Greek NBA Players
The first Greek-born basketball player that made the leap to the NBA was Antonios Fotsis. Fotsis was selected in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies and he played with them in the NBA for one season. After one season in the NBA, Fotsis returned to Greece due to homesickness. Efthimios Rentzias and Andreas Glyniadakis also played in the NBA for one season before returning to play in Europe.
Vasilios Spanoulis, who is regarded to be the top current Greek basketball talent and the main Greek-born NBA prospect, moved to the NBA in 2006 to play with the Houston Rockets, but returned to Greece after a disappointing season for both himself and the Rockets. This was mainly due both to some personal disagreements that he had with then Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy, and because of personal family problems.
Greece's basketball program has not yet produced a well-established Greek-born NBA player.
Jake Tsakalidis, who was born in Georgia and raised and developed basketball-wise in Greece, played in the NBA from 2000 to 2007, after beginning his career in Greece. Some other NBA players with Greek citizenship include: Peja Stojaković, Rasho Nesterović, Marko Jarić, and Dragan Tarlać, whom all moved to Greece at a young age and the Greek-American players Kurt Rambis and Kostas Koufos. The Lebanese-born Rony Seikaly, who played in the NBA from 1988 to 1999, and also played with the senior men's United States national basketball team, was also raised and developed basketball-wise in Greece.
Read more about this topic: Basketball In Greece
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