Olympiacos Basketball Club (Greek: ΚΑΕ Ολυμπιακός Σ.Φ.Π.), commonly known as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional basketball club based in Piraeus, part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP. The parent club was founded in 1925, and a basketball department was first established in 1931. Their home ground is the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

Olympiacos has been established as one of the most successful clubs in Greek and European basketball, having won 4 EuroLeagues, 1 FIBA Intercontinental Cup, 16 Greek Championships, 12 Greek Cups, and 4 Greek Super Cups. Among Greek clubs, Olympiacos is the first ever to reach a EuroLeague final, as well as to achieve a Triple Crown, and the only one to be crowned back-to-back European champions. Olympiacos is also the Greek club with the most appearances in EuroLeague finals, 10 in total.

The first major achievement of Olympiacos in European competitions was their qualification for the 1978–79 FIBA European Champions Cup semi-finals group stage. However, it was in the 1990s that Olympiacos emerged as EuroLeague contenders, having been runners-up in two consecutive seasons (1994, 1995) and winning their first title in 1997 by beating FC Barcelona 73–58, which was at the time the competition's biggest winning margin in a single-game final. As European champions, they participated in the 1997 McDonald's Championship, where they played against the NBA champions, Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. During this period, Olympiacos also dominated the Greek Championship, which had become one of Europe's top national basketball leagues, winning five consecutive titles. Thus, FIBA declared Olympiacos as the best European team of the 1990s.

Olympiacos reached again the EuroLeague final in 2010 and returned to the top of European basketball in 2012, when they won their second EuroLeague title by overcoming CSKA Moscow 62–61 on the last shot of the game, rallying from 19 points down, and achieving the greatest comeback in the competition's finals history. In 2013, Olympiacos won their third title after defeating Real Madrid 100–88, pulling off another memorable comeback, this time overturning a 17-point deficit. These consecutive triumphs, along with two more final appearances (2015, 2017), made the 2010s the most successful decade in the club's EuroLeague history. However, on the domestic front, growing tensions regarding refereeing decisions during the 2018–19 Greek Basket League season resulted in Olympiacos refusing to play against their archrivals, Panathinaikos Athens, and consequently the club was relegated to the Greek A2 Basket League.

Connecticut Sun

Olympiacos B.C.

Pros & Cons

Explore further