By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Former three-time EuroLeague champion Stratos Perperoglou announced his retirement from basketball on his Instagram profile. The 36-year-old forward becomes the fourth Greek player to retire this summer after Vassilis Spanoulis, Nikos Zisis and Giannis Bourousis.
Perperoglou’s full statement is as follows:
Over a year has passed since I laced up my shoes for the last time in an official, professional basketball game. Covid brought my career to an abrupt halt in an unexpected way. Over twenty years of my life has been given to the game I love.
Ball carried me around the world, put me under some of the most talented, successful coaches/trainers of my time. Put me on teams with players I respect, and provided golden moments etched into my mind forever. Three Euroleague Championships, mountain too highs, and character building lows. I have nothing but humble gratitude for the ride with which professional basketball has taken me. Inarguably, the hand of God never left me, nor my family, directing our steps, and making a way when none seemed possible. His plan always was for me to be a professional basketball player. As a young skinny kid in Kavala-Greece, never could I have imagined the road that lie ahead for my family and I. The places I’d go, unrealistic dreams that would become reality. It did not come without sacrifice, it never does, and not just my own. Any parent of a professional athlete knows that from the earliest of years, it’s a family commitment, a path of great gain, but also loss. Although few athletes would exchange it for any other way, it is not the path of ease.
Although a bit delayed, it’s never too late to thank all the fans, who have supported, cheered (even at times cursed 😉 ) me on the court. The world saw this last year what sport is without fans, not something any of us want to be apart of. You bring the heart, and soul to the stadiums.
Thank you to all my coaches, I’ve learned something from each of you-beyond basketball into life. Thank you to all my teammates over the years, we share the best, as well as the worst moments together, it truly is a brotherhood.
To my parents, and brother, you’ve always been in my corner, my greatest fans-I love you. Thank you.
To my wife, and children-what a ride! I’m so excited for this next chapter, what a joy to share it with you, there’s no one else I’d like by my side.
And to my God, to whom I owe everything, may You be glorified in all I do.
The best is yet to come!
Throughout his career, Perperoglou won three EuroLeague championship titles with Panathinaikos (2009, 2011) and Olympiacos (2013) along with several domestic titles in Greece, Turkey, Spain and ABA League. He also had stints with such teams as Barcelona, Anadolu Efes, and Crvena Zvezda with which he last played in 2020.
Perperoglou was also a long-standing member of the Greek national team, winning the bronze medal in the 2009 EuroBasket.,