Member-only story
How a group of players with nothing but the love for the sport in their hands went on to conquer Europe
The story of the Olympiacos Basketball Club season 2011–2012 that began in total indifference and doubt by the fans and ended with absolute glory.
I wouldn’t even think about writing this article but considering there was even a small audience for my previous piece about the Greece vs. France game, then I couldn’t really help myself. So here we go.
The year is 2011. The location, Piraeus, Greece. The local club, Olympiacos, one of the most successful — if not the most successful — in the entire country is sick of living in the shadow of their eternal rivals Panathinaikos, who have known both domestic and European success in basketball for a long time now. The burden is way too heavy for the pride of both the fans and the people in charge of the team to bear. Something must be done.
Contrary to Panathinaikos’ six Euroleague (the most popular European basketball competition, something like the Champions League of basketball) titles, Olympiacos have only one to show for themselves, won way back in 1997 during their golden era when they were also dominating all domestic titles. But it’s been a long while since then and all they’ve really achieved as a club ever since is to win a few championships and Greek Cups.
