65 Facts About Nikos Galis

Nikolaos Georgalis, commonly known as either Nikos Galis, or Nick Galis, is a Greek former professional basketball player.

In 1991, Nikos Galis was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players.

Nikos Galis spent most of his club playing career with Aris Thessaloniki, before having a late career stint with Panathinaikos Athens.

Nikos Galis was the league's top scorer of the season, numerous times.

Nikos Galis led the Greece men's national basketball team to the EuroBasket's gold medal in 1987, and he earned the tournament's MVP award in the process.

Nikos Galis led Greece to a silver medal at the 1989 EuroBasket, where he was selected to the All-EuroBasket Team.

Nikos Galis holds the records for the highest career scoring average, and the most total points ever scored in a single tournament, which he set at the 1986 FIBA World Championship.

Nikos Galis, who was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year three times, is highly revered in Greece, where he is considered by many to be one of the greatest national athletes that the country has ever had.

Nikos Galis was the sports icon that eventually inspired thousands of Greeks to take up playing the game of basketball.

The child of a poor immigrant family, from the Greek islands of Rhodes and Nisyros, Nikos Galis took up boxing in his early years, after his father, George Georgalis, who had been a boxer in his youth.

Nikos Galis was later persuaded to give up boxing by his mother, Stella Georgalis, who was terrified after each time that her son would return home from boxing training with a new facial injury.

Nikos Galis attended Union Hill High School, in Union City, where he played high school basketball for legendary coach William J McKeever, as well as American football.

Also in his senior year of college, Nikos Galis won the Haggerty Award, and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Year award.

Nikos Galis was later inducted into the Seton Hall Athletic Hall of Fame, in 1991.

Nikos Galis was eventually selected by the Boston Celtics in the 4th round of the 1979 NBA Draft, 68th overall.

Nikos Galis then decided to pursue a professional career in Greece's top-tier level Basket League.

Nikos Galis's move to the country would eventually help Greek club basketball to reach a level of popularity that had never been previously imagined.

Nikos Galis was the indisputable leader of Aris Thessaloniki, as he averaged more than 30 points per game in nearly every season and competition that he played in with the team.

Nikos Galis won seven out of his eight Greek League championships in consecutive years, with three of those championships being won in undefeated seasons.

Nikos Galis won six Greek Cup titles with Aris Thessaloniki, in the years 1985,1987,1988,1989,1990, and 1992.

Nikos Galis' team played at the 1988 Ghent Final Four, the 1989 Munich Final Four, and the 1990 Zaragoza Final Four.

In June 1991, Nikos Galis was chosen as a member of The Balkans Selection All-Star Team that played against The European Selection All-Star Team at the 1991 FIBA Centennial Jubilee.

On 19 December 1991, in one of his final FIBA EuroLeague games with Aris Thessaloniki, Nikos Galis rolled back the clock.

Nikos Galis, who adored the city of Thessaloniki and Aris' fans, had originally insisted on remaining in the club and playing for the team, as he believed that he still had a lot to offer the club.

Nikos Galis moved to Athens, in the summer of 1992, to play with Panathinaikos.

Nikos Galis was the player who then led the "Greens" to a club rebirth, after it had suffered through a long drought period, during which the historical team had remained without winning any titles.

Nikos Galis led the league in assists, with an average of 4.7 assists per game.

In Panathinaikos Athens' decisive Game 3 victory of the FIBA European League's quarterfinals, against the then reigning league champions, the French League club Limoges, Nikos Galis truly led Panathinaikos Athens into a new club era.

Nikos Galis scored 30 points in Panathinaikos Athens' win in the Final Four's third place game against the Spanish League club FC Barcelona, as he led all scorers in the game, with 30 points.

Nikos Galis rallied to score 18 and 22 points in games 3 and 4, both of which Panathinaikos won to seal 3rd spot and a place in the FIBA European League for the following season.

Nikos Galis was the player who led Panathinaikos Athens to the competition's Top 16 group stage, as he prevented their elimination from the competition against the Ukrainian Super League club Budivelnyk Kyiv, with a game-high of 23 points in the club's decisive second-leg game victory.

Nikos Galis was the leader of the team in their Greek Cup win against Olympiacos Piraeus, at the Sporting Sports Arena.

At the age of 37, Nikos Galis played in his last game in professional basketball, as a player of Panathinaikos Athens, on October 12,1994.

In that game, Nikos Galis scored a total of 8 points, in 35 minutes of playing time.

In protest against the head coach's decision, Nikos Galis left the arena, and ultimately, he never returned to playing action again.

Nikos Galis's retirement was officially announced in the media, on September 29,1995.

Nikos Galis averaged 42.5 points per game, in the two Greek Super Cup games that he played in.

Nikos Galis scored a total of 864 points, in 23 FIBA Korac Cup games, for a career scoring average of 37.6 points per game.

Nikos Galis first played with the Greece men's national basketball team at the 1980 FIBA European Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Nikos Galis averaged 20.5 points per game at the tournament.

At the 1981 EuroBasket, Nikos Galis averaged 19.9 points per game.

At the 1983 EuroBasket, Nikos Galis averaged 33.6 points per game, and he was the tournament's leading scorer.

On 20 November 1983, Nikos Galis played in a friendly game against the North Carolina Tar Heels, at The Demetria Tournament '83.

At the 1984 FIBA European Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Nikos Galis averaged 31.6 points per game, and he was the tournament's leading scorer.

At the 1986 FIBA World Championship, Nikos Galis led the tournament in scoring, as he averaged 33.7 points per game.

Nikos Galis next led the Greece national team to the 1987 EuroBasket gold medal.

Nikos Galis led the tournament in scoring, as he averaged 37.0 points per game.

At the 1988 FIBA European Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Nikos Galis averaged 28.4 points per game, and he was the tournament's leading scorer.

Nikos Galis led Greece to the silver medal at the 1989 EuroBasket, which he led in scoring, with an average of 35.6 points per game.

Nikos Galis is most remembered from that tournament, for a stunning effort against the Soviet team led by Marciulionis, and its other star player, Arvydas Sabonis, in their semifinals game.

Nikos Galis represented Greece at the 1991 FIBA Centennial Jubilee, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the creation of the sport of basketball, by the Canadian James Naismith.

In three games played during the tournament, Nikos Galis averaged 21.0 points per game.

At the 1991 EuroBasket, Nikos Galis averaged 32.4 points per game, and he led the tournament in scoring.

In total, Nikos Galis was the leading scorer of the EuroBasket four times.

In total, Nikos Galis played in 168 FIBA-recognized games with the Greece national team, in which he scored a total of 5,129 points, for a career scoring average of 30.5 points per game.

Nikos Galis is in the second place, on the list of the all-time career scoring leaders in the history of Greece's senior national team.

Nikos Galis was not only a legendary scorer, he was a great play maker and passer.

At the 1987 EuroBasket, after the first game of the competition, Nikos Galis was never substituted out of any of the tournament's remaining games.

Nikos Galis is married to Eleni Panagiotou, and he has one daughter, named Stella.

Nikos Galis entered the stadium at the conclusion of the Opening Ceremony, and set off the procession of the flame to the altar.

In September 2007, Nikos Galis was inducted as a member of the first class of the FIBA Hall of Fame, which includes the best basketball players in the history of the game internationally.

Nikos Galis was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, on September 9,2017.

Nikos Galis became one of the very few men's basketball players from around the world, to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, without having ever played in the NBA.

Nikos Galis was a really tough opponent, he floated in the air, he was one of the best.

Nikos Galis won numerous titles and awards during his career and had many memorable single game performances.