Nikos Stavropoulos

Nikos "Magic" Stavropoulos AKA Professor Nicholas "Magic" Stavropoulos (born on June 17th, 1959, in Larissa, Greece) is a former professional Greek basketball player that played for Gymnastikos S. Larissas, PAOK BC, and Iraklis BC at the pro club level in Greece's A1 Ethniki basketball league. He began his career with his local area club from Larissa, Gymnastikos S. Larissas.

Stavropoulos was also a long-time member of the Greek National Basketball Team. With Greece he competed in 105 caps with the national team and was a member of the Greek squad that won the gold medal at the 1987 European Championship, playing alongside such European basketball legends as Panagiotis Giannakis and Nikos Galis. He also competed for Greece at the 1986 FIBA World Championship.

Stavropoulos won the Greek Basketball Cup in 1984, the Saporta Cup in 1991, and the Greek Championship in 1992, while playing with PAOK BC. Stavropoulos was known for his dazzling passing skill and spectacular play-making ability, which garnered him the nickname "Magic", or "Greek Magic", after NBA player Magic Johnson, who played during the same era and also was known for his dazzling passes and play-making ability [1]. He holds the distinction of being the first ever player to make a 3 point basket in the Greek League after the 3-point shot was first introduced into the league [2].

After his playing career, Stavropoulos became the coach of the Greek National Youth Team, an assistant coach for the Greek National Basketball Team, and also opened up his famous basketball camp called "Magic Basketball Camp", [3] where he often worked with legendary basketball coach Bob Knight, whom he also worked for as an assistant on the Indiana Hoosiers Men's Basketball Team from 1994-1997 [4]. Stavropoulos also coached the Greek League club Olympia Larissa BC.

• FIBAEurope.com article on Stavropoulos
• Professor Nicholas Stavropoulos' basketball camp site (in Greek)

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