Dimitris Diamantidis


Dimitris Diamantidis is a retired Greek professional basketball player, who spent all twelve seasons of his EuroLeague career with Panathinaikos Athens, where he currently serves as the team's general manager, alongside Fragiskos Alvertis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Europeans ever to grace the game, he marked his era by being the most versatile player in the EuroLeague, serving as an inspiration to a whole generation of young European stars.
At the age of fourteen, Diamantidis started his career with the youth clubs of his hometown team, Kastoria B.C.. Five years later, he made his professional debut with Iraklis, and by 2003, he had emerged as an all-around star in the Greek League. He became a member of Panathinaikos in the summer of 2004, with whom he won three EuroLeague titles, in 2007, 2009, and 2011, last two as captain. Diamantidis' numerous accolades in the premier European competition include a EuroLeague MVP Award, two EuroLeague Final Four MVP Awards, four All-EuroLeague First Team selections, as well as a record six EuroLeague Best Defender Awards. He is the only player to have earned all four aforementioned EuroLeague end-of-season distinctions, even more so in a single year. Diamantidis is the only Greek player who was voted to the EuroLeague 2000–10 All-Decade Team and EuroLeague 2010–20 All-Decade Team and is the EuroLeague all-time leader in steals since the dawn of the Euroleague Basketball Company's era in 2000. On April 1, 2016, he was honored with a EuroLeague Basketball Legend Award.
Amidst a long series of "derbies of the eternal enemies" opposing Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, Diamantidis thrived as he faced Olympiacos every year for twelve consecutive seasons, including eleven Greek League Finals, six Greek Cup Finals, and a EuroLeague semifinal. He won nine Greek League and ten Greek Cup titles, alongside a record six Greek League Finals MVP and a record six Greek League MVP awards, as well as two Greek Cup MVP awards. His friendship and rivalry with Olympiacos star Vassilis Spanoulis was at the center of attention throughout six Greek League Finals and three Greek Cup Finals encounters. Diamantidis' self-effacing psyche helped relieve tension between the two powerhouses, when he retired in 2016.
As a member of the senior Greek national team, Diamantidis won a EuroBasket title in 2005; anchoring a defense that allowed 59.7 points per game, he scored the three-pointer that sealed the fate of the semifinal against France, seconds before the buzzer. He led the tournament in assists, and was part of the All-EuroBasket Team. In 2006, he played a pivotal role in a FIBA World Cup silver medal campaign, with Greece stunning Team USA in the semifinals, and Diamantidis finishing as the competition's steals leader. Diamantidis was a two-time Olympian, bearing the Greek colours in 2004 and 2008, and earning on both occasions the fifth place of the tournament, tied as an all-time best finish for Greece. On the basis of his myriad achievements, he was named Mister Europa Player of the Year by Italian sports magazine Superbasket in 2007.

Early years

Diamantidis began playing the sport of basketball with the youth teams of Kastoria B.C.. The club would later go on to name its home arena, Dimitris Diamantidis Indoor Hall, after him.

Professional career

Iraklis

In the summer of 1999, at the age of 19, Diamantidis began his professional career, when he transferred to Iraklis Thessaloniki. He became a starting player there by his second season. Diamantidis helped to bring Iraklis, one of the oldest Greek teams, back into prominence, after the club had been struggling. With Iraklis, Diamantidis won the Greek League MVP award in the 2003-04 season.

Panathinaikos

Diamantidis moved a big step up in his career, with his move to Panathinaikos of Athens, in 2004; a basketball powerhouse of the Greek League, and also of the EuroLeague. With Panathinaikos, he won the Greek League championship nine times, the Greek Cup title ten times, and the EuroLeague championship three times. Diamantidis had with Željko Obradović, one of the most successful collaborations between a player and his head coach in the history of European basketball.
Diamantidis won several individual trophies with Panathinaikos, such as: the EuroLeague Best Defender six times, the Greek League MVP six times, the Greek League Finals MVP six times, and the EuroLeague Final Four MVP twice. Diamantidis was also named the 2007 Mister Europa, the 2007 Greek Athlete of the Year, and the MVP of the Greek Cup in 2009 and 2016. He was named the EuroLeague MVP in 2011.
Due to these great individual and team successes, the President of Panathinaikos, pharmaceutical magnate Pavlos Giannakopoulos, signed Diamantidis in 2008, to a 3-year €5.7 million euros net income contract. In 2010, he renewed his contract with Panathinaikos for another 3 years, at €10.8 million euros gross income. On February 21, 2013, Diamantidis became the EuroLeague's career leader in steals.
On July 4, 2013, he renewed his contract with Panathinaikos for another 2 years, at a salary of €1.9 million net income per year. On October 30, 2014, became the first player in Euroleague Basketball history to dish 1,000 career assists. On September 2, 2015, Diamantidis announced his retirement from professional basketball, effective at the end of the 2015–16 season. In his last season with Panathinaikos, he was voted the Greek League Most Popular Player. Diamantidis retired as the all-time career leader in assists and PIR in the entire history of the EuroLeague, records that are now broken.
Nicknamed "3D" by Panathinaikos fans, after he retired, Panathinaikos officially retired his #13 playing jersey.
In 2020, Diamantidis was named the best "Greek professional basketball player of The 2010s Decade", by the readers of the Greek website Gazzetta.gr.

National team career

As part of the Greek under-26 national selection, Diamantidis won the silver medal at the 2001 Mediterranean Games. Diamantidis was a member of the senior Greek national basketball team. With the senior national team of Greece, he won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket. During the FIBA EuroBasket that year, he led the tournament in assists, and was selected to the All-Tournament Team. In the tournament semifinals against the French national team, Diamantidis hit a game-winning three-point shot, with Greece trailing by a score of 66–64, at the end of the game, to give Greece a 67–66 victory, and send them to the European Championship's final game.
Diamantidis went on to win the silver medal with Greece at the 2006 FIBA World Cup in Japan. In the semifinal, he was a key factor in Greece's historic 101–95 victory against Team USA, with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, facing the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard. The defeat suffered by the United States team is the only one during Mike Krzyzewski's second era, as the latter had an undefeated record in all major international competitions since then. Coach Krzyzewski, in a press conference during the 2014 FIBA World Cup, stated: "2006, that's a lesson we learned. The Greek Team taught us how to play internationally."
Diamantidis was on the Greek team that participated at the 2003 EuroBasket, and got the fifth place, after beating Serbia and Montenegro, by a score of 72–64. He was also a member of the Greek national team at the 2007 EuroBasket, where Greece took the fourth place, after losing to Lithuania, by a score of 78–69, in a game in which Diamantidis had 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He also won the gold medal at the 2006 Stanković Continental Champions' Cup, and seven Acropolis Tournaments, being the tournament's MVP twice, in 2005 and 2006.
On September 4, 2010, after Greece's elimination in the Eighth-Finals of the 2010 FIBA World Championship, at the hands of Spain, Diamantidis announced his immediate retirement from the senior Greek National Team. He had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in his last game with Greece's national team. He finished his career bearing the Greek flag, having played in 124 games, and having scored 760 points, averaging 6.13 points per game.

Summer Olympic Games

Diamantidis was also a member of Greece's senior national team that competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, which were held in Athens, Greece. He was also selected to play on Greece's senior national team for the 2008 Summer Olympics, in Beijing, China. Greece finished in fifth place in both tournaments, losing twice to Argentina in the quarterfinals.

Player profile

As a left-handed player, Diamantidis played as a point guard, shooting guard, and small forward. In the Greek national team, his primary position was small forward, being utilized as a point forward. He was primarily a pass first play-maker with outstanding vision, and an excellent three point shooter, both in spot up situations and off the dribble. He liked to post up smaller point guards. Gifted with a tremendous wingspan for his height, and a unique feel for positioning, he was generally considered to be one of the best defensive players ever to play in the EuroLeague, having won the EuroLeague Best Defender award in five consecutive seasons, and once again, two years later.
As demonstrated by numerous game-changing actions in crucial situations, Diamantidis was considered to be one of the best decision makers and clutch players in European basketball history.

Career statistics

†Denotes seasons in which Diamantidis won the EuroLeague

EuroLeague

International statistics

YearCompetitionGPMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2003EuroBasket qualification417.2.571.500.0003.21.80.50.52.2
2003EuroBasket616.0.214.200.6362.22.30.50.02.5
2004Olympic Games618.7.381.200.6923.82.50.80.54.5
2005EuroBasket731.4.303.214.6825.15.02.80.05.4
2006FIBA World Cup929.9.511.440.7083.92.93.30.68.4
2007EuroBasket932.8.362.350.9235.02.11.31.08.9
2008Olympic Games qualification426.8.654.600.5004.23.80.80.011.0
2008Olympic Games628.3.421.368.8333.52.31.30.37.3
2010FIBA World Cup629.2.465.353.6673.53.81.50.510.0

Awards and honors

Club career

Pro clubs