Nikos Zisis

Player profile

Zisis is 1.97 m (6 ft 5  ³⁄₄ in) tall, and he plays mainly at the point guard and shooting guard positions, although he can also play at the small forward position if necessary. His primary position with his pro club teams is point guard, while his primary position with the Greek national team was shooting guard. Zisis is known as "The Lord of the Rings", because he is the Greek player with the most combined medals won at the cadet, junior, young men's, and senior men's FIBA European and world tournaments.

Professional career

Zisis started his playing career in the year 1996, playing with ΧΑΝΘ Thessaloniki (English: YMCA Thessaloniki). At the age of 17, he moved to Athens, and to the Greek League team AEK, where he began his professional basketball career. With AEK, he won the Greek Cup in 2001, and also the Greek League championship, in 2002. He also won the Greek League Best Young Player award in 2002.

He then moved to Treviso, Italy, and played on the Italian League team Benetton Treviso. With Treviso, he won the Italian Super Cup and the Italian League championship in the year 2006, and also the Italian Cup in the year 2007. He then left Italy, and moved to Moscow, Russia.

On June 13, 2007, he signed a 3-year contract worth €5 million euros net income with the Russian team CSKA Moscow. With CSKA, Zisis won the EuroLeague championship during the EuroLeague 2007–08 season. In 2009, he left CSKA, and signed a 2-year contract worth €1.6 million euros net income with the Italian League club Montepaschi Siena. In 2010, he signed a 2-year extension with Montepaschi.

In 2012, he signed a 2-year contract, with the second year being an option year, with the Spanish League club Bilbao. He moved to the Russian VTB United League club UNICS Kazan in July 2013.

On December 29, 2014, the Turkish League club Fenerbahçe Ülker acquired Zisis. With Zisis playing 24.4 minutes per game, Fenerbahçe advanced to the 2015 EuroLeague Final Four. It was the first time in the team's history that they made it to the EuroLeague Final Four. However, on May 15, 2015, they lost in the EuroLeague semifinals to Real Madrid, by a score of 87–96.

On July 16, 2015, Zisis signed a two-year contract with the German League club Brose Bamberg. In 2017, he extended his contract with Brose, through the year 2019.

Greek national team

With Greece's junior national teams, Zisis won the silver medal at the 1999 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, and he also led the tournament in scoring. He also won the bronze medal at the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. Zisis also won the gold medal with the Greek junior national team at the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he was also named the tournament's MVP. His first game with Greece's second selection national team took place in Tunis, at the 2001 Mediterranean Games, on September 3, 2001. At the Mediterranean Games, he helped Greece win the silver medal at the tournament.

As a member of the senior men's Greek national basketball team, Zisis won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2005, which was held in Serbia and Montenegro. He was Greece's leading scorer during the tournament, averaging 10.6 points per game. At the end of the semifinal game against the French national basketball team, Zisis drove the length of the court, drove into the middle of the floor, drew a double team, and then dished the ball out to Dimitris Diamantidis, who hit a game-winning 3 pointer. After his great performance at the EuroBasket in 2005, Zisis was named the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year.

The next year, at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, which was held in Japan, Zisis hit a game winning 3-point shot at the end of the game against the Australian national basketball team, to give Greece a 72-69 victory. However, in the next game in the tournament, he was hit on the cheekbone and eye socket bone by the elbow of the Brazilian national basketball team's Anderson Varejão. Zisis suffered a severe facial injury that forced him to sit out for the remaining entirety of the World Championship, as the injury required surgery. Even though Greece lost Zisis, who was their leading scorer the year before at the EuroBasket 2005, they were still able to win the silver medal (including an improbable upset victory over Team USA in the semifinals) during the World Championship tournament.

At the EuroBasket 2007, Zisis was one of the two key Greek players, along with Theo Papaloukas, that led Greece's national team to the biggest comeback in the history of the EuroBasket, against the Slovenian national basketball team. The comeback was called "the miracle". Greece finished the tournament in 4th place.

Zisis has also competed with Greece at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where Greece finished in 5th place in the world, and at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where Greece also finished in 5th place in the world. He also played at the following tournaments: the EuroBasket 2009, where he won a bronze medal, the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the EuroBasket 2011, the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the EuroBasket 2013, the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and the EuroBasket 2015.

Personal life

Zisis is very close friends with his fellow Greek national basketball team player Vassilis Spanoulis, and he is also friends with Italian national basketball team player Andrea Bargnani. He married Fani Skoufi in 2010, with Vassilis Spanoulis being his best man. His nickname is "The Lord of the Rings."

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.

Professional career

Greek national team