By Stavros Barbarousis/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Sfairopoulos is a major candidate to take over Baskonia if the club decides to part ways with current head coach Joan Penarroya, as Walla reported and Eurohoops can confirm.
Sfairopoulos has been a free agent since he got dismissed by Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2022 after a four-year stint with the Yellows. While in Israel, he won three Winner League championship titles, two Winner Cup trophies and the State Cup of 2021.
Baskonia just suffered quite the upset in the Spanish ACB League by getting swept 0-2 by Joventut Badalona in the quarterfinals after finishing the regular season with the second seed. In EuroLeague, the Basque team was in contention for the playoffs until the last round of the regular season but was eliminated due to a loss at Olympiacos Piraeus.
After such a disappointing finale in 2022-23, Penarroya could be exiting Baskonia despite being signed to a contract until 2024.
Sfairopoulos, who’s also been in talks with Anadolu Efes, began his head coach career in EuroLeague with Olympiacos Piraeus in 2014. He led the Reds to the EuroLeague Final in 2015 and 2017.