Early years The large Greek population of
Constantinople, not unlike those of the other Ottoman urban centres, continued its athletic traditions in the form of numerous athletic clubs. Clubs such as
Enosis Tataoulon (), from the
Tatavla district,
Megas Alexandros (),
Hermes () of
Galata,
Olympias () of Therapia, and
Kati Kioi () of
Chalcedon, existed to promote
Hellenic athletic and cultural ideals. These were amongst a dozen Greek-backed clubs that dominated the sporting landscape of the city in the years preceding World War I. After the war, with the influx of mainly French and English soldiers to Constantinople, many of the city clubs participated in regular competitions, with teams formed by foreign troops.
Taxim,
Pera, and
Tatavla became the scene of weekly competitions in not only
football, but of
athletics, cycling,
boxing, and
tennis. Of the clubs in the city though, football was dominated by Enosis Tataoulon and Hermes. Hermes, one of the more popular clubs, was formed in 1875, by the Greek community of Pera (Galata). Forced by the
Kemalist regime to change its name to
Pera Club in 1923, many of its athletes fled to Greece, and settled in
Athens and
Thessaloniki. The basketball team of AEK is actually the most successful among
AEK's athletic departments. The obvious reason is
the successes in general of Greek basketball, and that AEK's basketball team was the first ever Greek team to win an international trophy, in any team sport. Under Kostas Karamanlis' guidance, AEK won the club's first Greek League championship in 1958.
1924–1957 Kostas Dimopoulos, one of the creators of the AEK athletic club and footballer of the early years, had the idea of also creating a basketball team. His efforts quickly were matched by others who loved the sport of basketball. He then took over the leadership of the club's basketball department, and together with the
Simeonidi brothers,
Eumenes Athanasiadis and others, created the club's first basketball team. In the beginning, they took part in
friendly games, where they made a good impression. After that, AEK won the first regional basketball championship that was played in Athens, which was organized by the local
YMCA, in 1924.In 1928, AEK took part in the first Greek basketball championship, in the Athens-Piraeus 1927–28 regional championship. In 1929, the Greek basketball championship was not held, and AEK did not play in any league. In 1930, the basketball section was not declared in any organized competition, with the effective efforts of Kostas Dimopoulos and his associates to do so, failing. The club's basketball section then remained in obscurity for many years. However, in 1949, it reappeared, and the club's administration of that time created a new and competitive team. In the 1952–53 season, AEK played in the Greek basketball championship for the first time since 1928. In the 1954–55 Greek League championship AEK had an impressive run, however, they finished behind
Panellinios.
1957–1959 In 1958, AEK B.C., led by the player-
coach Kostas Karamanlis, won their first Greek League championship, after defeating
Panellinios in the final, by a score of 67–54. The club also founded a women's section at this time, which lasted for a short time. The department had success with the four sisters Chorianopoulou sisters. However, the club did not give the necessary importance to the department, and it was later dissolved.
Amerikanos' era (1960–1970): 6 Championships and a European title "The Union", in the early 1960s, won the Athens-Piraeus Regional Championship two times in a row (1960, 1961), but did not manage to become the national league champion of Greece. But the 1960s decade was to be the most important in the history of AEK's basketball club. The team's head coach of the time,
Missas Pantazopoulos, created a great roster and led the team to the top of Greece. The club's leading figure during these years was
Georgios Amerikanos, who was nicknamed "Global". In the 1962–63 season, AEK won the first of four consecutive Greek League championships. In the next season, AEK's leading scorer was
Antonis Christeas (4th overall in the league), and the club was once again the Greek League champion. In the 1964–65 season,
Georgios Amerikanos was
the top scorer of the league, and AEK were once again the Greek League champions. In the following 1965–66 season, AEK won its 4th consecutive Greek League championship, and also became the first Greek basketball team to play in the semi-finals of the FIBA Europe Champions Cup (now called the
EuroLeague), as they played at the
1966 Final Four, which was held in Italy. These successes were accompanied by an unfortunate large loss for the team. As one of the team's players, Giorgos Moschos had contracted cancer, but he managed to participate in certain competitions that year, before he died on 29 December 1966, at age 29. The next season, AEK lost the Greek League championship to
Panathinaikos. However, a year later, under head coach
Nikos Milas, AEK returned to the top of Greece, as they won the 1967–68 Greek League season championship, without losing a game. Georgios Amerikanos was again the Greek League's Top Scorer.
1968 European Cup Winners' Cup: first European title for a Greek club AEK was the first ever Greek basketball team to participate in the FIBA European Champions Cup (now called the
EuroLeague)
Final Four,
in 1966, which was held in Bologna, Italy. Two years later, AEK was the first-ever Greek team, not only to reach a
FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup Final, but also to win a European-wide title. On April 4, 1968, AEK defeated
Slavia VŠ Praha, by a score of 89–82, in Athens, in front of 80,000 spectators (at the time, the
Guinness world record in basketball attendance) in
Kallimarmaron Stadium. In 1970, AEK reached the FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, where the team was eliminated by
JA Vichy, France, in what turned out to be the last year of the first "Golden Era" of the club's history. It was called the "Golden Era" because AEK dominated Greek basketball during the 1960s, winning the
Greek League championship 4 consecutive years, in 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1966, as well as in 1968 and 1970; for a total of 6 titles in 8 years. Although there are no official records with regards to the
Greek Cup before 1975, according to some sources, AEK won the Greek Cup in the years of 1967 and 1971.
1970–1990 Over the next decades, AEK lost its prestige and managed to win only one trophy, the
Greek Cup in 1981, under the direction of Coach Fred Develey, an American coach who previously was the head coach of
Maccabi Tel Aviv and
Aris of Greece, with superstar
Nick Galis. In addition to winning the Greek Cup in 1981, AEK was also a finalist in the Greek Cup in 1976, 1978, 1980, 1988, and 1992, but failed to win in any of those years.
The Queen's comeback AEK made a comeback in the late 1990s, when the team played in six consecutive
Greek Cup Final Fours in the years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, four consecutive Greek Cup Finals in the years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, winning the Greek Cup in 2000 and 2001. In
2002, AEK won the
Greek League championship for the first time in 32 years, becoming the first team to win the Greek League championship after having lost the first two games of a 5-game playoff series. AEK lost the first two games of the series to
Olympiacos, but managed to win the next 3 games, and take the series and the title 3–2. AEK also reached the Greek Playoff Finals in the years 1997, 2003, and 2005, and the Greek Cup Semi-finals in the year 2006.
1998 EuroLeague Runners-up and 2000 Saporta Cup Winners AEK experienced a golden era in European basketball during the late 1990s and early 2000s, reaching remarkable heights in international competitions. The pinnacle came in 1998, when AEK reached the EuroLeague Final Four in Barcelona. The team, coached by
Giannis Ioannidis, put up a strong fight, defeating
Benetton Treviso 69–66 in the semifinals before falling to
Kinder Bologna 58–44 in the final. This marked their first-ever appearance in a
EuroLeague final, establishing AEK as one of the elite European basketball clubs of the time.In 2000, AEK achieved another historic feat by winning the
FIBA Saporta Cup, with a victory over
Kinder Bologna 83–76 in the final. Under coach
Dušan Ivković, this win served as a form of revenge for their loss to Bologna in the EuroLeague final two years earlier. The triumph secured AEK's second major European trophy. The following year, 2001, AEK continued their strong European performances, reaching the
EuroLeague semi-finals. However, they were eliminated in the playoffs by
Tau Cerámica, who swept the series 3–0. In the
2002 EuroLeague season, AEK once again reached the Top 16 phase, solidifying their reputation in Europe. This was the last notable run for AEK in the EuroLeague during this era, as the team struggled in the following years, with the
2003 and
2004 seasons being considered disappointments. Injuries and inconsistent performances marred their campaigns, and the club failed to qualify for the playoffs in both years. Despite these setbacks, AEK enjoyed a resurgence in
2005, once again reaching the Top 16. However, a few key losses prevented them from advancing to the EuroLeague playoffs, marking the end of their dominant run in the European competition.
Relegation After the 2005–06 season, the owner of the club and major shareholder cut off the club's funding, and various management schemes each year assumed the financial obligations of the club. As a result, the roster gradually weakened year after year, the group declined each year to lower-level league positions and had even less success in European competitions, and the club's debts that were accrued were impossible to pay. In April 2011, AEK was
relegated down to the
Greek Second Division (A2) due to serious financial problems and there was a great danger for its participation in the next championships.
The Queen is back again A new administration council, with Nikos Georgantzoglou as a president, defined by the Athens Court on 12 September 2011 so that the club could be saved and play in the A2 division. AEK had a record of 20 wins and 10 losses during the 2011–12
Greek Second Division. In the summer of 2012, AEK's board of directors announced its participation in the Greek 3rd national category
Greek B League ("B Ethniki") "Southern Group", for the 2012–13 season, as an amateur club. The team had a record of 22 wins and 3 losses and was promoted to the A2 category. In the 2013–14 season, AEK once again played in the
Greek Second Division. Finally, AEK was the winner of the second division championship and won the league promotion to be able to play in the top
Greek League again, after a 3-year period of absence. AEK had a record of 23 wins and 3 losses during the
Greek A2 Basket League 2013–14 season. ==== Participation in
Greek League ==== In September 2014, AEK overcame heavy financial problems, after
Makis Angelopoulos bought the majority stake of the club's shares, just to return to the Greek elite level, and thus wanted to showcase its tradition and ambition in Greece and Europe. In the 2014–15 season, AEK finished in fifth place in the top-tier level
Greek League, with 15 wins and 11 losses.
Return to European cup competitions In the
2015–16 season, AEK returned to the
European-wide 2nd-tier level
EuroCup, for the first time since the
2006–07 season. AEK returned to the EuroCup, after having come off a return-to-form season, in which it finished fifth overall in the first-tier level Greek League, to reach the Greek League playoffs, after a seven-year absence. AEK then joined the newly formed
FIBA Champions League, for the
2016–17 season. The team reached the
2016–17 FIBA Champions League Round 16.
2018 Greek Cup winners On 17 February 2018, AEK won the
2018 Greek Cup Final against
Olympiacos, by a score of 88–83, at
Heraklion Indoor Sports Arena, on the
island of Crete. It was AEK's first top-tier title won since they won the
2001–02 Greek Basket League season's championship.
2018 FIBA Champions League and 2019 FIBA Intercontinental cup winners On 6 May 2018, AEK won the
2018 FIBA Champions League final against the French club
AS Monaco by a score of 100–94 in the
Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall of Athens. By winning the FIBA Champions League trophy, AEK earned the right to add a third star to its club crest. The team also qualified to participate in the next edition of the
FIBA Intercontinental Cup tournament. In the following
FIBA Champions League competition AEK was knocked out of the competition in the quarter-finals by the German side
Brose Bamberg. Nevertheless, a bit earlier in the 2018–19 season, AEK became the global basketball champions, for the first time in their perennial history, by winning the
2019 FIBA Intercontinental Cup final against the Brazilian club
Flamengo by a score of 86–70 in the
Carioca Arena 1 of
Rio de Janeiro. That marked the third FIBA Intercontinental Cup championship that was won by a Greek club, after
Panathinaikos had won the
1996 FIBA Intercontinental Cup, and
Olympiacos had won the
2013 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
2020 Greek Cup winners and 2020 FIBA Champions League runners-up On 16 February 2020, AEK won the
2020 Greek Cup final against
Promitheas Patras, by a score of 61–57, at
Heraklion Indoor Sports Arena, on the
island of Crete. It was AEK's second national top-tier title in two years. On 4 October 2020, AEK lost by 85–74 from the Spanish side
San Pablo Burgos in the
2019–20 FIBA Champions League final that was held in the
Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall of
Athens. This was the second
FIBA Champions League final in three years for AEK Athens. The team also holds the
FIBA Champions League highest attendance record, as 17,984 fans attended the
2017–18 FIBA Champions League final in the
Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall. The 2020s opened a new chapter for AEK B.C., with the club remaining a strong force in Greece and Europe. In 2020–21, AEK reached the Greek Cup final and the Basketball Champions League semifinals, solidifying its place among the country's top teams.
The move to Ano Liossia After nearly 100 years of history and playing in more than ten different arenas, AEK B.C. finally found a permanent home with the move to the
Ano Liossia Olympic Sports Hall in 2021. Originally built for the
2004 Athens Olympic Games, the venue was one of many Olympic facilities that had been left underused . AEK undertook significant efforts to renovate and revitalize the arena, eventually securing an official operating license in September 2021 — a major milestone that allowed the club to officially base its basketball operations there. Later, the venue also became the first of the 2004 Olympic facilities to secure a commercial sponsorship deal, officially being named
"SUNEL Arena" after a partnership agreement was reached. This marked a historic step, both for the arena and for the broader effort to breathe new life into Greece's dormant Olympic legacy. In December 2021, Serbian forward
Stevan Jelovac died due to complications from a
brain hemorrhage. AEK retired Jelovac’s number 13 jersey and renamed the training gym inside the new arena the
Stevan Jelovac Gymnasium".
Coaching Changes and Unsteady Campaigns (2021–2024) In the 2021–22 season, the team started under
Stefanos Dedas, but after a few months, Dedas departed to join
Dimitris Itoudis’s coaching staff at
CSKA Moscow, and
Curro Segura stepped in as his replacement; despite important signings, AEK failed to seriously challenge for titles. In 2022–23,
Ilias Kantzouris was appointed head coach, and the club assembled a promising roster with several international players.
Akil Mitchell emerged as the team's standout performer, earning a place on the
Basketball Champions League First Team, but inconsistency and injuries ultimately resulted in another underwhelming campaign both domestically and in Europe. The 2023–24 season began with
Joan Plaza at the helm, alongside a number of experienced new additions, but internal instability and poor results led to another midseason coaching change, and once again, the team closed the year without major achievements.
Dragan Sakota is back 2024–present A major turning point came in the summer of 2024, when legendary coach
Dragan Šakota returned to lead the team. Šakota, who had famously guided AEK to the
2002 Greek Championship, the
2018 Greek Cup, and the
2018 Basketball Champions League title, had deep ties with the club and was seen as the ideal figure to restore identity, discipline, and ambition. His return was met with great enthusiasm from the fans and signaled a renewed commitment by the organization to reestablish AEK at the top of Greek and European basketball. Under his leadership, the 2024–25 season proved successful, as AEK finished in third place in both the
Greek Basket League and the
Basketball Champions League. In the domestic playoffs, AEK secured third place by defeating
Promitheas Patras, with a decisive 91–67 win in the placement series. In Europe, AEK reached the
Final Four of the Basketball Champions League, which was hosted at the
SUNEL Arena in Athens. After a narrow 71–65 loss to
Unicaja Málaga in the semifinals, the team rebounded impressively to claim third place by overcoming a 17-point deficit and defeating
Lenovo Tenerife 77–73 in the bronze medal game. These results marked a strong step forward in AEK’s efforts to reclaim its place among the continent’s elite clubs. ==Crest, colours==