By Nikola Miloradovic / info@eurohoops.net
Legendary U.S. coach Rick Pitino, currently leading St. John’s Red Storm in the NCAA, spent two years as the head coach of Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos.
From 2018 to 2020, he won two championships and a Greek Cup, following a 16-year tenure with the Louisville Cardinals. Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Pitino recalled his decision to join Panathinaikos and his time in Greece.
“I left a great job at Louisville, and I didn’t hang my head. I took off to Greece, didn’t know one person, my wife and family didn’t go with me. The entire arena—at halftime when I walked out—there’s a cloud of smoke, everybody smoking in the arena, I was choking to death. If I did anything good over there, I told the prime minister, ‘You gotta stop smoking in restaurants, you gotta stop smoking in arenas,’ and we got that passed. They don’t smoke in restaurants and arenas anymore. That was a great thing,” Pitino said jokingly.
He rates his time at Panathinaikos as one of the best coaching experiences of his career.
“The experience of coaching Panathinaikos was about as enjoyable as anything I’ve done in coaching. I learned so much. The EuroLeague is like the Golden State Warriors, with 35-year-olds who didn’t make it in the NBA, and the offenses were brilliant,” Pitino concluded.