By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The next member of the 2010-20 EuroLeague All-Decade team as voted by fans, media, players and coaches is a legendary point guard who had already been chosen to the first all-decade team this century, no other than Dimitris Diamantidis!
Per euroleague.net:
One of the best two-way guards to ever play the game, Diamantidis could either shut down an opponent on defense or dominate the game on offense. He proved that in the prime of his career, during the 2010-11 season, winning multiple awards as he and his only Turkish Airlines EuroLeague club, Panathinaikos Athens, won their third title together.
Diamantidis kept dominating
The ultimate team player, Diamantidis entered the new decade as a two-time EuroLeague champion and one of the superstars in the competition. In 2011, at age 31, Diamantidis became the first and only player ever to earn EuroLeague MVP and EuroLeague Best Defender honors. He led Panathinaikos to the Final Four and ended up guiding the Greens to their sixth continental crown. Diamantidis rounded out a perfect season by earning the Final Four MVP honor. Diamantidis took Panathinaikos to another Final Four in 2012 but CSKA Moscow stood on his team’s way in the semifinals. He earned All-EuroLeague First Team honors three times this decade, in the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, and was chosen as the EuroLeague MVP of the month twice. As soon as he retired in 2016, Diamantidis was officially chosen as a Euroleague Basketball Legend and Panathinaikos retired his #13 jersey.
The Numbers
Despite only playing six EuroLeague seasons in the decade between 2010 and 2020, Diamantidis ranked seventh in assists (867) and fifth in steals (204). Only two players with at least 150 games played during the 2010s – Nick Calathes (5.9 apg.) and Thomas Heurtel (5.6 apg.) – had higher assists averages than his 5.5 per game.
The Moment
Diamantidis capped his dominant 2010-11 season with a stellar performance at the Final Four. He had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals for a PIR of 22 in the semifinal against Montepaschi Siena. Diamantidis did even better – 16 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals and a PIR of 24 – in the championship game against Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv. With the game still close, 64-69, Diamantidis started the final minute with an assist to Mike Batiste, a steal and 3-for-4 free throw shooting to put the game on ice and bring another title to Panathinaikos.