Sotiris "Sotos" Nikolaidis ( el, Σωτήρης "Σώτος" Νικολαΐδης; (born May 25, 1974, in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

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 with ...

), is a retired 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 and current

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

. During 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 ...

playing career, at a height of 1.86 m (6'1 ") tall, he played at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

and

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 ...

positions.

Professional career

Nikolaidis started his youth basketball career in Greece, with HAN Thessaloniki. In 1995, he transferred to 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 ...

club PAOK Thessaloniki, where he played for five years. With PAOK, he also played three seasons in Europe's top level competition, the FIBA EuroLeague ( 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00). Moreover, Nikolaidis also won the

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 ...

title with PAOK, in 1999. In 2000, he moved to the Greek club

Maroussi Athens Maroussi B.C. ( gr, K.A.E. Μαρούσι, link=off) alternately translated as Marousi, Amaroussi, or Amaroussion, is a professional basketball club that is based in Marousi, a northern suburb of Athens, in Greece. The club's full name is Gymnasti ...

, and with them he won the European-wide secondary level

FIBA Saporta 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 ...

's 2000–01 season championship. Nikolaidis was the hero of the 2001

FIBA Saporta Cup Final The FIBA Saporta Cup Finals was the championship finals series of the now defunct FIBA Saporta Cup competition. FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the European-wide second-tier level professional club basketball competition. It was the competition ...

, after he scored the game's two winning points, with

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

s made 15 seconds before the end of the game. He also played in the Greek Basket League with

Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnasticos Syllogos Iraklis ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής, en, Gymnastics Club Heracles), commonly referred to as Iraklis, is a Greek multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki. The club was founded in 1908 as "Mace ...

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 ...

, and

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ( ...

. With AEK, he also played two seasons in Europe's top level EuroLeague ( 2003–04 and 2004–05). Nikolaidis then played with Ilysiakos Athens in the Greek 2nd Division, and in the

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...

level Greek 3rd Division, with

Apollon Patras :''The first version of this article has been based in the text of :el:Α.Σ. Απόλλων of the Greek Wikipedia published under the GFDL.'' A.S. Apollon Patras (Greek:''A.Σ. Απόλλων Πατρών'') is a multi-sports club that is ba ...

. He ended his

playing career in the Greek minor leagues, with HAN Thessaloniki.

National team career

With Greece's Under-16 junior national team, Nikolaidis won the silver medal at the

1991 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 1991 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship (known at that time as 1991 European Championship for Cadets) was the 11th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The cities of Kastoria, Komotini and Thessaloniki, in Greece, hosted the tourna ...

. He also played in one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

(game) with the senior

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 a game against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, at the 1999 FIBA EuroBasket qualification tournament.

Personal life

Nikolaidis' son, Alexandros, is also a professional basketball player.Olympiacos signs youngster Alexandros Nikolaidis.
/ref>

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileHellenic Basketball Federation Profile

Greek Basket League

Greek Basket League Profile

Eurobasket.com ProfileDraftexpress.com ProfileProBallers.com ProfileKapaSports Coach Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolaidis, Sotiris 1974 births Living people AEK B.C. players Apollon Patras B.C. players Basket Napoli players Greek basketball coaches Greek men's basketball players HANTH B.C. coaches HANTH B.C. players Ilysiakos B.C. players Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. players Maroussi B.C. players M.E.N.T. B.C. coaches P.A.O.K. BC players Basketball players from Thessaloniki Point guards Rethymno B.C. players Shooting guards