Georgios Papagiannis (

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 ...

: Γιώργος Παπαγιάννης; born July 3, 1997) 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 and the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

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. Born in

Marousi 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 History of Athens, ancient Athenian Republic; its ancie ...

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, he is a 7 ft 2 in (2.20 m) tall

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 eccentrici ...

, with a 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

. His nicknames are "PG", "Big Papa" and "Big George". He is also a member of the senior National Team of Greece. He was selected 13th overall in the 2016 NBA draft by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

, before having his draft rights traded to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

Early years and high school career

Papagiannis was born in

, a northern suburb of

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 ...

, and spent his early years in

Megara Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, befo ...

, in the western region of Athens. Papagiannis played at the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

International Game in 2013. He announced that he was committing to

Westtown School Westtown School is a Quaker, coeducational, college preparatory day and boarding school for students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, 20 miles west of Philadelphia. Founded in 1799 b ...

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the 2010 census. West Chester is the mailing address for most of its neighb ...

, in May 2013. He then attended school and played basketball at Westtown, during the 2013–14 academic school year and basketball season, as a high school junior. After his junior year of high school in the United States, he transferred to the American School in

Athens, Greece 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 ...

, for his senior year of high school.

Professional career

Peristeri (2012–2013)

Papagiannis made his senior men's club debut with

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 ...

on January 5, 2012, at the age of 14, in a

2011–12 season game against

. He became the youngest player to ever play in the modern era of the Greek Basket League (since the league first became fully

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

, under the organization of HEBA, starting with the 1992–93 season). He also spent the entire 2012–13 season with Peristeri.

Panathinaikos (2014–2016)

On June 25, 2014, Papagiannis signed with

on a multi-year deal, yet there was a player option in the contract, which allowed him to leave Panathinaikos for a US college during the summer of 2015. Papagiannis, considered to be one of the biggest young European talent prospects, received scholarship offers from 17 USA colleges, including

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, St. John's, and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. On July 8, 2015, it was announced that Papagiannis had chosen to continue playing for Panathinaikos. His Panathinaikos contract included a €500,000

euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . T ...

buyout option. Papagiannis was a member of the Panathinaikos teams that won both the 2015 edition and the 2016 edition of 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 ...

. He also played in six games with Panathinaikos during the 2015–16 EuroLeague season competition, where he averaged 1.5 points and 1.7 rebounds per game, in 5 minutes per game. In the 2015–16 Greek League season, he averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, in 11.5 minutes per game, in 23 games played.

Sacramento Kings (2016–2018)

In April 2016, Papagiannis entered the 2016 NBA draft, and was projected as a mid-to-late second round pick, but he also garnered interest as a late first round pick. However, on June 23, Papagiannis was selected with the 13th overall pick by the

, becoming the highest drafted Greek player ever. His rights were later traded to the

on draft night, and in July, he joined the Kings for the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week ...

. On July 15, 2016, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Kings. On November 5, 2016, he made his NBA debut in a 117–91 loss to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, recording two points and one rebound in six minutes off the bench. On March 18, 2017, he had his first double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the Kings' 110–94 loss to the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

. During his rookie season, he had multiple assignments with the

Reno Bighorns Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. On February 8, 2018, Papagiannis was waived by the Kings.

Portland Trail Blazers (2018)

On March 8, 2018, Papagiannis signed a 10-day contract with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

. Despite not playing a single game for Portland at the end of his 10-day contract, Papagiannis signed a two-year contract on March 18. He appeared in one game with the Blazers. Papagiannis was waived by the Blazers after the end of the 2018 NBA Summer League.

Return to Panathinaikos (2018–present)

On July 20, 2018, Papagiannis officially returned to

, after signing a contract with the team for 5 years, with the last 2 years of the contract being team options. The contract also included an

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 ...

opt-out option, after the third year of the contract.

National team career

Greek junior national team

With the Greek Under-16 junior national team, Papagiannis played at the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, which he led in blocks per game. He also played with Greece at the 2013 TBF Under-16 World Cup in Sakarya, Turkey, where he helped Greece win the gold medal. He also played at the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, where he won the bronze medal and was named to the All-Tournament Team, after leading the tournament in blocks per game. Papagiannis also played at the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, and the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he was voted to the All-Tournament Team.

Greek senior national team

Papagiannis became a member of 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 2017. He 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 ...

, and at the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualification.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 22 , , 0 , , 16.1 , , .549 , , .000 , , .857 , , 3.9 , , .9 , , .1 , , .8 , , 5.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 16 , , 0 , , 7.4 , , .415 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.3 , , .6 , , .1 , , .4 , , 2.1 , - class="sortbottom" , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 1 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 39 , , 0 , , 12.2 , , .514 , , .000 , , .857 , , 3.2 , , .7 , , .2 , , .6 , , 4.1

European Leagues

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , align="left" ,

, EuroLeague , 6 , , 5.0 , , .308 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .3 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , align="left" ,

, EuroLeague , 26 , , 12.1 , , .694 , , .000 , , .556 , , 2.8 , , .2 , , .3 , , .6 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , align="left" ,

, EuroLeague , 27 , , 17.5 , , .620 , , .000 , , .667 , , 4.7 , , .2 , , .4 , , .9 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, align="left" ,

, 31 , , 21.4 , , .634 , , .000 , , .814 , , 5.7 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , 1.3 , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, align="left" ,

, EuroLeague , 32 , , 21.9 , , .652 , , .125 , , .667 , , 5.4 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 1.6 , , 8.8 , - , -class=sortbottom , align="center" colspan=2 , Career , All Leagues , 122 , , 17.9 , , .637 , , .071 , , .711 , , 4.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , 1.1 , , 7.4

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

*2× Greek League Champion: (

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 ...

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- ...

) *4×

Winner: (

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 ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

) *2× Greek League All-Star: (2019, 2020) * Greek All-Star Game Slam Dunk Contest Winner: (2020)

Greek junior national team

* 2012 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: Blocked Shots Leader *2013 TBF Under-16 World Cup: * 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: * 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: All-Tournament Team * 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: Blocked Shots Leader * 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: , All-Tournament Team

Early years and high school career

Professional career

Peristeri (2012–2013)

Panathinaikos (2014–2016)

Sacramento Kings (2016–2018)

Portland Trail Blazers (2018)

Return to Panathinaikos (2018–present)

National team career

Greek junior national team

Greek senior national team

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

European Leagues

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

Greek junior national team

References

External links