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Antonis Fotsis

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Antonis Fotsis
Αντώνης Φώτσης
Fotsis, as a Panathinaikos player, in 2008
No. 6 – Ilysiakos
PositionPower forward
LeagueGreek C League
Personal information
Born (1981-04-01) 1 April 1981 (age 43)
Maroussi, Greece
Listed height6 ft 10.25 in (2.09 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2001: 2nd round, 48th overall pick
Selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies
Playing career1996–present
Career history
1996–1997Ilysiakos
1997–2001Panathinaikos
2001–2002Memphis Grizzlies
2002–2003Panathinaikos
2003–2005Real Madrid
2005–2008Dynamo Moscow
2008–2011Panathinaikos
2011–2013Olimpia Milano
2013–2017Panathinaikos
2017–presentIlysiakos
Career highlights and awards

EuroLeague records since the 2000–01 season

  • Most rebounds in a game
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
FIBA World Cup 0 1 0
FIBA Stanković World Cup 1 0 0
FIBA EuroBasket 1 0 1
FIBA U-18 European Championship 0 0 1
Total 2 1 2
Men's basketball
Representing  Greece
FIBA World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2006 Japan
FIBA Stanković World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2006 China
FIBA EuroBasket
Gold medal – first place 2005 Serbia & Montenegro
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Poland
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Bulgaria U-18 Team

Antonis Fotsis (alternate spellings: Adonis, Antonios, Greek: Αντώνης Φώτσης; born 1 or 2 April [1] 1981) is a Greek professional basketball player for Ilysiakos. He was also the captain of the senior Greek national team. During his playing career, at a height of 2.09-metre (6 ft 10+1⁄4 in) tall, he played primarily as a power forward, but he could also sometimes be used as a small ball center, or even as a small forward, if needed. Fotsis was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.

Professional career

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Europe

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Born in Maroussi, Athens, Fotsis began his career as one of the biggest European prospects. Fotsis began his professional career in 1996, with the Greek League club Ilysiakos. He quickly earned a reputation as a very talented young player when playing in the club's senior team. He then transferred to the Greek club Panathinaikos (PAO) in 1997, just at the age of sixteen. It is a fact of significant importance that he started his career as a point guard, and later moved to the small forward, and then power forward positions. Due to his early guard playing status, he was later always recognized as one of the best power forwards in Europe, regarding basketball technique. While being the most dominant-youth aged talent in Greece at the time, he twice participated in the Nike Hoop Summit All-World Team (1998, 1999). He got little playing time in his first two seasons with Panathinaikos, but he managed to become one of the team's key players during the 1999–00 season. With Panathinaikos, he won the EuroLeague championship that same season, while being barely nineteen. One year later, he became a starter on the Panathinaikos team that made it to the FIBA SuproLeague's Finals.

NBA

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Fotsis was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies (who were relocated to Memphis right after the draft) in the 2nd round (48th overall) of the 2001 NBA draft.[2] In his one and only season in the NBA, he appeared in 28 games for the Grizzlies during the 2001–02 NBA season, averaging 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He scored a career high 21 points against the Orlando Magic on January 19, 2002. His final NBA game was on April 17, 2002, in a 94–109 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics, in which he recorded 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Return to Europe

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After spending the 2001–02 season in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies, he returned to Panathinaikos for the 2002–03 season, and became one of the team's leaders, while scoring an average of 14.5 points per game in EuroLeague. With PAO, he won both the Greek Cup and the Greek League championship that year. In 2003, he moved to the Spanish League club Real Madrid.

With Real Madrid, he was one of the key contributors on the teams that made it to the EuroCup Finals in 2004, and won the Spanish League championship in 2005. In 2005, he then transferred to the Russian Superleague club Dynamo Moscow. With Dynamo Moscow, Fotsis was one of the two leaders of the Russian team, along with fellow Greek player Lazaros Papadopoulos.

Fotsis won the EuroCup championship in 2006 with Dynamo. One year later, he reached the EuroLeague quarterfinals with Dynamo, where his team lost to Panathinaikos. On March 21, 2007, in a winner-take-all EuroLeague 2006–07 season showdown with Italian League power Benetton Treviso, for second place in their Top 16 group, and a place in the quarterfinals, Fotsis scored 22 points, and set a single-game EuroLeague post year 2000 record with 24 rebounds, helping Dynamo score a 68-65 overtime win.[3]

In 2008, he returned to Panathinaikos. It was his second return to the club, and he was in the starting lineup for the team, as they won the coveted Triple Crown during the 2008–09 season. Fotsis was a key contributor to the Triple Crown winners, with his good defensive play and clutch baskets. He also played more minutes than any other "Greens" player in the 2009 EuroLeague Final Four. In the 2009–10 season, Panathinaikos again won the Greek League championship. That same season, Fotsis was named the Greek League MVP for the month of April. He played more minutes than any other "Greens" player in the EuroLeague that season, showing his defensive skills as well.[4]

In July 2011, he signed with Olimpia Milano of the Italian League, for two seasons.[5] On July 2, 2013, Panathinaikos announced that they had signed Fotsis for three seasons.[6] In 2016, Fotsis signed a new two-year contract with Panathinaikos.[7] On July 25, 2017, he parted ways with Panathinaikos.[8]

In August 2017, he announced his return to Ilysiakos, the first team of his professional career back in 1996.[9]

National team career

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Fotsis, as a member of the senior Greece men's national basketball team.

With the junior national team of Greece, Fotsis won the bronze medal at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. He played with the senior men's Greek national team at the 2009 EuroBasket, and the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was also a member of the Greek men's national teams that won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket and the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

He also played at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and he became the captain of Greece's senior national team before the 2009 EuroBasket tournament, where Greece won the bronze medal. He was also a member of the Greek men's national teams that played at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the 2011 EuroBasket, the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and the 2013 EuroBasket.

He is the 7th all-time leading scorer of the Greek senior men's national team, with 1,734 points scored in his career (9.4 points per game).[10]

Personal life

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Fotsis has had the nickname of "Batman" since his adolescent years, when his teammates in the Greek junior national teams named him after the well-known comic-strip figure, because of his ability at that age to be an overwhelmingly gliding presence above the basketball rim.[11]

In his prime, Fotsis was a good shot blocker, a capable offensive rebounder, and an excellent 3-point shooter, especially for a power forward. He was also very physical on the defensive end of the court, thanks to his athleticism.

He also holds Turkish citizenship.[12]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

NBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001–02 Memphis 28 1 11.4 .404 .304 .850 2.2 .4 .3 .4 3.9
Career 28 1 11.4 .404 .304 .850 2.2 .4 .3 .4 3.9

EuroLeague

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† Denotes seasons in which Fotsis won the EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2002–03 Panathinaikos 20 15 28.2 .510 .467 .885 5.7 1.1 1.3 .6 14.4 16.1
2004–05 Real Madrid 16 6 19.0 .460 .364 .649 3.6 .5 .6 .5 7.3 6.6
2006–07 Dynamo Moscow 22 22 30.5 .483 .443 .847 7.0 .7 1.0 .6 13.8 17.2
2008–09† Panathinaikos 22 9 23.9 .509 .433 .714 4.7 .7 .8 .6 7.2 9.1
2009–10 16 13 23.3 .507 .313 .826 5.5 .6 .4 .7 6.2 10.7
2010–11† 22 16 24.2 .530 .380 .647 5.1 .8 .8 .7 8.4 11.6
2011–12 Milano 16 15 24.4 .471 .362 .737 4.9 .9 .6 .4 8.4 9.9
2012–13 10 10 25.4 .429 .415 1.000 4.2 1.0 .6 .1 7.5 8.1
2013–14 Panathinaikos 29 12 23.4 .413 .358 .793 4.3 .7 .3 .2 6.0 7.4
2014–15 27 11 23.5 .563 .506 .733 4.1 .8 .4 .2 7.7 9.6
2015–16 26 1 16.3 .455 .403 .750 3.0 .3 .6 .1 4.8 6.0
2016–17 24 4 12.3 .391 .323 .800 2.4 .2 .1 .1 2.1 3.0
Career 250 134 22.6 .485 .408 .777 4.5 .7 .6 .4 7.7 9.5

Awards and accomplishments

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Club titles

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Individual awards

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Greek junior national team

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Greek senior national team

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References

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  1. ^ "SPORTSDNA Fotsis' interview in Greek". Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  2. ^ "NBA Draft 2001". nba.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  3. ^ "Dynamo's Fotsis breaks all-time rebounds record!". Euroleague. March 21, 2007.
  4. ^ ESAKE.gr - COSMOTE MVP Απριλίου ο Φώτσης (in Greek). Archived May 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ AJ Milano puts Fotsis at forward.
  6. ^ Euroleague.net PANATHINAIKOS ATHENS brings back Fotsis.
  7. ^ "Fotsis ready to sign a new two year deal with Panathinaikos - Eurohoops". Eurohoops. June 25, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  8. ^ "Panathinaikos BC Superfoods Announcement". paobc.gr. July 25, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  9. ^ Στην Α' ΕΣΚΑ ο Φώτσης: Επιστρέφει στον Ηλυσιακό!, sport24.gr. 2 August 2017. (in Greek)
  10. ^ ΦΩΤΣΗΣ ΑΝΤΩΝΗΣ (in Greek).
  11. ^ Euroleague.net Spanoulis interview.
  12. ^ Fotsis became Turkish citizen.
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