By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Almost 20 years after his career ended, Οctober 1994 while he was playing for Panathinaikos, and his decision to leave the team, after understanding that his coach – Kostas Politis, his coach also in the Greek national team in 1987 – didn’t counted on him like everyone did throughout his career, it was about time that Aris and even Greece in general recognized what Nikos Galis meant for the country and the sport.
Croatia’s Dino Radja and Stojan Vrankovic, Spain’s Jordi Villacampa, Israel’s Doron Jamchy, American Audie Norris, Serbian/Greek Branislav Prelevic, his former teammate Panagiotis Giannakis and all the members of the Greek national team of 1987, with the exception of Fanis Christodoulou, were present on Tuesday in the tribute game between the current teams of Limoges and Aris.
“The last time I felt like this, it was when my daughter was born”, he said before the game and shaded a tear, shown in live television. Nicknamed as the “Gangster” and being notorious for the “Galis stare”, the way he was fixing his gaze to his opponents, it was something no one predicted as the emotions overcome him publicly.
He holds the scoring record for most points in a single game at the World Championship (54 points against Panama in 1986) and is the all-time EuroBasket leading scorer. During the ceremony it was revealed that the home court of Aris, named “Alexadrio”, is now renamed to “Nikos Gallis Hall”, after the official decision of the Greek state.