Ioannis Athinaiou

Ioannis Athinaiou (alternate spellings: Giannis, Yiannis, Yannis, Athineou, Athinaioy) (Greek: Ιωάννης Αθηναίου; born May 27, 1988) is a Greek professional basketball player for Mykonos of the Greek A2 Basket League. He is 1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in) tall.[1][2] and 96 kg (212 lbs).[3] He can play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions.

Ioannis Athinaiou
Mykonos
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
LeagueGreek A2 Basket League
Personal information
Born (1988-05-27) May 27, 1988
Cholargos, Athens, Greece
NationalityGreek
Listed height6 ft 4.5 in (1.94 m)
Listed weight212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2010: undrafted
Playing career2006–present
Career history
2006–2009Ilysiakos
2009–2011Panionios
2011–2012KAOD
2012–2013Panionios
2013–2014Aris Thessaloniki
2014Olimpia Milano
2014Eskişehir
2014–2015AEK Athens
2015–2017Olympiacos
2017–2018Aris Thessaloniki
2018–2019PAOK Thessaloniki
2019Fos Provence
2019–2020Panathinaikos
2020Peristeri
2020–2021Promitheas Patras
2021Bilbao
2021–2022Ionikos Nikaias
2022–2023Karditsa
2023–presentMykonos
Career highlights and awards

Youth career

At a young age, Athinaiou began playing youth system basketball in Greece. He started playing with the youth teams of Poseidonas, a club that is located in Psychiko, Athens,.

Professional career

Athinaiou first played professionally with the Greek clubs Ilysiakos, Panionios, and KAOD.[4] In the summer of 2009, he signed a 4-year contract with Panionios.[5] He joined the Greek League club Aris Thessaloniki, in 2013.[6]

Athinaiou joined the Italian League club Olimpia Milano, in 2014.[7] In May, he parted ways with the team.[8] He signed with the Greek EuroLeague team Olympiacos Piraeus, in 2015.[9] With Olympiacos, he won the Greek League championship in 2016. He returned to Aris Thessaloniki, for the 2017–18 season.

On July 29, 2018, Athinaiou signed a two-year contract with Aris' arch-rivals, PAOK Thessaloniki. In January 2019, he joined the French League club Fos Provence.[10]

On August 12, 2019, Athinaiou moved to the Greek EuroLeague club Panathinaikos Athens.[11] After joining Panathinaikos, Athinaiou became the first player in history to be a member of all five of the largest Greek basketball teams, having been a member of Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, AEK, PAOK and Aris.[12] However, just a few days later, Athinaiou unfortunately suffered a torn ACL knee injury, in one of the Greek national team's preparation games against Serbia, just two weeks prior to the start of 2019 FIBA World Cup.[13] As a result of the injury, Athinaiou missed the entirety of the following COVID-19 pandemic shortened 2019–20 season.

On July 16, 2020, Athinaiou signed with the Greek club Peristeri.[14] On December 17, however, he was released from Peristeri after the acquisition of Vangelis Mantzaris. The following day, Athinaiou signed with Promitheas Patras, in an unofficial "swap" between the two teams. On April 17, 2021, Athinaiou agreed to move to Spanish club RETAbet Bilbao Basket for the rest of the season, replacing the injured Jonathan Rousselle.

On August 6, 2021, Athinaiou signed with Ionikos. In 18 games, he averaged 9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists, playing around 25 minutes per contest.

For the 2022-2023 season, Athinaiou moved to the newly promoted Karditsa, where he was named team captain. In 21 league games, he averaged 4.3 points, 1 rebound and 2.9 assists in 19 minutes per contest.

National team career

Athinaiou was a member of the Greek university national team. He played at the 2007 World University Games. He has also been a member of the senior Greek national basketball team. He played with Greece at the 2016 Turin FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.[15] He also played at the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualification,[16] where he had a game-winning buzzer-beating 3 pointer against Great Britain.[17][18]

Awards and accomplishments

References
  1. GIANNIS ATHINAIOU Height: 194 cm.
  2. ΑΘΗΝΑΙΟΥ Γιάννης HEIGHT 1.94 (in Greek).
  3. Ioannis Athinaiou Svoris: 96 (in Lithuanian).
  4. Insports.gr Player Data (in Greek).
  5. "Sport24.gr Ανακοινώθηκε ο Αθηναίου " (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
  6. "Γιάννης Αθηναίου και Νίκος Γκίκας στον ΑΡΗ {{in lang|el}}". Archived from the original on 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  7. LegaBasket.it EA7 Emporio Armani, arriva il play guardia Ioannis Athinaiou (in Italian).
  8. Sportando.net Olimpia Milano, Ioannis Athinaiou part ways.
  9. Olympiacos adds depth with combo-guard Athinaiou.
  10. L’ARRIÈRE GREC GIANNIS ATHINAIOU SIGNE CHEZ LES BYERS (in French).
  11. Panathinaikos inks veteran guard Athinaiou.
  12. Γιάννης Αθηναίου: Ο πρώτος που θα παίξει και στους πέντε μεγάλους! (in Greek).
  13. Giannis Athinaiou suffered ACL injury in the game Greece vs Serbia
  14. "Giannis Athinaiou joins Peristeri BC". Sportando. July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  15. Greek NT squad for OQT is announced.
  16. Greece announce preliminary player list for games against Great Britain and Israel.
  17. ATHINAIOU THE HERO FOR GREECE IN FIBA WORLD CUP QUALIFYING OPENER.
  18. Qualifiers heroes Bourousis, Athinaiou lead Greece in third window.
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