1930s–1960s Olympiacos basketball club has its origins in the 1930s, when the first attempts to establish it were made, in 1931 and then again in 1937. After
World War II, the "red-and-whites" were the first Greek team to familiarize themselves with American basketball, as
Alekos Spanoudakis learned to use the
jump shot, and his brother,
Ioannis Spanoudakis (who was both a player and the
head coach of the team), met basketball legend
Bob Cousy and practiced many of his techniques on the court. During the Spanoudakis brothers' era, Olympiacos won their first
Greek Championship in 1949, as well as a second in 1960, and were consistently among the best Greek teams throughout the 1950s. As Greek champions, they also qualified for their first European competition, the
1960–61 FIBA European Champions Cup. However, this last success was followed by a period of sharp decline, and in 1964, as the Spanoudakis brothers' playing days were coming to an end, Olympiacos was relegated to the Greek Second Division. In early 1967,
Faidon Matthaiou, the so-called "patriarch" of Greek basketball, took over as the head coach, and, under his guidance, the club was promoted back to the First Division. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Reds were a decent and tough team, with key players such as Thanasis Rammos, Tolis Spanos, Makis Katsafados, Manolis Efstratiou, and Stelios Amerikanos, but they were not yet capable of claiming the championship against the dominant forces of Athenian and Greek basketball at that time,
AEK and
Panathinaikos.
1970s–1980s The arrival of 22-year-old
Greek-American Steve Giatzoglou in early 1972 proved to be a game changer. Later that year, he was followed by fellow Greek-Americans
Giorgos Kastrinakis,
Pavlos Diakoulas, and, in 1974, Paul Mellini. These
U.S. college graduates, along with the remaining old guard of the 1960s and the signings of experienced Greek players such as Giorgos Barlas, Nikos Sismanidis, Aris Raftopoulos, and Christos Iordanidis, as well as younger players such as
Kimon Kokorogiannis and Giannis Garonis, formed the core of Olympiacos' rosters from 1972 until 1981, which was arguably the best period in the club's history up to that point. After three seasons in which Olympiacos narrowly lost the
Greek Championship to
Panathinaikos, the Reds became champions again in 1976 in impressive fashion, without losing a single game. They went on to win the newly established
Greek Cup, achieving the first domestic Double in the history of Greek basketball. In the same season, Olympiacos also reached the
quarter-finals of a European competition for the first time. This was the year that Olympiacos fans' dreams finally came true and the pinnacle of
Faidon Matthaiou's coaching career with the club. During the following season,
Kostas Mourouzis was appointed as the head coach, and the Reds won the Greek Cup again, after first eliminating archrivals Panathinaikos by defeating them 110–68 in front of 20,000 spectators at the
Panathenaic Stadium. This 42-point difference remains the largest in the history of the matches between the two clubs. In 1978, Olympiacos won their fourth Greek Championship, having lost only one game this time, as well as their third consecutive Greek Cup, achieving their second Double in three years. In 1979, Olympiacos also achieved their first major success in the top European competition, reaching the semi-finals group stage of the
1978–79 FIBA European Champions Cup, where they faced
Real Madrid,
Pallacanestro Varese,
Maccabi Tel Aviv,
Bosna Sarajevo, and
Joventut Badalona. Olympiacos was a difficult team to beat in
Piraeus, winning one game and losing the rest by narrow margins, but they easily lost most of their away games against the best European clubs, eventually finishing sixth. In early 1980, coach Mourouzis left Olympiacos as a worthy successor to Matthaiou's legacy. He was replaced by former club player Giorgos Barlas, who led the Reds to yet another Greek Cup victory. This was to be the last trophy for Olympiacos until the 1990s. Matthaiou returned as head coach for the following season, and Olympiacos finished second in the Greek League for the third consecutive time, marking the end of a great era. Over the next decade the Reds were not only overshadowed by the rising powers of
Thessaloniki,
Aris and
PAOK, but also often performed poorly enough to finish in the bottom half of the Greek League standings. After the departure of Mellini in 1980, Diakoulas in 1982, Giatzoglou and Kastrinakis in 1984, the team was led by players such as Andreas Kozakis, Giannis Paragios, Tzimis Maniatis, and
Argyris Kampouris, the hero of the
EuroBasket 1987 final. However, their efforts were not enough to bring notable results, with the exception of the 1985–86 season, when Olympiacos finished second in the Greek League and reached the Greek Cup final. The 1988–89 season was the first in which non-Greek players were allowed to participate in Greek basketball competitions, but even former
NBA players such as
Carey Scurry and
Todd Mitchell were unable to lead the club to success.
1990s: FIBA's best European team of the decade In the 1991–92 season, businessman
Sokratis Kokkalis took over the management of the club, and the situation changed radically, as Olympiacos brought in the top Greek basketball coach,
Giannis Ioannidis, and the
Yugoslav star
Žarko Paspalj. In addition, the club left the old Papastrateio Indoor Hall to move to the
Peace and Friendship Stadium (commonly called SEF), the largest
indoor arena in Greece until the inauguration of the
OAKA Indoor Arena in 1995. With SEF being packed for most of their games, the Reds became one of the best-supported basketball teams in Europe. The club had now fully recovered, climbing once again towards the top of the
Greek League. Five consecutive Greek Championship titles from 1993 to 1997 and two
Greek Cup titles in 1994 and 1997 established Olympiacos as the dominant club in Greece. In addition to their domestic successes, the Reds became one of the most successful clubs in the
FIBA EuroLeague of the 1990s, as they won the title in
1997, were finalists in
1994 and
1995, and finished third in
1999, leading
FIBA to select them as the Best European Team of that decade. However, the Reds managed to join the duo of Aris and
PAOK Thessaloniki as contenders for the
Greek League, eventually finishing in second place behind PAOK and earning a spot in the next
FIBA European League. In the 1992–93 season, former
NBA and Aris player
Walter Berry, as well as 19-year-old
Yugoslavs Dragan Tarlać and
Milan Tomić, joined
Žarko Paspalj and 21-year-old homegrown talent
Giorgos Sigalas to form the core of Olympiacos' roster. The Reds' journey in the European League began against
Olimpija Ljubljana in the
second qualifying round and continued in the group stage, where they finished third, advancing to the quarterfinals alongside
Arvydas Sabonis'
Real Madrid,
Toni Kukoč's
Benetton Treviso, and
Gheorghe Mureșan's
Pau-Orthez. However, Olympiacos failed to qualify for the
Final Four held at their home venue, the
Peace and Friendship Stadium, as they were eliminated in
Beaublanc by the eventual European champions,
Limoges CSP, with the third game in a best-of-three series being decided in the dying seconds by an off-balance two-point shot by
Slovenian star
Jure Zdovc. In the Greek Cup, Olympiacos was eliminated for the second time in a row by Aris, the winners of the
1992–93 FIBA European Cup. In a highly competitive Greek League, the Reds finished 4th in the regular season. In the quarterfinals they narrowly edged out Aris. In the semifinals, they eliminated defending champions PAOK, which had just finished third in the European League Final Four. In the finals, Olympiacos faced
Panathinaikos Athens, which had home-court advantage. With the series tied 1–1, the Reds won the third game at Panathinaikos' home. As the Greens refused to play the fourth game in protest of the refereeing, the match was awarded to Olympiacos, which celebrated their first Greek Championship since 1978. In the 1993–94 season, Berry left Olympiacos for PAOK, and Tarlać was unavailable due to injury, but the Reds were reinforced with another former NBA and Aris player,
Roy Tarpley, and the iconic PAOK captain,
Panagiotis Fasoulas. After an excellent run in the
group stage, Olympiacos qualified as group leaders for the quarterfinals, where they eliminated the Italian champions,
Sasha Danilović's
Virtus Bologna, and reached the Final Four of the European League for the first time in their history. In the
Final Four in
Tel Aviv, which featured two teams from
Catalonia and two from
Attica, Olympiacos defeated Panathinaikos in the semifinal, 77–72, with Paspalj scoring 22 points and Tarpley achieving a
double-double with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Olympiacos became the first Greek team ever to compete in the
final of the top European basketball competition, but, despite being the favorites to win the European crown, they lost 57–59 to
Joventut Badalona after failing to score in the last seven minutes of the game. Domestically, Olympiacos had an extremely successful season, as they celebrated the Double. First, they won the Greek Championship by prevailing in a dramatic best-of-five series over PAOK, the winner of the
1993–94 FIBA Korać Cup. Then, they won their first Greek Cup since 1980, after defeating
Iraklis Thessaloniki in the final. In the 1994–95 season, in a shocking move, Paspalj left Olympiacos for Panathinaikos. The Reds responded by signing the star of Panathinaikos,
Sasha Volkov and NBA veteran
Eddie Johnson. Olympiacos once again started as one of the favourites to win the European League, finishing second in their
group and earning home-court advantage for the next round. In the quarterfinals, they eliminated
CSKA Moscow, with the Russian team having only five players available for the decisive third game due to the alleged poisoning of all the other players on the team. In the
Final Four in
Zaragoza, Olympiacos faced their arched rivals Panathinaikos in the semifinals for the second consecutive year. They defeated them again, 58–52, with 27 points and 10 rebounds from Johnson, including four three-pointers in the last minutes of the game. The Reds qualified for the European League final for the second time in a row, where they played against Real Madrid, which won 61–73. Olympiacos and Panathinaikos' rivalry reached new heights in domestic competitions, characterized by overwhelming pressure on both teams' players and extremely low scoring in the matches between them. The Reds were eliminated early from the Greek Cup after losing 40–42 to their eternal enemies in a knockout match held at the neutral venue of the
Sporting Indoor Hall. In contrast, Olympiacos managed to win their third consecutive Greek Championship after a 45–44 home victory over Panathinaikos in the decisive fifth game of the finals. The 1995–96 season saw the arrival of
French League MVP David Rivers and the return of Walter Berry, as Volkov retired from basketball and Johnson returned to the NBA. Although the Reds had another impressive run in the
European League's group stage, they finished third due to a three-way tie with CSKA Moscow and Benetton Treviso. In the quarterfinals, Olympiacos was eliminated in a best-of-three series by Real Madrid, which had home-court advantage. In the Greek Cup, the Reds were once again eliminated by Panathinaikos, which went on to win not only this title but also the much-coveted European League. Nevertheless, the season ended in the most memorable fashion, as Olympiacos crushed the
newly crowned European champions in the fifth game of the Greek League finals with a score of 73–38, which remains the biggest winning margin in a
game between the two teams for the Greek League and the second biggest overall after the legendary 110–68 for the Greek Cup in 1977. Thus, Olympiacos won their fourth consecutive Greek championship in front of their ecstatic fans, who celebrated the title and the historic victory in a euphoric frenzy at Peace and Friendship Stadium.
European champions and Triple Crown glory In the 1996–97 season, with a new coach,
Dušan Ivković at the bench, the Reds and their fans had more hope than ever for the European title. In the regular season of the EuroLeague Olympiacos' performance was not as good as it was in the previous years, but in the play-offs they were impressive, twice breaking their opponents home court advantage. Their first victim was
Partizan. In a strange best of three series, Olympiacos won the first match with 81–71 in
Belgrade, lost the second at Peace and Friendship Stadium (61–60), which disappointed their fans, and finally won the third game in Belgrade with 74–69, which advanced them to the quarter-finals where the defending champions Panathinaikos were waiting for them with a home court advantage. Panathinaikos was ready to stop their rivals and take the revenge for the last year's smashing 73–38 defeat in the Greek finals. In the first game of the series at Panathinaikos' home, the
Athens Olympic Indoor Hall, Olympiacos once again thrashed the Greens, beating them 69–49 in front of their own fans. After the 20-point difference triumph in their rivals' court, they were only one win away from the Final Four. In the second match, at Peace and Friendship Stadium, in front of 17,000 ecstatic Reds fans, Olympiacos beat Panathinaikos once more by a score of 65–57 and advanced to the Final Four in
Rome. Olympiacos were the unquestionable favourites to win the EuroLeague championship and they made it, after two dominating performances in the Final Four. They faced
Olimpija Ljubljana in the semi-final and beat them 74–65, with
David Rivers scoring 28 points. In the final, they played against
FC Barcelona, and after an impressive display, they won by a score of 73–58, and became European Champions for the first time in their history. Rivers led Olympiacos, scoring an average of 27 points in the two games, and was eventually voted
Final Four MVP. The thousands of Olympiacos
fans who filled
Palaeur arena, were quick to sing that, "in Rome, in the final, we lifted the European title" (Greek:
Στη Ρώμη και στον τελικό, σηκώσαμε Ευρωπαϊκό). This remains one of the club's most popular chants to this day. Olympiacos went on to complete the coveted
Triple Crown in convincing fashion: they won the Greek League title (with 3–1 wins against the season's surprise team
AEK) and the Greek Cup (beating
Apollon Patras 80–78 in the final, in
Olympic Indoor Hall), to mark the most successful season in the club's long history. Olympiacos became the first Greek team to ever win the Triple Crown, and remained the only to do so one up until 2007. In October of the same year, the club played in the
1997 McDonald's Championship, in Paris. Having defeated
Atenas de Cordoba in the semi-final by 89–86, Olympiacos played against the
NBA champions
Chicago Bulls in the final. The game was played under zone-friendly European rules (the games between NBA and FIBA teams were played under a mixture of NBA and FIBA rules at that time), but, out of respect for the Bulls, Olympiacos never used a zone defence. Olympiacos was defeated 78–104, by the Bulls, and one of the greatest basketball players ever,
Michael Jordan. In the 1997–98 season, Olympiacos were once again the favourites in all the competitions they were taking part. They started the season with an impressive record of consecutive wins in Greece and Europe. But in the second half of the season, things went wrong for the team. Olympiacos played in the round of 16 of the EuroLeague, with a home court advantage against
Partizan in a three-game series, but they lost both matches in Athens and
Belgrade and the European Champions suffered an early and disappointing elimination. In the Greek Cup's Final Four, they faced Panathinaikos for the 3rd place and they won easily. In the Greek League, Olympiacos finished the regular season in second place, behind Panathinaikos. In the semi-finals, Olympiacos faced PAOK, having a home court advantage in a best of three series. In the first match in Athens, Olympiacos took a tight 66–65 win and held the advantage. They lost the second match in Thessaloniki, and the last game was held again in Athens. Olympiacos lost 58–55 in
Neo Faliro, marking the first ever defeat for the team in Peace and Friendship Stadium during the Greek playoffs. The Reds did not have the chance to defend their crown and they ended up in third place, with a 3–1 series win over
AEK Athens. The 1998–99 season did not begin well, because in the season's opening match of the Greek Cup, Olympiacos was eliminated by PAOK. The Reds played once again in the EuroLeague Final Four, and although they were considered the favorites to win the title, they lost 71–87 in the semi-final to the eventual winners
Žalgiris Kaunas. They finished third, defeating
Fortitudo Bologna 74–63 in the 3rd place game. In the Greek League they were the favorites to win the championship, but despite having the home advantage in the finals against Panathinaikos, they were defeated in the last game of the series at home and lost the title. That was the first time Olympiacos lost a playoff game to Panathinaikos in SEF after 10 consecutive wins. In the 1999–2000 season, Olympiacos did not make the EuroLeague playoffs, as they were eliminated in the round of 16 by
Olimpija Ljubljana. On the contrary, they finished first in the regular season of the Greek League and entered the playoffs having home court advantage. But in the semi-finals they played against fourth-placed
PAOK and they were eliminated, losing the first game at home and the second one in Thessaloníki. Olympiacos faced
AEK for the third place and won.
2000s 2000–03 In the 2000–01 season, Olympiacos played in the first EuroLeague competition that was organized by
EuroLeague Basketball, but despite having home court advantage in the playoffs they were eliminated by
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. In the Greek League Finals, they finished second. In the 2001–02 season, the club managed to win the
Greek Cup, their first trophy since 1997, in a Final Four tournament that was held at Peace and Friendship Stadium. They beat Panathinaikos 83–75 in the semi-final and
Maroussi 74–66 in the final. Then they came within one victory of the EuroLeague Final Four. They played in the Top 16 in a group against
Panathinaikos,
AEK and
Olimpija Ljubljana, with only the first placed team advancing to the Final Four. After Olympiacos completed an easy 92–75 win over Panathinaikos with
Alphonso Ford scoring 21 points in the opening home match, another home win against AEK, and an away win against Olimpija, they played an away game against Panathinaikos and lost 78–88. The score of that game gave the Reds the
aggregate advantage in case they finished on the top of the group along with their rivals, a scenario that looked highly probable. However, in the fifth group game, the weakest team of the group, Union Olimpija, stunned Olympiacos in Athens by winning their single game in the group. This put Olympiacos in second place and despite their away win against AEK in the last game of the group, their unexpected loss against Olimpija kept them out of the Final Four in Bologna. In the Greek League the Reds eliminated
Peristeri in the quarter-finals and managed to break the home court advantage of Panathinaikos in the first game of the playoffs semi-final with a well-deserved 80–89 win in
OAKA and after a thrilling second win at home with 80–76, they eliminated them and made it to the finals. In the finals, they managed to break AEK's home court advantage in the first game of the series (82–74) and after a second comfortable win at SEF in Game 2 (75–70) they were very close to the title. Despite starting the finals with those two comfortable wins, their 2–0 lead did not prove enough as they lost three games in a row and let the title slip away. Olympiacos was one of the EuroLeague's most dangerous teams in 2002–03 as well. They had a decent regular season, finishing third in a tough group of eight teams and qualified to the next phase at the expense of teams like
Real Madrid and
Partizan Belgrade. The club came closer than any team to knocking off the eventual champions
FC Barcelona in two heartbreaking games in the EuroLeague Top 16 groups (55–58, 77–80) and proved, despite the fact that they were not at their best during the early 2000s, that they were able to beat any team at any time.
2003–05 crisis The 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons were the worst in the modern history of Olympiacos. In both seasons, the team was eliminated in the Greek Cup and finished in the 8th place of the Greek League. Especially in the latter season, Olympiacos had a dismal performance in the EuroLeague, which filled many of the club's fans with uncertainty.
2005–06 season: Rebirth The 2005–06 season saw the return of the Red giants, which overcame the previous down years with a nice combination of young talent and experienced veterans which paid off for the club. Players added to the club like
Renaldas Seibutis,
Quincy Lewis,
Panagiotis Vasilopoulos,
Giorgos Printezis and, above all,
Sofoklis Schortsanitis, were viewed by some to be a possible solid core of players for the team for many years to come. That season seemed to be very promising for the Red giants. However, the promising Reds were eliminated from the Greek Cup in their first knock-out match of the competition. Olympiacos survived a difficult EuroLeague regular season and shined in the Top 16, advancing to the quarterfinal playoffs. The Reds were just a win away from making it to the Final Four for the first time since 1999.
Maccabi Tel Aviv won the best-of-three playoff series 2–1, but game 3 went down to the wire. Experience proved to be a decisive factor in the final 2 minutes of the game, when the hosts managed to seal a 77–73 win and advanced to the Final Four in
Prague.
Tyus Edney earned EuroLeague February MVP honors, as well as ranking third in assists at the end of the regular season and second in the Top 16. Olympiacos also shined in its domestic competition, as the Reds made it to the Greek League finals for the first time in five years by surviving a thrilling five-game series against
Maroussi. Despite their losing in the final playoff series, it was clear that the Reds were back where they used to be, becoming a team able to challenge for every title.
2006–07 season In the 2006–07 season, with the signings of head coach
Pini Gershon and
Arvydas Macijauskas, the Reds were one of the favorites to claim the
EuroLeague crown, but they did not manage to qualify to the Athens Final Four. They were eliminated from the Greek Cup as well. In the Greek League playoffs, they made it to the finals after winning 3–2 a best of five semi-final against Aris. Although Olympiacos had to overcome their home court disadvantage, they won the last match in Thessaloniki and made it to the best of five finals, having again a home court disadvantage, this time against Panathinaikos. The club had to beat their arch-rivals to win their first
Greek Championship since 1997. But they finished second in one of the best final series ever played in the Greek League. At the opening game of the series in Panathinaikos' home, the Reds lost 72–79, but they won the second game in Peace and Friendship Stadium 76–72. In the third match, Olympiacos lost 86–85 in overtime, with the Reds complaining furiously against the referees, who did not call a clear foul against
Scoonie Penn with only 3 seconds left in the game. Olympiacos won the next game easily, 78–68 in Piraeus, but in the last away game, the Reds lost 76–89.
2007–08 season In the 2007–08 season, Olympiacos was once again considered amongst the favorites to reach the Final Four of the EuroLeague. It was also considered one of the two favorites, along with Panathinaikos, to win the Greek championship. In the Greek League regular season the team had a record of 22 wins and 4 defeats, and had the second most prolific offensive team in the league. In the quarter-finals of the playoffs, Olympiacos swept AEK Athens in a best-of-three series and in the semi-finals they beat Maroussi in a best-of-five series, 3–2. They finally finished second, losing in the finals of the Greek League. They also reached the final of the Greek Cup after 4 years, but they did not manage to take the title. In the EuroLeague, the team qualified for the third phase of the competition (quarter-finals). They played against the eventual winners
CSKA Moscow and despite grabbing a thrilling away win in the first match of the series in
CSKA Universal Sports Hall in Moscow (76–74 with
Qyntel Woods scoring 20 points and
Lynn Greer sinking a spectacular game-winning
buzzer beater which ended CSKA's 27-game winning streak at home), they lost the second game in Piraeus and were eventually eliminated by 2–1 wins after the third game in Moscow.
2008–09 season: Return to the EuroLeague Final Four The 2008–09 season began with high expectations due to a big
budget and a great
roster with players like
Josh Childress,
Thodoris Papaloukas,
Miloš Teodosić,
Nikola Vujčić,
Ioannis Bourousis,
Lynn Greer,
Panagiotis Vasilopoulos,
Sofoklis Schortsanitis and
Georgios Printezis. The club's season was only moderately successful however, as they reached the finals of both the Greek Cup and the Greek Championship. In the Greek Championship regular season, the team set a record with 25 wins against only 1 defeat, but in the finals of the Greek League playoffs, they lost the series 3–1, despite having the
home court advantage. In the EuroLeague, they reached the Final Four for the first time in 10 years, eliminating
Real Madrid with 3–1 wins. Having secured the home advantage, they won the first two games in Piraeus (88–79 and 79–73) and managed to secure an away win (75–78) in
Madrid in Game 4 of the series, thus advancing to the EuroLeague Final Four after 1999. In the Final Four in
Berlin, they faced arch-rivals Panathinaikos in a close, heartbreaking thriller: Olympiacos trailed by two points and had the ball for the last possession. The ball went to Bourousis but his close shot bounced out, with Childress being unable to score with a last-second tip as well. Despite the loss in a match that could have easily gone either way, the team's great effort and the club's return to the elite of European basketball were clear signs of their future success.
2009–10 season: EuroLeague runners-up The 2009–10 season was the best in a long time for Olympiacos. The management wanted to bring another big player to the team, after
Josh Childress. And they did, agreeing with the Lithuanian
NBA player of the
Denver Nuggets,
Linas Kleiza. With the help of these two and under the guidance of coach
Panagiotis Giannakis the club managed to take the Greek Cup defeating their arch-rivals
Panathinaikos 68–64 in the final. In the
EuroLeague, the Reds had an impressive run in the regular season and the Top 16, finishing as group winners in both phases. In the quarter-final playoffs, the faced the Polish champions
Asseco Prokom Gdynia and eliminated them with 3–1 wins, reaching for the second consecutive season the EuroLeague Final Four which was held in Paris. In the semi-final the team managed to defeat
Partizan Belgrade 83–80 in overtime in a thrilling match, with Kleiza scoring 19 points. Olympiacos returned to the EuroLeague Final after 1997, facing
FC Barcelona, the very team they had beaten in the
1997 Final. History did not repeat itself, as Olympiacos lost 68–86 to
FC Barcelona in the final. In the Greek Championship finals, the club lost 3–1 wins to Panathinaikos after an intense third game that would have put them ahead 1–2, with the Reds having again huge complaints over the referees' performance. The fourth game of the series was disrupted several times and the arena was cleared of all fans to complete the remaining few minutes.
2010s 2010–11 season In July 2010, Olympiacos offered a three-year contract worth €13,200,000
euros gross income to the famous
Greek guard
Vassilis Spanoulis, and came to an agreement with the player. The great Serbian coach
Dušan Ivković agreed with the club, and with a roster of players such as
Miloš Teodosić,
Vassilis Spanoulis,
Theodoros Papaloukas,
Loukas Mavrokefalidis,
Jamon Gordon,
Rasho Nesterović, and
Ioannis Bourousis, Olympiacos became a favorite to win the
2010–11 Euroleague. In the opening game of the Top 16, Olympiacos got a 70–84 defeat in Athens, against
Fenerbahçe Ülker, but one month later, Olympiacos defeated the Turkish champions with a 65–80 win in
Istanbul, and took the first place of the
Top 16 Group H. In the quarter-finals, Olympiacos faced
Montepaschi Siena. In the first game of a best-of-five series, the Reds achieved a great performance, defeating Mens Sana with an 89–41 score, at the Peace and Friendship stadium, in Athens, but the Italian club managed to win the second game (65–82), breaking the home advantage of the Reds. Olympiacos did not manage to win any of the next two away games, and got eliminated from the
2011 Euroleague Final Four. On 15 May 2011, Olympiacos defeated arch-rivals Panathinaikos, 74–68, in the Greek Cup Final, and won the ninth Greek Cup in the club's history. In the Greek League, Olympiacos took the first place in the regular season, but despite earning home-court advantage for the finals, they lost the first game at home, and suffered a 3–1 defeat in a best-of-five series, as they let a chance at the championship slip away.
2011–12 season: European and Greek champions In the summer of 2011, Olympiacos saw many experienced players leave the team, after a reduction of the team's budget by over 50%. The youthful team under coach
Dušan Ivković initially heavily depended on team leader
Vassilis Spanoulis, losing games regularly when he was not playing. The team that the press thought might not even qualify for the Top 16, improved dramatically over the course of the season, and under the great performances of
Vassilis Spanoulis,
Georgios Printezis,
Kostas Papanikolaou,
Kyle Hines,
Joey Dorsey,
Pero Antić,
Acie Law,
Kostas Sloukas, and
Vangelis Mantzaris, Olympiacos managed to reach the
2011–12 Euroleague Final Four in
Istanbul, after breaking the home-advantage of the Italian champions,
Mens Sana Siena, winning with a 75–82 score in the first game of a best-of-five series in Italy, in a reversal of the previous season's quarter-finals. Going to Istanbul as an outsider, Olympiacos upset the odds, and beat the two favourites,
FC Barcelona in the semi-final, with a score 68–64, and
CSKA Moscow in the final, with a 62–61 score, coming back after trailing by 19 points in the most dramatic final in the history of EuroLeague. Printezis scored a game-winner, off an
assist from Spanoulis, with a few tenths of a second left, to complete the epic comeback, and give Olympiacos the win, and the second EuroLeague Championship in their history. Vassilis Spanoulis, the man who provided the assist for Printezis' buzzer-beating hook-shot, was voted
Final Four MVP. The most successful season of the Reds since 1997, was completed by seizing the
Greek Championship as well. They eliminated
PAOK in the quarter-finals, and
Panionios in the semi-finals, securing their spot in the Greek Finals undefeated. They entered the Greek Finals having the home-court advantage, after their first place in the regular season, and their impressive 23–1 record. There, Olympiacos faced their arch-rivals
Panathinaikos, and won the best-of-five series 3–2 (84–78, 84–72, 82–76), celebrating the tenth Greek Championship in their history, and their first since 1997.
2012–13 season: Back-to-back European champions holding Olympiacos
2013 back-to-back Euroleague trophy in London wearing the golden-badged
back-to-back European Champions 2012 –2013 Olympiacos jersey After the end of a dreamy season, both domestically and internationally, legendary coach
Dušan Ivković decided to leave the club, leaving the club's owners, the Angelopoulos brothers, with a hard decision regarding his replacement. The club's owners decided to hire the highly promising Greek coach
Giorgos Bartzokas (who had very successful tenures in
Marousi and
Panionios) as the new head coach of the European Champions.
Stratos Perperoglou,
Giorgi Shermadini and the two-time
NBA Champion Josh Powell joined the team to replace
Marko Kešelj,
Joey Dorsey, and
Lazaros Papadopoulos. In May 2013, Olympiacos, under the guidance of coach Bartzokas, became
EuroLeague Champion for the second year in a row, becoming the first and only Greek club, and the only club since
Maccabi Tel Aviv in European-wide basketball, to become
back-to-back EuroLeague Champions, in the
Euroleague Basketball Company era (
Euroleague 2000–01 season to present), and only the third club in history since the establishment of the modern era Final Four format in 1987–88 season, to achieve that honour. After a solid display in both the regular season and the Top 16, they qualified for the quarter-finals, having earned the home advantage. They faced
Anadolu Efes Istanbul, and managed to eliminate the Turkish side, by winning the best-of-five series 3–2, after a thrilling Game 5 in SEF. Olympiacos managed to rally from a 15-point second-quarter deficit to win the game, with an 82–72 scoreline, thus securing the chance to defend their European crown in the Final Four. In the Final Four, Olympiacos managed to put forth two outstanding basketball displays. After rolling past
CSKA Moscow with a smashing 69–52 win in the semi-final, they managed to beat
Real Madrid 100–88 in
the final at London's
The O2 Arena, roaring back from a 17-point deficit in the first quarter, and scoring 90 points in the remaining three-quarters.
EuroLeague MVP Vassilis Spanoulis led the charge with 22 points (all in the second half), and was eventually voted
Final Four MVP for the second consecutive season, and third overall in his career. Thus joining
Toni Kukoč, as the only two players in history to achieve that distinction on three occasions.
Acie Law scored 20 points with 5 assists, and
Kyle Hines added 12 points with 3 blocks, one of which was a spectacular chase-down block on a fast break layup attempt by
Nikola Mirotić.
2013–14 season: FIBA Intercontinental Cup champions After winning the EuroLeague championship for the second straight season, Olympiacos qualified to play at the
2013 edition of the
FIBA Intercontinental Cup, against the 2013
FIBA Americas League champions,
Pinheiros Basquete, for the official Club World Cup title. The two-game
aggregate score series was hosted in
Ginásio José Corrêa Arena, in
Barueri, São Paulo, and Olympiacos dominated the series. They won both games quite convincingly (2–0), winning the first game of the series by a score of 81 to 70, and the second game by a score of 86 to 69. Team
captain Vassilis Spanoulis was named the 2013
FIBA Intercontinental Cup MVP. Olympiacos lifted the trophy in front of their ecstatic fans from the Greek community of Brazil, and celebrated their third international title in less than 2 years. In the EuroLeague, they reached the
quarter-finals, where they played against
Real Madrid, the very team they had beaten in the previous year's final. Real Madrid entered the series with home-court advantage, and Olympiacos couldn't overturn the situation, losing the series 3–2 to the Spanish champions, after five intense games, and missing the chance to defend their back-to-back European crown.
2014–15 season: EuroLeague runners-up, Greek champions In the 2014–15 season, Olympiacos had another great season, reaching the EuroLeague Final, and seizing the Greek Championship in a convincing way. In EuroLeague, after an impressive run in the regular season and the Top 16, they qualified for the quarter-finals for the tenth consecutive season (
2006–
2015), which was an all-time record in European basketball history at the time, shared with
FC Barcelona, the very club they were drawn to play against for a Final Four spot. FC Barcelona entered the series with the home-court advantage, and won the first game at home. Olympiacos bounced back from the loss, and managed to put on a top-class display in Game 2, beating FC Barcelona 63–76, at
Palau Blaugrana. With the home-advantage in their hands, the Reds beat FC Barcelona twice at
Peace and Friendship Stadium, winning the playoff series 3–1. Game 4 of the series was nothing less than a dramatic thriller. The game was tied at 68–68, with only 5.2 seconds remaining on game the clock. Olympiacos had possession of the ball, and just a small amount of time for a last play. The ball went to
Georgios Printezis (hero of the
2012 EuroLeague Final), who hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to secure the Final Four spot for his team (71–68), with Olympiacos fans erupting in frenetic celebrations. In the
Final Four in Madrid, Olympiacos beat
CSKA Moscow, 70–68, in the semi-final, coming back from a 9-point deficit in the last four minutes of the game. Captain
Vassilis Spanoulis led Olympiacos to the final, by scoring 11 points in the last minutes of the 4th quarter, by hitting some really tough shots in the game's last crucial minutes. In the EuroLeague Final, Olympiacos did not manage to win their third EuroLeague title in four years, as they lost to rivals
Real Madrid, who played the final at their home court. Despite the title loss, Olympiacos proved yet again their dominating presence in European basketball, as they had become the most successful club in European basketball since 2008, with two
EuroLeague Championships (2012, 2013), three other
EuroLeague Finals appearances (2010, 2015, 2017), and six
EuroLeague Final Four appearances in seven years (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017). In Greece, Olympiacos had a great regular season, ending up with an impressive record of 25 wins and only 1 defeat. In the playoffs, they reached the finals, after eliminating
Aris in the semi-finals (3–1 series win). In the finals, they totally dominated the series, and swept their arch-rivals
Panathinaikos, with a 3–0 series win (76–70, 69–76, 93–74). Winning the
2015 Greek Championship in convincing fashion. Team head coach
Giannis Sfairopoulos' guidance, as well as the team's solid performance, both defensively and offensively, paved the way for the historic 3–0 series sweep in the Greek League Finals, which was met with big celebrations from Olympiacos fans, at the title ceremony in SEF.
2015–16 season: Back-to-back Greek champions The
2015–16 season proved historical for Olympiacos, who had gained home court advantage in the Greek League playoffs, after a 25–1 regular season record. In the Greek League finals they faced their arch-rivals
Panathinaikos and despite losing the first game at home, they managed to win the best-of-five series 3–1, to clinch its second consecutive title at Panathinaikos home court. Olympiacos captain
Vassilis Spanoulis scored a buzzer-beating three-pointer in front of
Nick Calathes, helping Olympiacos win the second game of the series with 68–66, breaking Panathinaikos' home court. Then, with the best-of-five series being 2–1 in favour of Olympiacos, the two teams faced each other again in
O.A.C.A. Vassilis Spanoulis, shocked Panathinaikos again, this time at the last second of the second overtime of the game: Panathinaikos led by two points and Spanoulis, who was being guarded by
Dimitris Diamantidis (in what proved to be the last match of his career), stepped back from him and buried a buzzer-beating three point shot from 9 meters distance, winning the match and the title inside their rivals' home court, in front of 19,000 stunned Panathinaikos fans. Vassilis Spanoulis scored 25 points in Olympiacos 82–81 decisive win and was voted
Greek Basket League MVP and
Greek Basket League Finals MVP.
2018–19 season: Withdrawal from the Greek League with the motto: "Until the end" The 2018–19 season was the most turbulent in Olympiacos and Greek basketball history. It was the season that the ongoing feud between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos peaked, following Olympiacos decisions after their long-lasting protests for the relationship of the
Hellenic Basketball Federation with Panathinaikos, the officiating in the games between the two arch-rivals and the exclusion of
EuroLeague referees from national competitions. Initially, in the
2018–19 Greek Cup semi-final against Panathinaikos, Olympiacos decided to withdraw and to not return for the second half of the game in protest for the referees decisions, despite the possible sanctions for the team for leaving the game. In the following day, Olympiacos announced that they would not play again any league or cup game against Panathinaikos, unless it was officiated exclusively by foreign referees, as well as any national competition game against any opponent, if any of the forementioned Cup semi-final's referees (Anastopoulos, Manos and Panagiotou) was set to officiate; furthermore, Giannakopoulos was not anymore allowed to enter the Peace and Friendship Stadium under any capacity he might be using, also asking from the authorities to investigate the extremely low betting odds for Panathinaikos to win the Cup semi-final, after the referees' names were announced. At first, Olympiacos was punished with a deduction of 6 points from the same year's league table. Olympiacos announced that their decisions were fully supported by the parent club's
Olympiacos CFP chairman, Michalis Kountouris. As the time for the game of the
2018–19 Greek League's second round was approaching, Olympiacos officially informed the Hellenic Basketball Federation that they insist on their position not to play any game officiated by the three forementioned referees, or any game against Panathinaikos that will not be officiated by foreign referees. Previously, Panathinaikos had expressed their opposition to the demand of the Reds. After the announcement of the Greek referees who were going to officiate the forthcoming derby, Olympiacos announced that they would not participate in the game, and even a last minute meeting under the Greek Deputy Minister for Sports ended with a quarrelling between the people of the two clubs and with Panathinaikos' owner Giannakopoulos cursing Olympiacos' owners and chanting about the forthcoming relegation of his club's eternal enemy. PAO was awarded the away win for this game by 20–0 and Olympiacos was penalized with point deduction. For the last matchday of the league's regular season, the central refereeing committee announced that Anastopoulos, one of the three referees of Cup semi-final, was drawn to officiate Olympiacos' home game against
Promitheas Patras, after Giannakopoulos pressure for the three referees to be included in the draw for the Reds game. That meant that if Olympiacos insisted on their position not to take part in a game officiated by Anastopoulos, Manos and Panagiotou, then the red giant would be relegated to the
second division, a penalty for any team that forfeits two league games. Finally, Anastopoulos was replaced after his request not to officiate the game, which took place regularly, something that led Panathinaikos to protest with their withdrawal from their last regular season game against
Kymi, which was awarded the win and escaped relegation, while the Greens were punished with a 6-point deduction. In the
final standings of the regular season, Panathinaikos with −6 points and Olympiacos with −8 points, and one more point not awarded to each one, were ranked in the 3rd and 6th place respectively despite having the two best records, which meant that they were to play against each other in the first playoffs round. However, Olympiacos proceeded to legal action, asking from the high council for the solution of athletic disputes to void the last matchday of the regular season, pointing out that all referees assignments were illegal, thus the playoffs were postponed for one week. The
Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association decided to confirm the final standings, Olympiacos announced that they would not compete in the playoffs against Panathinaikos, since not only were foreign referees not appointed, but also two of the Cup semi-final referees (Anastopoulos and Manos) were drawn to officiate the first playoffs derby. In the face of this possibility
Euroleague Basketball president,
Jordi Bertomeu, accused the Hellenic Basketball Federation of not intervening to resolve the dispute between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, describing the situation of the Greek basketball and the forthcoming relegation of Olympiacos as unthinkable. Olympiacos, finally, did not appear in the first playoffs game at Panathinaikos home arena, which meant that the Reds would get relegated to the second division for forfeiting two league games, Later, the Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association officially announced the relegation of Olympiacos to the
Greek A2 Basket League, due to the non-participation in a league playoffs game; Olympiacos were eliminated for the rest of the playoffs and were also placed at the bottom of the final standings, with all their results voided and non-replaceable. The club's former coach,
Giannis Sfairopoulos, stated that Olympiacos chose the extreme way to change a situation that existed for years, something they tried to do in various ways in the past but nothing worked, and that they have to change the status in Greek basketball. Panathinaikos' coach,
Rick Pitino, stated that Greek basketball needs Olympiacos and asked from them to change their mind. Hellenic Basketball Federation's president,
George Vassilakopoulos, after his long-lasting silence, stated: ''"It will be a disaster for basketball, for such a great club with a history like Olympiacos to play in the second division and a solution must be reached fast. I'm clear about this"''. Newly appointed Greek Deputy Minister for Sports, Lefteris Avgenakis, and Vassilakopoulos, both agreed that Olympiacos should be part of the Greek Basket League and that a solution should be found, while his predecessor, Giorgos Vasiliadis, also accused of his passive stance, revealed that he had requested
FIBA to send foreign referees to the league games. However, no action was taken maybe due to Panathinaikos constant threats that they would withdraw from the league, if Olympiacos remained in the first division. In the meantime, Olympiacos appeals about the league last matchday's legality were rejected, and they decided to take the Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association to the sports court. Finally, Olympiacos announced that they decided to register an entirely separate squad for the
2019–20 Greek second division and 2019–20 Greek Cup, for reasons of legality, and that squad would be a secondary "B" team, with a different name (
Olympiacos B Development Team) and using the Peace and Friendship Stadium's practice court as their home arena, with the senior team playing exclusively in
EuroLeague, which
"has all the elements that characterize a serious, modern and reliable league", according to their announcement. After losing the first EuroLeague game of the season against
ASVEL Villeurbanne, Olympiacos and
David Blatt parted ways. His assistant
Kęstutis Kemzūra became the head coach of the team until the end of the season.
2020s 2021–22 season: EuroLeague Final Four, domestic double After the 2021
Hellenic Basketball Federation elections, the situation changed and finally the old establishment with the 82-years old
Vassilakopoulos was replaced by new faces. Olympiacos returned to the Greek Basket League after 2 years with great success, as they won the
2021–22 Greek Basket League, beating their arch-rivals Panathinaikos with 3–0 wins in the finals (74–61, 78–72, 93–74). They won also the
2021–22 Greek Cup, beating Panathinaikos by 81–73 in the final in
Crete. Apart from the domestic double, Olympiacos returned to the
Final Four of the EuroLeague. They finished in the second place in the
2021–22 EuroLeague regular season and they were drawn to play against
AS Monaco in the
2022 EuroLeague Playoffs. Olympiacos managed to eliminate AS Monaco with 3–2 wins in the best-of-five playoff series, winning the last match in Piraeus with a 94–88 scoreline. In the Final Four in
Belgrade, Olympiacos finally finished in the fourth place, after losing the semi-final to Anadolu Efes in the last second of the game.
2022–23 season: EuroLeague runners-up, domestic treble In the 2022–23 season, Olympiacos brought in
Alec Peters from
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and former
NBA player
Isaiah Canaan from
Galatasaray Istanbul, while last season's starter
Tyler Dorsey left the club to join the NBA's
Dallas Mavericks. However, the most important news of this summer was the retirement of the iconic
Georgios Printezis at the age of 37. The highlight of his 19-year career with the club was the game-winning shot in the
2012 EuroLeague final against
CSKA Moscow. In the
EuroLeague, Olympiacos finished first in the regular season, an unprecedented feat for a Greek team since the competition switched to a single-group format. At the same time, the Reds had the best defensive record. In the playoffs, they eliminated
Fenerbahçe Istanbul with 3–2 wins, qualifying for their second consecutive
Final Four. In the semifinal, Olympiacos easily defeated
AS Monaco 76–62 and reached the final for the first time since 2017. There they faced
Real Madrid, as they had in the 1995, 2013, and 2015 finals. The Reds found themselves leading by six points with 2:13 remaining but failed to score for the rest of the game. Eventually, a high-arching jump shot by
Sergio Llull with 3 seconds left gave Real the win, 78–79, and the title. In domestic competitions, Olympiacos had a perfect season, winning all three titles. They started by defeating
Panathinaikos 67–52 in the
Greek Super Cup final and went on to win the
Greek Cup final against
Peristeri Athens 85–57. In the
GBL finals, they comfortably prevailed over Panathinaikos with 3–1 wins. It is noteworthy that the fourth game of the series at Panathinaikos' home court, the
OAKA Indoor Arena, was abandoned in the 27th minute while the score was 63–35 in favor of the Reds, due to extensive crowd violence. As a result, the match was awarded to Olympiacos, who celebrated the championship as well as the domestic treble.
2023–24 season: EuroLeague Final Four In the 2023–24 season, two familiar faces from the past returned to the club:
Nikola Milutinov from
CSKA Moscow and
Nigel Williams-Goss from
Real Madrid. However, the highlights of the summer transfers were two departures: that of
Sasha Vezenkov to the
NBA's
Sacramento Kings and that of
Kostas Sloukas to archrivals
Panathinaikos. In the
EuroLeague, Olympiacos finished fifth in the regular season, once again having the best defensive record. In the playoffs, they eliminated
FC Barcelona with 3–2 wins in a dramatic best-of-five series, despite Barça's home-court advantage, and they qualified for their third consecutive
Final Four. The Reds were defeated in the semifinal by defending champions Real Madrid 76–87 and eventually took third place, overcoming
Fenerbahçe Istanbul 87–84. In domestic competitions, Olympiacos won both the
Greek Super Cup and the
Greek Cup, defeating Panathinaikos 75–51 and 69–58 in the respective finals. However, in the
GBL finals, they were ultimately edged out by their archrivals, who a month earlier had been crowned the new European champions, as the Greens overturned the Reds' initial 2–0 lead in wins and celebrated the championship. It was the first time since 2002 that the eventual champions came back after losing the first two games in the finals series.
2024–25 season: EuroLeague Final Four, Greek champions In the 2024–25 season,
Sasha Vezenkov returned to Olympiacos after a year with the
Sacramento Kings. The Reds also signed
Evan Fournier, a regular member of the
France national team, who returned to Europe after twelve years in the
NBA.
Isaiah Canaan, a starter for the last two seasons, left the club and signed with
Red Star Belgrade. In the
EuroLeague, Olympiacos finished first in the regular season for the second time in the last three years. In the playoffs they eliminated
Real Madrid with 3–1 wins, qualifying for their fourth consecutive
Final Four, a new record for the club. However, they were defeated in the semifinal by coach
Vassilis Spanoulis'
AS Monaco 68–78, eventually taking third place for a second time in a row, as they overcame
Panathinaikos 97–93. In domestic competitions, Olympiacos won the
Greek Super Cup, defeating Panathinaikos 86–85 in the final. On the other hand, the Greens were the ones who prevailed 75–79 in the
Greek Cup final. The two eternal enemies also faced off in the
GBL finals, where Olympiacos triumphed with 3–1 wins. It was the first time since 1993 that the Reds won the championship without starting with home-court advantage in the finals.
2025–26 season In the
EuroLeague, Olympiacos finished first in the regular season for the third time in the last four years. In domestic competitions, Olympiacos won the
Greek Super Cup for the fourth consecutive year, defeating
Promitheas Patras 92–83 in the
final. The Reds then lost the
Greek Cup title to
Panathinaikos for the second consecutive year, after being defeated in the
final by 68-79. ==Arena==