By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos Piraeus retired the #15 jersey of club and EuroLeague legend Giorgos Printezis during an emotional ceremony that was held in a packed Peace and Friendship Stadium.
A tear-eyed Printezis, accompanied by his wife, daughter and mother, pressed the button that lifted the #15 banner to the sky of the arena. This is the second jersey that Olympiacos retires after Vassilis Spanoulis’ #7 last year.
Apart from Spanoulis himself, several former teammates and friends of Printezis were present in the event like Teo Papaloukas, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Pero Antic. EuroLeague president Dejan Bodiroga was also in attendance.
“Giorgos is a great player and human being. He’s been through a lot and always emerged a winner,” said Papaloukas. “He deserves all of these.”
A longtime Olympiacos fan since he was a kid, Printezis first joined the Reds at 15 years of and spent the vast majority of his career with club until his retirement from basketball in 2022. He won the back-to-back EuroLeague championships of 2012 and 2013, along with several domestic trophies while establishing himself as one of the most elite forwards outside of the NBA.
In the EuroLeague Final of 2012 between Olympiacos and CSKA, he was the one to score the winning basket with his trademark floater at the very last second, creating of the most iconic moments in European basketball history.
“He’s very lucky he made the basket in Istanbul because otherwise he wouldn’t get a pass from me again,” Spanoulis joked. “I will forever keep in my heart what we experienced together. He deserves every distinction. An amazing player and human being.”
Giannis Sfairopoulos, currently coach of Crvena Zvezda and Olympiacos’ boss from 2014 to 2018, shared a particularly strong memory of Printezis. “Before Game 1 of the 2016 Finals, I’m told that Giorgos Printezis’ father just died… We had the game the same night. I say to him, you’ll decide if you play or not. After practice, he tells me he wants to play. That shows the greatness of his soul.”
As for Printezis himself, he paid tribute to everyone that helped him in his career including legendary coach Duda Ivkovic and his former agent, Giorgos Dimitropoulos, who both have passed away. And he didn’t forget Olympiacos fans.
“Some have told me that I could have played for other teams, maybe get more titles and more money, but your love made me feel the best paid player ever in Europe”, he explained.