By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
Last season, Tyler Dorsey was often a peripheral figure for Olympiacos. However, a strong showing in the Greek League finals proved he was capable of being one of the leaders for the Piraeus giants.
Since the start of the 2025/26 campaign, the situation has shifted entirely. Dorsey has emerged as one of the focal points of the Greek powerhouse’s offense, a transformation that culminated in a spectacular performance against Real Madrid.
In a high-stakes battle for the top spot in the EuroLeague, Georgios Bartzokas’ squad defeated Los Blancos in front of their home crowd. The victory not only solidified their position at the summit but also made them the first team to officially clinch a playoff berth.
Dorsey was the undisputed protagonist of the evening. He set a new career high with 37 points and posted a PIR of 43 – another personal record – marking one of the most dominant individual performances in the EuroLeague this season. Speaking with Eurohoops after the game, he reflected on his extraordinary performance:
“There’s nothing to explain – I’m motivated. I have something to prove every night, that’s it. It’s very simple for me. Late nights and hard work are just catching up. I don’t know how to explain it other than that God has opened doors that were closing in my face over the last two years. I still have fuel in the tank and a lot more to give. This is a big club and we have one goal, so honestly I’m not even satisfied – but this is the best time of the year to play your best basketball, and it looks like we’re doing that.”
The performance followed a tense moment in the previous round involving an exchange between Dorsey and Coach Bartzokas. However, Tyler made it clear that the incident left no lingering impact on his play:
“I don’t care. I don’t get in my feelings about anything, so that has nothing to do with me. That’s in the past – there’s nothing to it, honestly. I’ve got nothing to talk about there.”
The dominant duo of Dorsey and Sasha Vezenkov drew immediate comparisons on social media to the legendary Los Angeles Lakers tandem of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. For Dorsey, a childhood Lakers fan, the comparison hit home:
“That’s my favorite team, that’s what I grew up on – Kobe and Shaq. So it’s funny they say that, but that’s how I felt. We just kept going back and forth, feeding off each other, and we’ve got to keep doing that.”
With a string of elite performances in big moments, Dorsey is making a late case for MVP consideration. However, he is quick to distance himself from the awards debate:
“I see a lot of guys talking about being the best and all that. I’m here to prove something too, but I’m not saying I’m the best or the MVP. I’ve got something to prove every night. That’s for other people to talk about — for me, it’s just about getting better every step of my career.”
Olympiacos is now in pole position to finish the regular season as the top seed. Historically, the team that finishes first in the standings has never gone on to win the EuroLeague title, but Dorsey is quick to dismiss any talk of a “curse”:
“No, I don’t believe in any curse. I pray, so that has nothing to do with us. Being first is a great accomplishment – this is the second-best league in the world, so credit to that, especially doing it back-to-back years. It feels good because I was out and the team was still first, and now I’m back and playing well. But first place isn’t locked yet – we’ve got two more games to secure it,” Dorsey concluded.