By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
As officially announced by Olympiacos, Vassilis Spanoulis will be honored with a jersey retirement on September 17, 2023.
“A champion is one who is remembered. A legend is one who is never forgotten” – Matshona Dhliwayo. With a special event on 09/17/2023, which will include unique and historic moments, Olympiacos will honor the Legend, Vassilis Spanoulis, and is ready to raise the shirt with the number 7 to the “sky” of SEF! Stay tuned…”, the club’s statement says.
Vassilis Spanoulis, who is now coaching Peristeri in the Greek League and the Basketball Champions League, has been playing with the red-and-white EuroLeague powerhouse from 2010 to 2021 winning back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2012 and 2013.
As a member of Panathinaikos, he was part of the roster that won the 2009 EuroLeague title in Berlin.
Spanoulis won also four Greek League titles as a member of Panathinaikos, and three Greek titles as a member of Olympiacos. In 2022, he was named a EuroLeague Legend
During his playing career, he was named EuroLeague MVP in 2013, winning the EuroLeague Final Four MVP award in 2009, 2012, and 2013. He earned a record eight All-EuroLeague Team selections and was voted the EuroLeague’s 2010–2020 Player of the Decade. He is also the EuroLeague’s all-time career leader in total points scored.
He had a short stint in the NBA with the Houston Rockets during the 2006–07 season that ended with him forcing a trade to the Spurs and ultimately leaving the US.
In 2020, Spanoulis was named the “Best EuroLeague Player of The 2010s Decade” by the readers of Eurohoops.
Spanoulis was part of the roster in the gold medal win of the Greece men’s national basketball team at EuroBasket 2005. He was one of the main stars of Greece’s 2006 FIBA World Cup silver medal team, scoring 22 points in the memorable victory over Team USA (101–95), in the tournament’s semifinals.
It was however, Greece’s bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket, that emphasized Spanoulis’ leadership within an injury-plagued Greece national team, and consequently earned him an All-EuroBasket Team honor.