Euroleague Basketball joins the worldwide family of basketball in mourning long-time Panathinaikos Athens president Thanasis Giannakopoulos, who died on Tuesday at the age of 88.
His passing follows by nine months that of his brother, Pavlos, the other beloved patriarch of Panathinaikos during the most successful run of any team in modern European basketball.
“We are sorry for our sport to have lost today a man who was integral in building of one of the great success stories in modern basketball, Thanasis Giannakopoulos.
For generations of fans, it’s impossible to separate the success of Panathinaikos Athens from the commitment and love shown to that club by the Giannakopoulos family.
Thanasis was there, side by side with his brother Pavlos, to make greatness happen on the court again and again, and in so doing, set standards for all of our clubs to live up to. Basketball will miss him,” EuroLeague CEO, Jordi Bertomeu said.
During their time in Panathinaikos, Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos led the club to six EuroLeague titles, the 1996 Intercontinental Cup, 13 Greek League titles and nine Greek Cups.
