Early years Ionikos Nikaias' men's basketball club was founded in 1965, and it played its first game in 1966, during the 1966–67 season. Over the years, the club has featured Greek players such as:
Panagiotis Giannakis,
Fotis Katsikaris,
Nikos Oikonomou,
Vangelis Margaritis,
Vassilis Kavvadas, and
Marios Batis. Ionikos Nikaias played in the
Greek 2nd Division for the first time, in the 1972–73 season. The club won the Greek 2nd Division first group in the 1974–75 season, and was thus
promoted to the top-tier level Greek League, for the first time, for the 1975–76 season. The club made 12 consecutive season appearances in the
top-tier level
Greek Basket League, during the 1970s and 1980s period, from the 1975–76 season, to the 1986–87 season. The club also competed in the
3rd-tier level European-wide competition, the
FIBA Korać Cup, in both the
1979–80 and
1984–85 seasons. On January 24, 1981, Ionikos Nikaias, led by a then 22-year-old
Giannakis, played against
Aris Thessaloniki, which was led at the time by
Nikos Galis. Aris won in a tight game, by a score of 114–113. The game is memorable in the history of Greek pro club basketball, because in the game, Giannakis scored 73 points, and Galis scored 62 points, achieving the 2nd and 4th most points scored in a single game of the Greek League basketball championship. On August 3, 1984, Ionikos Nikaias transferred its club star Panagiotis Giannakis, to the Greek club
Aris Thessaloniki. Aris paid Ionikos Nikaias a transfer fee for his player rights, in the amount of 42 million
Greek Drachmas, which was considered a huge amount of money for a transfer at that time. In order to complete the transfer, Giannakis also personally received a
BMW car, a
sporting goods store, and 8 million drachmas from Aris.
Recent years Ionikos Nikaias won the
Greek 3rd Division south conference in the 2017–18 season, and thus earned a league
promotion to the
Greek 2nd Division, for the 2018–19 season. That marked the first time the club had played in the Greek 2nd Division, since the 2003–04 season. In the
2018–19 season, Ionikos won the Greek 2nd Division (A2) championship, and was promoted up to the first tier level
Greek Basket League, for the
2019–20 season. That marked the first time the club had played in Greece's first division, since the 1986–87 season. ==Ionikos Nikaias B.C. in international competitions==