The 28-year-old's second stint with the Greens has started with a bang
Tribute to the champs: Konstantinos Mitoglou
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Konstantinos Mitoglou felt a great deal of trust and belief from Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens when he came back to the club last summer and he went on to return it with an outstanding effort and a series of performances that were instrumental in the Greens' return to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague throne.
Mitoglou returned to playing basketball this past season after serving a 16-month doping suspension and he started delivering as soon as he made his season debut in Round 4. Mitoglou scored 11 or more points in 16 of his first 20 appearances, including three double-doubles. He posted 11.9 points and 6.7 rebounds during the regular season, playing almost 29 minutes per game.
The 28-year old power forward went on to produce 9.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in a five-game playoff series against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. He then showed up on the biggest of stages in Berlin's Uber Arena, too. After scoring a season-low just 2 points in the semifinals against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul at the Final Four, he delivered 8 points - including a pair of fourth-quarter three-pointers - in the championship game victory over Real Madrid. And with center Mathias Lessort in foul trouble, Mitoglou had no issue playing at the 'five' position and battling against Walter Tavaes and Vincent Poirier when Coach Ergin Ataman called his name.
Interestingly, Mitoglou played just 8 minutes in the first three quarters of the championship game, but then spent all but 40 seconds of the fourth on the floor. His second triple opened a 76-86 lead with 2:30 to go, and there was no coming back for Real after that.
It was a turbulent ride like few players have managed to overcome, but at the end of it all, Mitoglou deserved to proudly call himself a EuroLeague champion.