Nikos Stavropoulos

Nikos Stavropoulos

Personal information
Born	(1959-06-17) June 17, 1959 Larissa, Greece
Nationality	Greek
Career information
Playing career	1975–1993
Position	Point Guard
Career history
1975–1984	Gymnastikos S. Larissas
1984–1992	PAOK
1992–1993	Iraklis
Career highlights and awards
Greek Basket League champion (1992) European Cup Winner's Cup champion (1991)
Medals Nikos Stavropoulos Medal record Representing Greece European Championships 1987 Greece Greece

Nikos "Magic" Stavropoulos (born June 17, 1959, in Larissa, Greece), aka Professor Nicholas "Magic" Stavropoulos, is a former professional Greek professional basketball player that played for Gymnastikos S. Larissas, PAOK BC, and Iraklis BC at the pro club level in Greece's A1 Ethniki basketball league. He began his career with his local area club from Larissa, Gymnastikos S. Larissas.

Playing career

Club career

Stavropoulos won the Greek Basketball Cup in 1984, the Saporta Cup in 1991, and the Greek Championship in 1992, while playing with PAOK BC. Stavropoulos was known for his dazzling passing skill and spectacular play-making ability, which garnered him the nickname "Magic", or "Greek Magic", after NBA player Magic Johnson, who played during the same era and also was known for his dazzling passes and play-making ability. He holds the distinction of being the first ever player to make a 3-point basket in the Greek League after the 3-point shot was first introduced into the league.

International career

Stavropoulos was also a long-time member of the Greek National Basketball Team. Ηε was a member of the Greek squad that won the gold medal at the 1987 European Championship, playing alongside such European basketball legends as Panagiotis Giannakis and Nikos Galis. He also competed for Greece at the 1983 European Championship and at the 1986 FIBA World Championship. Totally he played 102 games for Greece averaging 5.2 points per game.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Stavropoulos became the coach of the Greek National Youth Team, an assistant coach for the Greek National Basketball Team, and also opened up his famous basketball camp called "Magic Basketball Camp", where he often worked with legendary basketball coach Bob Knight, whom he also worked for as an assistant on the Indiana Hoosiers Men's Basketball Team from 1994-1997. Stavropoulos also coached the Greek League club Olympia Larissa BC.

External links

• FIBAEurope.com article on Stavropoulos
• Professor Nicholas Stavropoulos' basketball camp site (in Greek)
• Basketpedya.com Profile