Nikolaos "Nikos" Pappas (

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 ...

: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Παππάς, born July 11, 1990) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

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 ...

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. He stands at meters of height and plays 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 ...

position.

Early years

Pappas is from

Aidipsos Aidipsos ( el, Αιδηψός, ) is a village and a former municipality in Euboea, Greece. The municipality Aidipsos was founded in 1997 by the merger of the municipality Loutra Aidipsou with the communities Agios ''Agios'' ( el, Άγιος), p ...

in where he grew up. He started his career from the local club Syllas.Then, he transferred to Locros Atalanti. His mother is Greek Cypriot from

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...

Professional career

Pappas made his professional debut in the Greek League with

Panellinios Panellinios G.S. (Greek (language), Greek: Πανελλήνιος Γ.Σ.), full name, Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos (Greek (language), Greek: Πανελλήνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος), is a Greece, Greek sports club, mult ...

, during the 2006–07 season. He made his debut in Europe's continent-wide second-tier level competition, the EuroCup, with Panellinios, during the 2007–08 season. He signed a 5-year contract with the Spanish League club

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Bilba ...

in 2008. He was loaned to the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, Real Madrid B, of the Spanish 4th Division, for the 2008–09 season. He was loaned to the Greek League club Kolossos Rodou for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons. He was named the 2010 Greek League Best Young Player. In February 2012, he joined PAOK. He moved 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'') ...

for the 2012–13 season. With Panionios, he was the Greek League Top Scorer, and a member of the Greek League Best Five, in 2013.

Panathinaikos (2013–2020)

On 20 June 2013, Pappas joined the Greek club

. He was announced as a new player of Panathinaikos, for the following three seasons, along with his

teammate

Vlado Janković Vladimir "Vlado" Janković ( gr, Βλαδίμηρος "Βλάντο" Γιάνκοβιτς, Vladimiros "Vlando" Yankovits, sr, Владимир "Владо" Јанковић; born March 3, 1990) is a Greek-Serbian professional basketball player fo ...

. During his second season with Panathinaikos, Pappas switched his jersey number from 15 to 11. On 22 April 2015, after winning his first

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 ...

award, after the third week's game of the EuroLeague playoffs, in which he scored 25 points 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 ...

, it was officially announced that Pappas had renewed his contract with Panathinaikos, until 2018. On 16 May 2015, Pappas suffered a torn ACL injury, and a tear of his meniscus, in a Greek League game against Kolossos Rodou, after falling awkwardly, after being fouled on a play by Vassilis Toliopoulos. He was operated on the day after, and his return to playing basketball was scheduled at 5–6 months time, at the earliest. On November 30, 2015, in a Greek League game against

Lavrio Laurium or Lavrio ( ell, Λαύριο; grc, Λαύρειον (later ); before early 11th century BC: Θορικός ''Thorikos''; from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greec ...

, Pappas made his first re-appearance in an official game, 6-and-a-half months after his injury. He scored 2 points in the game. During a press conference on July 3, 2020, it was confirmed by the team's new head coach

Georgios Vovoras Georgios Vovoras (alternate spellings: Giorgos, Yiorgos, Yorgos) ( el, Γιώργος Βόβορας; born January 18, 1977) is a Greek professional basketball coach, who is currently an assistant coach for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket Leag ...

that Pappas was parting ways with the Athenian club after seven seasons.

Hapoel Jerusalem (2020)

On September 23, 2020, Pappas signed with

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

for the duration of the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

Final-8.

Basket Zielona Góra (2021)

On February 23, 2021, he signed with Stelmet Zielona Góra of the Polish League.

AEK (2021–2022)

On August 16, 2021, Pappas signed with

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 ...

of the

. He was constantly plagued by injuries and he also spent the final stretch of the season under suspension, after falling out with new coach Curro Segura, who took over the team after

Stefanos Dedas Stefanos Dedas (Greek: Στέφανος Δέδας; born May 10, 1982) is a Greek ''(from Vafiochori, Kilkis)'' professional basketball head coach. He is currently the assistant coach for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. Coaching career C ...

signed with

. In 12 league games, he averaged 12.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals, playing around 27 minutes per contest.

Final season with Panathinaikos (2022–present)

After assisting the team in the pre-season, on December 3, 2022, Pappas was signed on for the rest of the 2022–2023 campaign in order to close out his playing career with his beloved

. Reportedly, he pledged to donate the entirety of his contract pay to the sanitation workers at the

Athens Olympic Stadium The Olympic Stadium of Athens " Spyros Louis" ( el, Ολυμπιακό Στάδιο Αθηνών "Σπύρος Λούης", ''Olympiakó Stádio Athinon "Spyros Louis"'') is a sports stadium in Athens, Greece. It is a part of the Athens Olympic ...

complex.

National team career

Greek junior national team

As a member of the junior national basketball teams of Greece, Pappas won the silver medal at the

2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Spain in 2007. Final ranking 1. 2. Greece 3. Latvia 4. Lithuania 5. Spain 6. France 7. Croatia 8. Turkey 9. Germany 10. Russia 1 ...

. He was named the

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 ...

of the 2008

Albert Schweitzer Tournament The Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST) is an international basketball competition that is played between national basketball teams of the Under-18 men age category. It takes place every two years in Mannheim, Germany, and is contested between t ...

, where he also helped lead Greece to defeat Team USA Under-18 during the tournament, by scoring 27 points in the game against the USA. He also won the gold medal at the

2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Greece from July 25, 2008 until August 3. The hosts, Greeks, emerged as the champions after beating the Lithuanians in the final, 57–50 to clinch th ...

, where he was also voted to the All-Tournament Team. Pappas also played at the 2009

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international men's basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year since 1995, except from 2001–2003, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of internationa ...

, where he helped the World Select Team to defeat Team USA 97–89. He also won the silver medal at the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Cup with Greece's junior national team, where he was also voted to the All-Tournament Team. Pappas also won the gold medal at the

2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the 12th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Rhodes and Ialysos, in Greece, hosted the tournament. Greece won their second title. Israel and Belgium were relegated to Divis ...

and the silver medal at the

2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship was the 13th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The cities of Zadar, Crikvenica and Makarska, in Croatia, hosted the tournament. France won their first title. Netherlands and the Czech Rep ...

, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading the tournament in scoring.

Greek senior national team

Pappas first trained with the senior men's

Greek 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 ...

in 2010. In the summer of 2016, it was reported that Pappas was interested in playing with the senior

Cypriot national basketball team The Cyprus men's national basketball team ( el, Εθνική ομάδα μπάσκετ της Κύπρου) represents Cyprus in international basketball, and is controlled by the Cyprus Basketball Federation. The national team is coached by Chr ...

, due to his mother's

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

origins.Rumours about Pappas' desire to play for Cyprus national team.
/ref> However, in 2017, he was re-called to Greece's senior national team. On 19 August 2017, he scored 22 points (career high with the senior Greek NT) in a

friendly game Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, in London. He then played with Greece at the

EuroBasket 2017 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 ...

Player profile

Pappas began his career playing as a

combo guard A combo guard is a basketball player who combines the attributes of a point guard (1) and shooting guard (2), but does not necessarily fit the standard description of either position. In men's basketball, such guards are usually within the 6' 3" ...

with the junior national teams of Greece, and in his early

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. After maturing as a player, he became more of a pure

who can occasionally operate as a

swingman A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport. Basketball In basketball, the term “swingman” (a.k.a. “wing” or “guard-forward”) denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forwa ...

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 2 , , 8.6 , , .467 , , .385 , , .750 , , .8 , , .5 , , .3 , , .1 , , 4.8 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 22 , , 1 , , 20.3 , , .487 , , .387 , , .909 , , 2.3 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , .1 , , 10.8 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 5 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .444 , , .000 , , .700 , , .4 , , .4 , , .0 , , .0 , , 3.0 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 29 , , 2 , , 17.2 , , .426 , , .260 , , .764 , , 1.6 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .1 , , 5.5 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 32 , , 1 , , 17.6 , , .423, , .324 , , .776 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .6 , , .4 , , 8.2 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 19 , , 5 , , 17.9 , , .342 , , .271 , , .826 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .0 , , 6.8 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Panathinaikos , 10 , , 2 , , 11.6 , , .417 , , .375 , , .750 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.4 , , 3.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 130 , , 13 , , 14.5 , , .507 , , .316 , , .808 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.2 , , 5.2

Awards and accomplishments

Pro career

* Greek League Best Young Player: (2010) *4× Greek League All-Star: (2013, 2014, 2018, 2020) * Greek League All-Star Game MVP: (2014) * Greek League Top Scorer: (2013) * Greek League Best Five: (2013) *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: (2014,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) *5× Greek League Champion: (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

) *

: 2015 (Playoff Game 3)

Greek junior national team

*2007 ISF World Schools' Championship: *2007 ISF World Schools' Championship: Top Scorer *2007 ISF World Schools' Championship: MVP (40 points in the final) *

: *2008

: *2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament: Top Scorer *2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament:

: *2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: All-Tournament Team * 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Cup: *2009 FIBA Under-19 World Cup: All-Tournament Team *

: *

: *2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: Top Scorer *2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship: All-Tournament Team

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileEurobasket.com ProfileGreek Basket League Profile

Greek Basket League Profile

Spanish League Profile

Draftexpress.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pappas, Nikos 1990 births Living people AEK B.C. players Basket Zielona Góra players Bilbao Basket players Cypriot men's basketball players Greek Basket League players Greek expatriate basketball people in Spain Greek men's basketball players Kolossos Rodou B.C. players Liga ACB players Panathinaikos B.C. players Panellinios B.C. players Panionios B.C. players P.A.O.K. BC players Basketball players from Athens People from Euboea Shooting guards