Dimitris Diamantidis


Dimitrios 'Dimitris' Diamantidis is a retired Greek professional basketball player, who spent most of his EuroLeague career with Panathinaikos. Widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of European basketball, he marked his era by being the most versatile player in the EuroLeague, serving as an inspiration to the following generation of young European superstars. Diamantidis is the only Greek player who is a member of both the EuroLeague 2000–2010 All-Decade Team and the EuroLeague 2010–2020 All-Decade Team. In 2016, Diamantidis was honored with the highest European award, being named as a EuroLeague Legend for his career accomplishments. In 2025, he was voted by the fans as the Greatest Basketball Player in EuroLeague’s 25th Anniversary.
At the age of fourteen, Diamantidis started his basketball career with the youth clubs of his hometown team, AS Kastoria. A year later, he made his professional debut with Iraklis Thessaloniki, and two years later by 2003, he had emerged as an all-around star in the Greek League. He became a member of Panathinaikos Athens in the summer of 2004, with whom he won three EuroLeague titles, in 2007, 2009, and 2011, with the last two coming as the team's captain. Diamantidis' numerous accolades in the premier European club competition include a EuroLeague MVP Award, two EuroLeague Final Four MVP Awards, four All-EuroLeague First Team selections, as well as a record six EuroLeague Best Defender Awards. He is the EuroLeague's all-time leader in steals since the stat was first officially recognized starting with the 1991–92 season. On 1 April 2016, he was honored with a EuroLeague Basketball Legend Award.
Amidst a long series of "derbies of the eternal enemies", opposing Panathinaikos and Olympiacos Piraeus, Diamantidis thrived, as he faced Olympiacos every year for twelve consecutive seasons, including in eleven Greek League Finals, six Greek Cup Finals, and a EuroLeague semifinal. He won nine Greek League and ten Greek Cup titles, alongside four Greek League Finals MVP and a record six Greek League MVP awards, as well as two Greek Cup MVP awards. Diamantidis' personal friendship and rivalry with Olympiacos star Vassilis Spanoulis was at the center of attention throughout six Greek League Finals and three Greek Cup Finals encounters. Diamantidis' self-effacing psyche helped relieve tension between the two powerhouses, when he retired in 2016.
As a member of the Greece men's national basketball team, Diamantidis won a EuroBasket gold medal in 2005; while anchoring a defense that allowed just 59.7 points per game. He also scored the three-pointer that sealed the fate of the semifinal game against France, just seconds before the game's final buzzer. He also led that tournament in assists, and was a part of the All-EuroBasket Team. In 2006, he played a pivotal role in a FIBA World Cup silver medal campaign, with Greece stunning Team USA in the semifinals, and Diamantidis finishing as the competition's steals leader. Diamantidis was also a two-time Olympian, as he donned the Greek colours in 2004 and 2008, and on both occasions earned the fifth place of the tournament, which is tied for the all-time best finish for Greece. On the basis of his myriad achievements, he was named the Mister Europa Player of the Year by Italian sports magazine Superbasket in 2007. He was also named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year in 2007. He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.

Early years

Diamantidis was born in Kastoria, Greece, on 6 May 1980. He began playing basketball with the youth teams of the local club AS Kastoria. The club would later go on to name its home arena, Dimitris Diamantidis Indoor Hall, in his honor.

Professional career

Iraklis Thessaloniki

In summer 1999, at age 19, Diamantidis began his professional career, when he signed with the Greek Basket League club Iraklis Thessaloniki. In his first pro season, in the 1999–00 Greek League season, he averaged 1.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. In his first season with the club, Diamantidis also played in the European-wide secondary league, the FIBA Saporta Cup. Diamantidis averaged 1.8 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, during the Saporta Cup 1999–00 season.
In his second season with the club, in the 2000–01 Greek League season, he upped his averages to 3.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. Diamantidis also played in what was one of the two premier European-wide club competitions at that time, the FIBA SuproLeague. He averaged 2.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game, during the SuproLeague's 2000–01 season.
In his third season with Iraklis, he continued to up his numbers in the Greek League, as he averaged 6.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game, during the 2001–02 Greek League season. He was selected to the Greek League's All-Star Game, for the first time that season. Diamantidis also once again played in the Pan-European secondary league, in which he averaged 7.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game, during the Saporta Cup's 2001–02 season.
In his fourth season with Iraklis, Diamantidis only played in the national domestic Greek Basket League. He continued to improve his individual numbers and performances, as he averaged 11.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists, a league-leading 2.5 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game, during the 2002–03 Greek League season. He was also once again voted to the Greek League's All-Star Game.
In his fifth and final season with Iraklis, Diamantidis had his best year with the club. He averaged 14.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, a league-leading 2.5 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game, during the 2003–04 Greek League season. Due to his play, he was again voted to the Greek League's All-Star Game, and at the end of the season, he was also named the Greek League's MVP for the season. During his five seasons with Iraklis, one of the oldest Greek clubs, Diamantidis managed to help bring the team back into prominence in Greek competitions, after the club had been struggling in previous years.

Panathinaikos Athens

After his continued improvement and success with Iraklis, Diamantidis made a big step up in his career, with his move to Panathinaikos of Athens, in 2004; a basketball powerhouse of the Greek Basket League, and also of the EuroLeague. During his career with Panathinaikos, Diamantidis was given the nickname of "3-D", which stood for "Dimitris Diamantidis Defense" by the club's fans. Due to great individual and team successes, the late pharmaceutical magnate Pavlos Giannakopoulos, who was at that time the President of Panathinaikos, signed Diamantidis in 2008, to a 3-year, €5.7 million net income contract extension. In 2010, Diamantidis again renewed his contract with Panathinaikos for another 3 years, at €10.8 million gross income. On 21 February 2013 Diamantidis became the EuroLeague's career leader in steals.
On 4 July 2013 Diamantidis renewed his contract with Panathinaikos for another 2 years, at a salary of €1.9 million net income per year. On 30 October 2014 Diamantidis became the first player in EuroLeague history to have dished out 1,000 career assists. On 2 September 2015 Diamantidis announced his retirement from playing professional club basketball, effective at the end of the 2015–16 Greek League season. In his last season with Panathinaikos, he was voted the Greek League Most Popular Player. Diamantidis retired as the all-time career leader in both assists and Performance Index Rating in the entire history of the EuroLeague. Those records were eventually broken.
While he was a member of Panathinaikos, Diamantidis and Željko Obradović shared one of the most successful collaborations between a player and his head coach in the history of European club basketball. During his time with Panathinaikos, Diamantidis won the EuroLeague championship three times, the Greek League championship nine times, and the Greek Cup title ten times. He also won the Triple Crown in 2007 and 2009.
Diamantidis also won several individual trophies with Panathinaikos, such as: the EuroLeague MVP in 2011, the EuroLeague Final Four MVP twice, the EuroLeague Best Defender six times, five of his six total Greek League MVP awards, the Greek League Finals MVP four times, and the MVP of the Greek Cup in 2009 and 2016. While he was a member of Panathinaikos, Diamantidis was also named the 2007 Mister Europa, and the 2007 Greek Athlete of the Year.
After he ended his playing career, Diamantidis had his #13 playing jersey officially retired by Panathinaikos. In 2020, Diamantidis was named "The Best Greek Professional Basketball Player of The 2010s Decade", by the readers of the Greek website Gazzetta.gr. In 2022, he became a member of the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame.

National team career

Diamantidis was a member of the Greek under-20 junior national team. He played with Greece's under-20 junior national team at the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where Greece finished in seventh place. He averaged 3.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 2.5 steals per game at the tournament. As a part of the Greek men's under-26 national selection, Diamantidis won the silver medal at the 2001 Mediterranean Games.
Diamantidis was also a member of the Greece men's national basketball team. With Greece's senior team, he won the gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Stanković World Cup, and seven Acropolis Tournaments, while also being named the tournament's MVP twice, in 2005 and 2006.
On 4 September 2010, after Greece's elimination in the Eighth-Finals of the 2010 FIBA World Cup, at the hands of Spain, Diamantidis announced his immediate retirement from the Greece National Team. He had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in his last game with Greece's national team. He finished his career bearing the Greek flag, having played in 124 games, and having scored a total of 760 points, for a scoring average of 6.13 points per game.