The 34-year-old is just the third player in the 21st century to win four EuroLeague titles
Tribute to the Champs: Kostas Sloukas
Article
2 Mins read
When all was said and done, Kostas Sloukas had one of the most memorable seasons in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history. After his switch from Olympiacos Piraeus to arch-rival Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens last summer, which shocked many on the old continent, Sloukas slowly found his groove with the Greens.
He scored in double figures in just half of his first 18 appearances, then suffered an injury that forced to miss four games. But Sloukas came back at the end of February as the player everyone in and around Panathinaikos hoped he would be.
The 34-year-old averaged 15.0 points and 6.4 assists in that final stretch of the regular season, then shined with 15.2 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds in a five-game playoff series against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. Sloukas earned MVP of the Round honors in a do-or-die Game 4, too.
Then, at the Final Four, Sloukas was mostly a non-factor offensively in the semifinals, scoring just 4 points in a low-scoring win over Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. However, he then stepped up on the biggest of stages of them all.
In the championship game, Sloukas orchestrated a Panathinaikos rally from 14 points down to an 80-95 win. He finished with 24 points after shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, along with 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
Sloukas was named as the Final Four MVP and forever etched his name in European basketball history as just the second-ever player to win four EuroLeague championships with three different teams.
As just the third man in the 21st century to win four EuroLeague titles, Sloukas indeed wrote one of the more memorable chapters in competition history, leading Panathinaikos to its seventh EuroLeague crown.