23/May/16 23:58

The dream Sunday of Greek sports!

23 May 2016 2016-05-24T00:17:09+00:00.

Aris Barkas

- 23 May 2016

Eurohoops.net

By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net

There are few moments in life in which reality is better than wildest imagination. That’s the only way to describe what happened in the Nick Galis Hall at Thessaloniki, Greece, during the EKO Antetokounbros Event, organized by Eurohoops and the Thessaloniki tourism organization.

Just three days before the event, it was announced that the venue address changed from an open court, named Poseidonio after the Greek mythical sea God, to the Nick Galis Hall due to weather conditions. Still, the number of fans that attended the game on Sunday surpassed any expectation.

The 6.000-seats capacity gym was full. There were people sitting on the stairs, and even those who didn’t mind standing up in order to simply be there. The doors closed for security reasons and it’s estimated that at least 2.000 fans were forced to stay out of the arena. Crazy but true!

full arena

The city with the longest basketball tradition in Greece and the most historic basketball venue of the country provided an enormous hug for Giannis and Thanasis, giving them some of the happiest moments in their life. They just couldn’t believe what was happening until the moment they entered the court.

Fans of all ages, city officials, famous athletes… they were all there. In the most difficult times during recent years in Greece, the message was loud and clear.

There’s hope, things can and must change, while a new generation of fans can be created with the proper sports education, inspired by sportsmanship spirit.

giannis talking to fans

“We can’t believe it. We are thankful to the fans of Thessaloniki from the bottom of our heart”, said Giannis after the game and Thanasis added: “When we entered the arena we were shocked. We didn’t expect that”.

Just for the record, this time Giannis finished the game with 60 points and 11 assists and his team included Greek retired legend Theodoros Papaloukas – yes, the playmaker of the Greek national team which beat Team USA in the World Cup semi-final of 2006 – who dished 15 assists. They got the 131-117 win despite Thanasis scoring 75 points. It was a real basketball feast. As some of the oldest persons in attendance admitted: “In this gym, this happened before only during the 80s when Greek-American legend Nick Galis was playing. It’s amazing to see this happening spontaneously for those two brothers”.

pure love

After the end of the game, Giannis and Thanasis visited the museum of Greek club Aris BC, one of the country’s basketball dynasties, they got a private tour and some special memorabilia.

paidia mouseio

Even though Giannis and Thanasis were tired from their transatlantic return-journey from the USA and they played without getting any sleep, the energy that they received from the massive love of the crowd was more than enough to get them going!

giannis dunks

We want to thank the vice-governor of the Thessaloniki’s Metropolitan area Voula Patoulidou for her valuable contribution to the whole event. A former athlete herself, Patoulidou won gold medal in the Olympic Games of 1992 in Barcelona, in one stunning 100-meter hurdle race.

Bros - Voula Patoulidou

Thank you Thessaloniki! Above all, we thank ARIS B.C. and the owners, mr. Nikos and mr. Manos Laskaris personally, for granting the arena and also the whole Nick Galis hall administration. Without them, the dream would have never turned into reality!

thess

What took place in the event is simply indescribable. Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, you can watch everything here!

See you in Athens, on Sunday, May 29th at 17:30!

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