016. He then moved to the Greek club

Panionios Athens Panionios G.S.S. (Greek: Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'', is a Greek multi-sport club founded in 1890. Originally ...

, where played for one season, in the Greek 2nd Division.

National team career

Pelekanos was a member of the senior men's Greek national team that competed at the

2007 EuroBasket The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

. He also competed with the Greek national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

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

Hellenic Basketball Federation Profile

Spanish League Profile

Spanish League Archive Profile

Draftexpress.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelekanos, Michalis 1981 births Living people AEK B.C. players Aris B.C. players Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics CSU Asesoft Ploiești players Greek men's basketball players Greek Basket League players Ifaistos Limnou B.C. players Liga ACB players Maroussi B.C. players Oiakas Nafpliou B.C. players Olympiacos B.C. players Olympic basketball players of Greece Panellinios B.C. players Panionios B.C. players Peristeri B.C. players Real Madrid Baloncesto players Shooting guards Small forwards Basketball players from Athens