By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Giorgos Printezis won the EuroLeague twice, made one of the most memorable winning buckets on a final and when he entered the court probably for the last time in a EuroLeague Final Four, there was a thunderous roar.
For one last time, the fans of Olympiacos chanted the name of their captain, while he was trying to cheer with them.
It wasn’t easy.
Giorgos Printezis enters a #EuroLeague game probably for the last time pic.twitter.com/rTdK3wu4NG
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) May 21, 2022
Visibly emotional after the game he admitted: “I am a bit awkward about those things, but it was great. Olympiacos is my whole life”.
Signed by Olympiacos as a teenager back in 2001, Printezis is still playing for the Reds, with two short breaks, one when he was loaned to Larisa (2006-07) where he played under then young coach Giorgos Bartzokas, and another between 2009 and 2011 in Unicaja Malaga.
He never denied that his heart belongs to Olympiacos and the fans knew it, celebrating his presence in one more Final Four in every occasion during the 3rd place game: “What happened was magical. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. We couldn’t achieve a really big and beautiful goal, but we are proud of being here. I want to thank our fans who stayed in Belgrade until today and now our next goal is winning the championship”.
Speaking about the EuroLeague season, which may end up being his last, he added: “It was a great season, we produced amazing basketball, we are a TEAM with capital letters and we deserved to be here”.
While it’s a common secret that he intends to retire, once more he denied giving a definitive answer. After all, it’s the jersey that counts for him and not the timing: “Whenever I retire, the fact that I will do it wearing Olympiacos jersey, it’s the biggest thing for me”.