Dimitrios Papanikolaou

Dimitrios Papanikolaou (alternate spelling: Dimitris) (Greek: Δημήτρης Παπανικολάου; born February 7, 1977 in Nea Liosia, Athens, Greece) is a retired Greek professional basketball player and a professional basketball coach. He is 2.02 m (6 ft 7 ½ in) tall. He played at the shooting guard, small forward, and power forward positions.

Clubs

Papanikolaou began his professional career in 1992 with the Greek club Sporting Athens. He then transferred to Olympiacos Piraeus in the year 1995. With Olympiacos, he won 2 Greek Basket League championships (1996, 1997), 2 Greek Cups (1997, 2002), the EuroLeague championship (1997), and also the Triple Crown (1997).

In 2002, he moved to Makedonikos Kozani, and then in 2003, he moved to Panathinaikos Athens. With Panathinaikos, he won 4 Greek Basket League championships (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), 3 Greek Cups (2005, 2006, 2007), the EuroLeague championship (2007), and also the Triple Crown (2007). In 2007, he moved to AEK Athens, in 2009 to Panionios, and a year later he joined Peristeri. He announced his retirement from professional basketball on August 22, 2011.

Greek national team

With the junior Greek national team, Papanikolaou won the gold medal at both the 1993 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, and also at the 1995 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. With the senior men's Greek national basketball team, Papanikolaou competed at the 1998 FIBA World Championship, and finished in 4th place in the world with Greece.

He also competed with Greece at the following EuroBaskets: EuroBasket 1997, EuroBasket 1999, EuroBasket 2001, and EuroBasket 2003. Papanikolaou was also a member of the Greek team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games; and he was also a member of Greece's team at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. In both Olympics, Greece managed to finish 5th in the world.

On January 24, 2012, Papanikolaou began his coaching career, as the head coach of AEK Athens, where he stayed for about one month. In the summer of 2012, he became the head coach of Ilysiakos. In 2013, he became an assistant coach for the senior men's Greek national basketball team. In 2014, he coached the Greek men's national under-17 basketball team at the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship.

Player

• Sporting Athens: (1992–1995)
• Olympiacos Piraeus: (1995–2002)
• Makedonikos Kozani: (2002–2003)
• Panathinaikos Athens: (2003–2007)
• AEK Athens: (2007–2009)
• Panionios: (2009–2010)
• Peristeri: (2010–2011)

Coach

• AEK Athens (Head Coach): (2012)
• Ilysiakos (Head Coach): (2012)
• Greece (Assistant Coach): (2013)
• Greece Under-17: (2014)

Pro career

• 6x Greek League Champion: (1996, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
• 5x Greek Cup Winner: (1997, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007)
• 2x EuroLeague Champion: (1997, 2007)
• 2x Triple Crown Champion (1997, 2007)
• 7x Greek League All-Star (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009)
• Greek All-Star Game Slam Dunk Champion: (2001)

Greek national team

• 1993 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: 01 ! Gold
• 1995 FIBA Under-19 World Championship: 01 ! Gold