The Greens' guard lifted his fourth EuroLeague trophy on Sunday night
Kostas Sloukas's bold decision has been vindicated
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It takes a whole lot of courage to move between rival clubs, but that’s precisely what Kostas Sloukas opted to do last summer. Overnight, the 34-year-old went from being adored by the fans of Olympiacos Piraeus to being despised. On the other side of town, the opposite happened. The Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens supporters went from whistling Sloukas to chanting his name in songs. Oh, how quickly things change in sports.
Well, one constant is Sloukas appearing in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game. The veteran Greek guard played an important role for Olympiacos as it went all the way to the title decider, only to lose in the final seconds to Real Madrid. Having decided that he wanted a new place he could call home, Sloukas was inspired to join the Greens thanks to the arrival of Ergin Ataman.
“He trusts me,” Sloukas said of Ataman in the post-game press conference. “The situation is what brought me over here. He’s the main reason why I’m over here in Panathinaikos. He was the first guy who believed in the dream, and now we have shown everyone what was the dream – the championship.”
“Until the first day that we arrived together, after we met casually at the airport in the summer, we told each other that so far we have always been opponents,” Ataman recalled. “But he has a lot of respect for me, I have incredible respect for him for his character and his play. He will have two more years on his contract, I have only one more year, so I can guarantee you [that we will be together] for one year.”
Sloukas missed what could have been the game-winning shot last year, but has now earned Final Four MVP honors in this year’s title decider. It was viewed as a bold decision to leave Olympiacos for Panathinaikos, yet it has only taken Sloukas one year to be vindicated.
In particular, when Panathinaikos’s season was on the line – either in the playoffs or at the Final Four – Sloukas has largely been there to show why he was such a coveted signing by the Greens’ hierarchy. His backcourt connection with fellow star Kendrick Nunn gave Panathinaikos a partnership that could take them all the way, and so it proved.
The idea of a fairy tale is often applied to sports, but in Sloukas’s case, he certainly believes that to be true.
“Can you tell me a better story than this: me, from Olympiacos, going to Panathinaikos and showing the European championship to everyone in my first year?”
Now, Sloukas is a four-time EuroLeague champion and has lifted the trophy with three different clubs. His name will forever be remembered in Panathinaikos folklore, too.