By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos decided at halftime of the Greek derby to take down the banner depicting Dejan Bodiroga winning the 2002 EuroLeague title.
The club complains about the calls in the first half of the game, and this is a way of protesting to their former player and current EuroLeague president.
“At the halftime of the derby and as a sign of protest, Panathinaikos decided to take down the banner with Dejan Bodiroga from the roof of the Telekom Center Athens”, is the position of the Greek club.
In Telekom Center’s roof, seven banners depict the main stars of the seven EuroLeague titles that Panathinaikos has won, and the 2002 one will be replaced.
Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos posted a video of the Dejan Bodiroga banner being removed in protest
“Shame On You” wrote the PAO boss in Serbian pic.twitter.com/QvD5KJY3Jv
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) March 6, 2026
This is not the first time that this kind of change has been made. In the past, the banner of the 1996 EuroLeague title was changed when Panagiotis Giannakis became the coach of Olympiacos, because he was depicted as Panathinaikos captain winning the trophy together with Dominique Wilkins.
Dejan Bodiroga played for Panathinaikos from 1998 to 2002, and he was the star player of the team on the way to taking over the reign of Greek basketball from Olympiacos, which dominated for most of the 90s.
He won two EuroLeague titles with the Greens in 2000 and 2002, leaving in the summer of 2003 for Barcelona and leading the Catalans to their first EuroLeague trophy in 2003.