By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Before the friendly game between Greece and Slovenia, the Hellenic Basketball Federation decided to honor the greatest white-and-blue basketball player of all time. The No.4 Greek national team jersey will always belong exclusively to Hall of Famer Nikos Galis, a man who transformed how basketball is experienced by an entire nation.
Wearing only the jerseys of Aris (1979-92) and Panathinaikos (1992-94) on a club level after coming out of Seton Hall University, Nikos Galis will be always recognized for his legendary career with the Greek national team.
He retired as the second-best all-time leading scorer with 5.129 points in 168 games played – behind Panagiotis Giannakis with 5.301 in 351 appearances -, he won EuroBasket 1987 at home and got the silver medal at EuroBasket 1989 in Yugoslavia.
The moment #NickGalis pic.twitter.com/V8TRFu6mGT
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 4, 2023
Galis, 66, did not address the crowd packing the gym to witness the special moment. But he was extremely welcoming across the lineups of both Greece and Slovenia, including NBA superstar Luka Doncic.
“It is a particularly special moment because this is my sports family,” the member of both Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and FIBA Hall of Fame told Greek public television ERT before the ceremony, “I am really touched. It is huge for any athlete to retire his jersey. I feel like it was just yesterday when I was playing here.”
Galis and Luka pic.twitter.com/RiHEvGwh37
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 4, 2023
FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis and HBF President Vangelis Liolios presented additional honors to Galis, complementing the emotional jersey retirement ceremony.
A Greek god cried and a whole nation shivered #NickGalis #GOAT pic.twitter.com/ogFUtLUMfA
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 4, 2023
Completing the home-and-away series, Greece and Slovenia continue preparations for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The team coached by Dimitris Itoudis prevailed, 98-91, in Ljubljana Wednesday.
The elite of international basketball
Since opening jersey numbers beyond the traditional range between #4 and #15, the German Basketball Federation rushed to be first in retiring a jersey, honoring national team great Dirk Nowitzki. Also, the French Federation of Basketball plans to retire Tony Parker’s jersey.