Dimitris Diamantidis

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Dimitris Diamantidis
Δημήτρης Διαμαντίδης
Nickname Octopus Man[1]
Position Point guard/Shooting guard/Point forward
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg)
League Greek League/Euroleague
Team Panathinaikos BC
Number 13
Born May 6, 1980 (1980-05-06) (age 28)
Kastoria, Greece
Nationality Greek
Pro career 1999–present
Former teams Iraklis BC (1999–2004)
Awards 3-Time A1 Greek League Championship MVP 2004, 2006, 2007
2-Time A1 Greek League Playoff MVP 2006, 2007
Euroleague 2007 Final Four MVP
4-Time Euroleague Defensive Player of The Year 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
2007 Mr. Europa European Player of The Year


Dimitris Diamantidis (Greek: Δημήτρης Διαμαντίδης) (born May 6, 1980 in Kastoria, Greece) is a Greek basketball player. He started his youth career with his home team in Kastoria in 1994 at the age of 14 and stayed there for 5 years. Kastoria's gym was renamed "Dimitris Diamantidis" in his honor, because it was the first place where he played basketball.

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[edit] Professional career

[edit] Iraklis

In the summer of 1999, at the age of 19, he began his professional career when he transferred to Iraklis BC and became a starting player there by his second season. Diamantidis helped to bring Iraklis, one of the oldest Greek teams back into prominence after the club had been struggling. With Iraklis, Diamantidis won the Greek A1 League MVP award in the 2003-2004 season.

[edit] Panathinaikos

Diamantidis moved a big step up in his career with his move to Panathinaikos BC of Athens in 2004; a basketball powerhouse of the Greek League and also of the Euroleague. With Panathinaikos BC, he has won the Greek Championship 4 times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), the Greek Cup 4 times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) and the Euroleague Championship in the Euroleague 2006-07 season.

Diamantidis has won several individual trophies since joining Panathinaikos, such as the Euroleague Defensive Player of The Year 4 times (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08), the Greek Championship regular season MVP 2 times (2005-06, 2006-07), the Greek Championship playoff MVP 2 times (2005-06, 2006-07), and the Euroleague Final Four MVP award (Euroleague 2006-07). Dimitris was also named the 2007 Mr. Europa European Player of the Year.

Due to these great individual and team successes, the president of Panathinaikos BC, Pavlos Giannakopoulos, has signed Diamantidis through the year 2010 at an annual fee of about €1.9 million.

[edit] Greek national team

Olympic medal record
Competitor for Flag of Greece Greece
Men's Basketball
European Championships
Gold 2005 Serbia & Montenegro National team
World Championships
Silver 2006 Japan National team

Dimitris is a member of the Greek national team with which he has won the FIBA Europe European Basketball Championship Eurobasket 2005. During the Eurobasket 2005 he led the tournament in assists and was selected to the all-tournament team. Moreover, Greece went on to win the silver medal in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.

[edit] Awards and honors

[edit] Notes

[edit] External Links