By Nikos Mastrogiannopoulos / info@eurohoops.net
It’s a sad day for Greek and International basketball: the legendary Greek head coach Giannis Ioannidis passed away at 78 years old after dealing with health problems for a long time.
Born in 1945 and linking his whole professional basketball career as a player with Aris, spending time on the court from 1959 to 1978 as the playmaker of the yellow-and-black team, he stayed there for his first head coaching experience in 1978-79 with legendary figures like Nikos Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis.
During his whole coaching career, spending time on the benches of Aris, G.S. Larisa, Olympiacos, and AEK, he won 19 Greek national club titles (14 with Aris and 5 with Olympiacos), being inserted in the Greek Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022, while coaching the Greek national team in 1980-81 and 2002-03.
Moreover, he was elected Member of the Greek Parliament twice (2004, and 2007), serving as Deputy Minister of Sports from 2007-09 and 2012-2013.
Ο ΕΣΑΚΕ αποχαιρετά τον κορυφαίο Έλληνα προπονητή και άνθρωπο του μπάσκετ Γιάννη Ιωαννίδη #BasketLeague @ertofficial_
✍️ https://t.co/8pkaUVRqhg pic.twitter.com/89jbsFXtEc
— ΕΣΑΚΕ (@esakegr) October 4, 2023