Nick Galis

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Nikos Galis
Νίκος Γκάλης
Nickname Nik The Greek
Position Shooting Guard
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
League Greek League/Euroleague (retired)
Number 6
Born July 23, 1957 (1957-07-23) (age 50)
Flag of New JerseyFlag of the United States New Jersey, USA
Nationality Greek / American
College Seton Hall University
Draft 68th overall, 1979
Boston Celtics
Pro career 1979–1994
Former teams Aris (1979–1992)
Panathinaikos (1992–1994)
Awards
FIBA Europe European Player of the Year 1987
Eurobasket 1987 MVP
4-time Greek League MVP: (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
5-time Greek League playoff MVP: (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
6-time Greek Cup MVP: (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993)
Greek Basketball Hall of Fame
FIBA Hall of Fame (2007)
50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors 2008
Medal record
Competitor for Flag of Greece Greece
European Championships
Gold 1987 Greece Greece
Silver 1989 Yugoslavia Greece

Nick Galis (born July 23, 1957 in New Jersey, USA), known in Greece as Nikos Galis (Greek: Νίκος Γκάλης), is a retired Greek American basketball player, a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame[1] and regarded as one of Europe's all-time greats in the sport and the greatest European scorer of all time. With his unbelievable performances on the basketball court and his rare professionalism, Galis grew into a living legend in Greece and is considered by many Greeks to be the greatest athlete the country has ever known.

Contents

[edit] Early Years

The child of a poor immigrant family from Rhodes, Greece, Nick took up boxing in his early years, his father George Georgalis having been a very good boxer in his youth. He was persuaded to give up boxing by his mother, who was shaking with fright every afternoon that her son would return with a new facial injury. So he started being interested in basketball and enrolled in Union Hill High School in Union City, New Jersey. [2]

Later on he was admitted to Seton Hall University as a college basketball player. In his senior season, Galis, by now a shooting guard, saw his scoring average reach 27.5 points per game and his name ranked third among the leading 1978-1979 NCAA Division I College Basketball scorers, behind Larry Bird and Lawrence Butler. Galis' agent, Bill Manon, who also managed Diana Ross, did not have Galis work out with any NBA teams.[3] Galis was eventually selected by the Boston Celtics in the 4th round of the 1979 NBA Draft, 68th overall.[4]

Due to a severe injury that he suffered during the Celtics pre-season training camp, the franchise was no longer interested in offering him a contract because Gerald Henderson had taken his place[3] and his injury would keep him out for the foreseeable future. It was then that Galis decided to pursue a professional career in Greece's A1 League. A move that would change his life forever.

[edit] Career in Greece

[edit] Greek National Team

Galis made the move across the Atlantic and signed to play with Aris of Thessaloniki, Greece in 1979. Panathinaikos and Olympiacos had also shown some interest in signing the newcomer, but it was Aris' interest that was the most vivid.[5] His return to the country helped Greek basketball reach heights never before imagined, as he led the Greek National Team to the Eurobasket 1987 first place and gold medal. Galis averaged 37.0 points per game during the tournament. He was the tournament's MVP and he scored 40 points in the final game against the Soviet Union National Team and it's legendary star player Šarūnas Marčiulionis during Greece's 103-101 victory.

He also led Greece to the second place and silver medal at the Eurobasket 1989. He averaged 35.6 points per game in that tournament. Galis participated in the 1986 FIBA World Championship, where he again led all players in scoring average with 33.0 points per game. In that tournament he had a 53 point outburst in a game against the Panama National Team. In addition to being remembered for the Eurobasket 1987 final game against the Soviet Union National Team in which he scored 40 points, Galis is also remembered for a stunning effort against the same Soviet team led by Marčiulionis and its other legendary star player Arvydas Sabonis, in the Eurobasket 1989 semi-final game, where he scored 45 out of his team's 81 total points in a dramatic, last-gasp 81-80 victory.[6]

[edit] Aris Thessaloniki

Averaging more than 30 points per game every season, Galis was the indisputable leader of Aris BC. Playing alongside other great players at Aris such as Panagiotis Giannakis and Slobodan Subotić, Galis won 8 Greek Championships (7 of them consecutively and 3 undefeated, in the years 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991), 6 Greek Cups (4 of them consecutively, in the years 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992), and led Aris to 3 consecutive appearances at the European Champions' Cup Final Four (1988-1990). In the one disappointment of an otherwise glittering career with Aris, all three European Champions' Cup appearances ended in defeat in the semi-finals, thus depriving him of the opportunity to shine on Europe's biggest club stage.[7]The team's performances and general standard of play however won the heart of every basketball fan in Greece, as well as creating thousands more Aris supporters. Indeed, cinemas and theaters would often reduce their admission prices on Thursday evenings when Aris was playing and the entire country settled down to watch them on television.

[edit] Panathinaikos Athens

After a disappointing season in 1992, Galis was forced to leave Aris.[8] The new president of Aris and the fact that the team was then in decay were the main causes for his departure. Galis, who adored Thessaloniki, insisted about remaining in the club and playing for the team, as he believed that he still could offer much. Giorgos Rampotas, his personal trainer and friend, writes in "Galis' Biography" that Thessaloniki was what mattered most to Galis. Consequently, after he was forced to leave he even contemplated playing for Aris' greatest opponent PAOK, but he never actually decided to do so.[9]

Galis ended up moving to Athens, and specifically Panathinaikos, where he only managed to win one Greek Cup in 1993, his 7th Greek Cup. The following year, he returned to the European Champions' Cup Final Four with Panathinaikos, but as in his previous three attempts with Aris, he lost in the semi-finals and had to be content with being the top scorer in the 3rd-place match against FC Barcelona. His career ended controversially in 1994, when Kostas Politis (the then coach of Panathinaikos) chose not to include him in the starting line-up of a Greek Championship game against Ambelokipi. Galis left the court, never again to return to action.[10]

[edit] After Retirement

Since his official retirement on September 29, 1995, and up until early 2006, he has been the owner of a summer basketball camp in Halkidiki, Greece. The basketball camp is a business listed at the Athens Stock Exchange.[11] As a token of appreciation for his contribution to Greek sport, Galis was chosen to be the first torchbearer in the final round of the Olympic Flame for the Athens 2004 Olympics. Galis entered the stadium at the conclusion of the Opening Ceremony and set off the procession of the Flame to the altar.

In September of 2007, Nikos Galis was elected as a member of the first class of the FIBA Hall of Fame, which includes the best basketball players in the history of the game of basketball internationally. Bill Russell of the famous Boston Celtics dynasty was another one of the 16 inaugural inductees. Galis is married to Eleni Panagiotou and he has one daughter, named Stella.

[edit] Player Profile

It has been noted that Galis was not only a legendary scorer, but was also a great play maker and passer.[12] The vast majority of his points scored came inside the paint area due to his penetrating ability.[13]Another enormous competitive advantage that Galis possessed was his incredible stamina, which was due to his exemplary physical condition. At the Eurobasket 1987, he was never once substituted out of any game after the second day of the competition.[14]

He averaged 33.0 points per game at the Eurobasket 1983, 33.7 points per game at the 1986 FIBA World Championship, 37.0 points per game at the Eurobasket 1987, 35.6 points per game at the Eurobasket 1989, and 32.4 points per game at the Eurobasket 1991. Galis was only a 1.83 m (6'0") tall shooting guard. In every one of the games that Galis played in these tournaments, the entire defenses of every opposing team was focused on stopping his scoring outbursts.

[edit] Personal Achievements

[15][16][17][18]

[edit] Career

  • In 854 official career games played (including his college games), Galis scored a total of 25,995 points, for a scoring average of 30.4 points per game.
  • In 753 career games played (excluding his college games), Galis scored a total of 24,721 points, for a career scoring average of 32.8 points per game.
  • His career scoring average in the Greek League was 33.4 points per game.
  • His career scoring average in the Greek Cup was 35.2 points per game.
  • His career scoring average in European continental club competitions was 32.9 points per game.
  • He led Aris BC to an 80 game winning streak in the 1980s.

[edit] Greek National Team

[edit] Single Game Achievements Pro Career

  • His personal scoring record in one game was 62 points, achieved in a Greek League game in 1981 (Aris vs. Ionikos Nikaias). However, in the same game, Ionikos' superstar Panagiotis Giannakis, who would later go on to become Galis' teammate on Aris, scored 73 points.
  • In 1981, he also had a 61 point game against Iraklis.
  • Also in 1981, he accomplished his career scoring high in a European continental competition, as he scored 57 points against Pallacanestro Venezia during the 1981 Korac Cup.
  • His high scoring game in the Greek Cup was 57 points against Panellinios in the 1987 Cup final.
  • Also in 1987, he scored his career high in points in the old FIBA Champions' Cup (now called the Euroleague), as he scored 50 points in a game against Tracer Milano.
  • He also holds 4 of the top 15 all-time individual scoring games in the Euroleague's modern record era (since 1991-1992).
  • He scored 55 or more points in a game 10 times in his professional club career while playing with Aris Thessaloniki and Panathinaikos Athens.
  • In 1990, in a FIBA Champions' Cup game versus Korihait Uusikaoupounk, he dished out 23 FIBA assists.
  • In 1993, while playing with Panathinaikos in a revenge game against his former team Aris, he had a game for the ages. Galis shot 13/13 from the field and recorded 19 FIBA assists in the game.

[edit] Single Game Achievements Greek National Team

[edit] Team Titles and Personal Awards

Galis won numerous titles and awards during his career. The following are some of them:[19]

[edit] Aris and Panathinaikos

[edit] Greek National Team

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ FIBA Hall Of Fame Class of 2007
  2. ^ Psarakis, Y. , "Nikos Galis – Europe’s Greatest-ever Scorer", FIBA Europe official website
  3. ^ a b Nikos Galis, Greece | Player Profiles by Interbasket
  4. ^ Psarakis, Y. , "Nikos Galis – Europe’s Greatest-ever Scorer", FIBA Europe official website
  5. ^ Psarakis, Y. , "Nikos Galis – Europe’s Greatest-ever Scorer", FIBA Europe official website
  6. ^ FIBA Europe official website on Eurobasket 1989 FIBA Europe.com
  7. ^ Psarakis, Y. , "Nikos Galis – Europe’s Greatest-ever Scorer", FIBA Europe official website
  8. ^ Rabotas, G., Nikos Galis, p. 137
  9. ^ Rabotas, G., Nikos Galis, p. 144
  10. ^ Rabotas, G., Nikos Galis, p. 195
  11. ^ Official website of Galis's basketball camp. [1]
  12. ^ Psarakis, Y. , "Nikos Galis – Europe’s Greatest-ever Scorer", FIBA Europe official website
  13. ^ Arbel, Y. ,"Iron Man Galis", November 08, 2006, FIBA Europe official website[2]
  14. ^ Arbel, Y. ,"Iron Man Galis", November 08, 2006, FIBA Europe official website[3]
  15. ^ Psarakis, Y. , "Nikos Galis – Europe’s Greatest-ever Scorer", fibaeurope official website
  16. ^ Hellenic Basketball Federation official website,[4]
  17. ^ FIBAEurope.com on Galis' career
  18. ^ luckyshow.org on Galis' greatest scoring games
  19. ^ Psarakis, Y. , "Nikos Galis – Europe’s Greatest-ever Scorer", FIBA Europe official website


v • d • e
Flag of Greece Greece squad - 1986 FIBA World Championship - 10th place Flag of Greece
4 Galis | 5 Stavropoulos | 6 Giannakis | 7 Kambouris | 8 Pedoulakis | 9 Karatzas | 10 Romanidis | 11 Filippou | 12 Andritsos | 13 Dimakopoulos | 14 Ch.Christodoulou | 15 F.Christodoulou | Coach: Politis
v • d • e
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