Nikolaos Zisis

Nikolaos "Nikos" Zisis (alternate spelling: Zissis; Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Ζήσης; born August 16, 1983) is a Greek professional basketball player for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the BCL. At a height of 1.97 m (6'5 ​⁄₄") tall, he plays at both the point guard and shooting guard positions.

During his senior men's playing career, Zisis won the 2008 EuroLeague championship, while a member of CSKA Moscow. Zisis also won 9 national league championships in various European domestic leagues (four Italian League titles, two Russian League titles, two German League titles, and one Greek League title). In addition to that, he also won 8 national cup titles (four Italian Cups, two German Cups, one Russian Cup, and one Greek Cup). Two of his club teams, XAN Thessaloniki and Brose Bamberg, retired his team jerseys.

As a member of the senior Greek national basketball team, Zisis won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket, the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and the bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket.

Zisis started his basketball playing career in the year 1996, playing with the junior teams of XAN Thessaloniki (English: YMCA Thessaloniki). He was with the club until 2000. The club would later go on to retire his jersey, in 2018.

Greece and Italy

At the age of 17, Zisis moved to Athens, and to the Greek League team AEK, where he began his professional basketball career. With AEK, he won the Greek Cup in 2001, and also the Greek League championship, in 2002. He also won the Greek League Best Young Player award in 2002.

He then moved to Treviso, Italy, and played on the Italian League team Benetton Treviso. With Treviso, he won the Italian Super Cup and the Italian League championship in the year 2006, and also the Italian Cup in the year 2007. He then left Italy, and moved to Moscow, Russia.

Russia, Italy and Spain

On June 13, 2007, he signed a 3-year contract worth €5 million euros net income with the Russian team CSKA Moscow. With CSKA, Zisis won the EuroLeague championship at the 2008 EuroLeague Final Four. In 2009, he left CSKA, and signed a 2-year contract worth €1.6 million euros net income with the Italian League club Montepaschi Siena. In 2010, he signed a 2-year extension with Montepaschi.

In 2012, he signed a 2-year contract, with the second year being an option year, with the Spanish League club Bilbao. He moved to the Russian VTB United League club UNICS Kazan, in July 2013.

Fenerbahçe

On December 29, 2014, the Turkish League club Fenerbahçe Ülker acquired Zisis. With Zisis playing 24.4 minutes per game, Fenerbahçe advanced to the 2015 EuroLeague Final Four. It was the first time in the team's history that they made it to the EuroLeague Final Four. However, on May 15, 2015, they lost in the EuroLeague semifinals to Real Madrid, by a score of 87–96.

Brose Bamberg

On July 16, 2015, Zisis signed a two-year contract with the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) club Brose Bamberg. In 2017, he extended his contract with Brose, through the year 2019. With Bamberg, he won two German BBL League championships (2016, 2017) and two German Cups (2017, 2019). In the 2019 German Cup Final, Zisis hit the game-winner, with 2.4 seconds left in the game, to give Bamberg an 83–82 win over Alba Berlin.

On September 7, 2019, Bamberg retired Zisis' number 6 jersey.

Joventut Badalona

On July 15, 2019, Zisis signed a two-year deal with the Spanish Liga ACB club Joventut Badalona.

Greek junior national team

With Greece's under-16 junior national team, Zisis won the silver medal at the 1999 FIBA Under-16 European Championship, and he also led the tournament in scoring. He also won the bronze medal at the 2000 FIBA Under-18 European Championship. Zisis played with Greece's under-26 national selection at the 2001 Tunis Mediterranean Games. At the 2001 Mediterranean Games, he helped Greece win the silver medal at the tournament. In addition, Zisis won the gold medal with the Greek under-20 junior national team at the 2002 FIBA Under-20 European Championship, where he was also named the tournament's MVP.

Greek senior national team

As a member of the senior men's Greek national basketball team, Zisis won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket, which was held in Serbia and Montenegro. He was Greece's leading scorer during the tournament, averaging 10.6 points per game. At the end of the semifinal game against the French national basketball team, Zisis drove the length of the court, drove into the middle of the floor, drew a double team, and then dished the ball out to Dimitris Diamantidis, who hit a game-winning 3 pointer. After his great performance at the EuroBasket in 2005, Zisis was named the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year.

The next year, at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, which was held in Japan, Zisis hit a game winning 3-point shot at the end of the game against the Australian national basketball team, to give Greece a 72–69 victory. However, in the next game in the tournament, he was hit on the cheekbone and eye socket bone by the elbow of the Brazilian national basketball team's Anderson Varejão. Zisis suffered a severe facial injury that forced him to sit out for the remaining entirety of the 2006 World Championship, as the injury required surgery. Even though Greece lost Zisis, who was their leading scorer the year before at the 2005 EuroBasket, they were still able to win the silver medal (including an improbable upset victory over Team USA in the semifinals) during the World Championship tournament.

At the 2007 EuroBasket, Zisis was one of the two key Greek players, along with Theo Papaloukas, that led Greece's national team to the biggest comeback in the history of the EuroBasket, against the Slovenian national basketball team. The comeback was called "the miracle". Greece finished the tournament in 4th place.

Zisis has also competed with Greece at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where Greece finished in 5th place in the world, and at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where Greece also finished in 5th place in the world. He also played at the following tournaments: the 2009 EuroBasket, where he won a bronze medal, the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the 2011 EuroBasket, the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2013 EuroBasket, the 2014 FIBA World Cup, and the 2015 EuroBasket.

In 2019, the Hellenic Basketball Federation honored Zisis, in recognition of his contributions to the senior Greek national basketball team, with which he had 189 caps (games played).

Zisis is 1.97 m (6 ft 5 ​⁄₄ in) tall, and he plays mainly at the point guard and shooting guard positions, although he can also play at the small forward position if necessary. His primary position with his pro club teams is point guard, while his primary position with the Greek national team was shooting guard. Zisis is known as "The Lord of the Rings", because he is the Greek player with the most combined medals won at the cadet, junior, young men's, and senior men's FIBA European and world tournaments.

Zisis is very close friends with his fellow Greek national basketball team player Vassilis Spanoulis, and he is also friends with Italian national basketball team player Andrea Bargnani. He married Fani Skoufi in 2010, with Vassilis Spanoulis being his best man. His nickname is "The Lord of the Rings."

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague

Club titles and national team medals won

AEK Athens

• Greek Cup: 2000–01, 2019–20
• Greek Basket League: 2001–02

Treviso

• Lega Basket Serie A: 2005–06
• Italian Cup: 2007
• Italian Super Cup: 2006

Montepaschi Siena

• Lega Basket Serie A (3): 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
• Italian Cup (3): (2010, 2011, 2012)
• Italian Cup Supercup (3): (2010, 2011, 2012)

CSKA Moscow

• EuroLeague champion: 2007–08
• Russian Professional Championship: (2) 2007–08, 2008–09
• VTB United League: 2008–09
• Russian Cup: 2013–14

Brose Bamberg

• Basketball Bundesliga champion (2): 2015–16, 2016–17
• BBL-Pokal (2): 2017, 2018–19
• BBL Champions Cup: 2015

Greek junior national team

• 1999 FIBA Under-16 European Championship:  Silver
• 2000 FIBA Under-18 European Championship:  Bronze
• 2001 Mediterranean Games:  Silver
• 2002 FIBA Under-20 European Championship:  Gold

Greek senior national team

• 8× Acropolis Tournament Champion: (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013)
• 2005 EuroBasket:  Gold
• 2006 FIBA Stanković Continental Champions’ Cup:  Gold
• 2006 FIBA World Championship:  Silver
• 2009 EuroBasket:  Bronze

Individual awards

• FIBA Under-16 European Championship Top Scorer: 1999
• Greek League Best Young Player: 2001–02
• FIBA Under-20 European Championship MVP: 2002
• 2× Greek League All-Star: 2004, 2005
• FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year: 2005
• Acropolis Tournament MVP: (2013)
• Jersey retired by XAN Thessaloniki: 2018
• German Cup Final MVP: 2019
• Number 6 jersey retired by Brose Bamberg: 2019