Recent Developments
After the senior men's Greek national basketball team won their second EuroBasket 2005 in Belgrade in 2005, there was another revival of the sport of basketball in Greece. As a result, there was a strong rise in attendance figures in Greek basketball arenas after years of stagnation in attendance numbers in the previous years. One major reason for this is that most of the players of the senior men's national team also play in the men's senior national league.
Another reason for the revival of basketball interest in Greece in recent years is the resurgence of the great rivalry between the European powers Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. Panathinaikos has been the most successful European basketball club since the modern Euroleague Final Four era began in 1988. Also, after years of mediocrity, Olympiacos has once again become a European basketball power under their new management and they have boasted the biggest budget of any Euroleague team for three straight seasons (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11).
Another reason is that the long-time historical club Aris has returned to prominence and become one of the powers of European basketball. Another promising development is that the long-time traditional Greek power, PAOK, also appears to be returning to prominence. After suffering through years of mediocrity due to poor management, PAOK has, under new management, greatly increased their budget and added many high class players to its club.
There are two main problems that the senior men's Greek basketball league faces. The first one is the very high turnover rate of foreign players each year in the rosters of small clubs, which prevents any continuity being established in the smaller clubs from season to season. Second, and most important, is the huge disparity in the budgets (as of the 2010-11 season) of the big first-tier clubs like Olympiacos at €35 million euros, Panathinaikos at €30 million euros, and the budgets of the second-tier clubs like Aris and Panellinios, which have budgets of €2.4 million euros.
Read more about this topic: Basketball In Greece
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