Nikos Pappas (basketball)

Player profile

Pappas began his career playing as a combo guard with the junior national teams of Greece, and in his early club career. After maturing as a player, he became a swingman, that plays both at the shooting guard and small forward positions. He is considered to be one of the best Greek swingmen.

Professional career

Pappas made his professional debut in the Greek League with Panellinios, during the 2006–07 season. He made his debut in Europe's continent-wide second-tier level competition, the EuroCup, with Panellinios, during the 2007–08 season. He signed a 5-year contract with the Spanish League club Bilbao Basket in 2008.

He was loaned to the reserve team of Real Madrid, Real Madrid B, of the Spanish 4th Division, for the 2008–09 season. He was loaned to the Greek League club Kolossos Rodou for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons. He was named the 2010 Greek League Best Young Player. In February 2012, he joined PAOK. He moved to Panionios for the 2012–13 season. With Panionios, he was the Greek League Top Scorer, and a member of the Greek League Best Five, in 2013.

Panathinaikos

On 20 June 2013, Pappas joined the Greek club Panathinaikos. He was announced as a new player of Panathinaikos, for the following three seasons, along with his Panionios teammate Vlado Janković. During his second season with Panathinaikos, Pappas switched his jersey number from 15 to 11.

On 22 April 2015, after winning his first EuroLeague MVP of the Round award, after the third week's game of the EuroLeague playoffs, in which he scored 25 points against CSKA Moscow, it was officially announced that Pappas had renewed his contract with Panathinaikos, until 2018. On 16 May 2015, Pappas suffered a torn ACL injury, and a tear of his meniscus, in a Greek League game against Kolossos Rodou, after falling awkwardly, after being fouled on a play by Vassilis Toliopoulos. He was operated on the day after, and his return to playing basketball was scheduled at 5–6 months time, at the earliest. On November 30, 2015, in a Greek League game against Lavrio, Pappas made his first re-appearance in an official game, 6-and-a-half months after his injury. He scored 2 points in the game.

Greek junior national team

As a member of the junior national basketball teams of Greece, Pappas won the silver medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. He was named the MVP of the 2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament, where he also helped lead Greece to defeat Team USA Under-18 during the tournament, by scoring 27 points in the game against the USA. He also won the gold medal at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he was also voted to the All-Tournament Team.

Pappas also played at the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit, where he helped the World Select Team to defeat Team USA 97-89. He also won the silver medal at the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Cup with Greece's junior national team, where he was also voted to the All-Tournament Team. Pappas also won the gold medal at the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship and the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading the tournament in scoring.

Greek senior national team

Pappas first trained with the senior men's Greek national basketball team in 2010. In the summer of 2016, it was reported that Pappas was interested in playing with the senior Cypriot national basketball team, due to his mother's Greek Cypriot origins. However, in 2017, he was re-called to Greece's senior national team. In 19 August 2017, he scored 22 points (career high with Greek NT) against Great Britain in London.

Career statistics

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Pro career

Greek junior national team