Georgios Printezis Explained

Georgios Printezis
Γεώργιος Πρίντεζης
Height M:2.05
Weight Kg:105
Birth Date:22 February 1985
Birth Place:Syros, Greece
Draft Round:2
Draft Pick:58
Draft Team:San Antonio Spurs
Draft Year:2007
Career Position:Power forward
Career Number:16, 7, 8, 15
Career Start:2001
Career End:2022
Years1:2001–2009
Team1:Olympiacos
Years2:2006–2007
Team2:Olympia Larissa
Years3:2009–2011
Team3:Unicaja Malaga
Years4:2011–2022
Team4:Olympiacos
Highlights:

Georgios Printezis (alternate spelling: Giorgos) (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Γεώργιος Πρίντεζης; born 22 February 1985) is a Greek former professional basketball player, who spent the majority of his pro club career with Olympiacos Piraeus of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. Printezis won back-to-back EuroLeague titles with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013. His game-winning shot against the Russian club CSKA Moscow, at the end of the 2012 EuroLeague Final, off an assist from Vassilis Spanoulis, is one of the all-time highlights in the history of the EuroLeague.

Printezis earned an All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2017. While representing the senior Greek national team, Printezis was instrumental in Greece's bronze medal run at the 2009 EuroBasket.

Professional career

Early years

For the 2006–07 season, Printezis was loaned by Olympiacos to Olympia Larissa, of the Greek League. With Olympia Larissa, he averaged 11.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. At the Greek All-Star Game weekend that season, he won the slam dunk competition.[1] At the end of that season, he was also voted the Greek League Best Young Player.[2] Following that success, he returned to Olympiacos.

Málaga

In 2009, Printezis signed a three-year contract with an NBA escape clause after the second year, worth 3.6 million net income, with the Spanish ACB League club Unicaja Málaga.[3] [4]

Return to Olympiacos

On April 27, 2011, Printezis returned to his previous club, Olympiacos Piraeus,[5] after being transferred from Málaga.[6] In the EuroLeague's 2011–12 season's Final, Printezis hit a game-winning shot, off an assist from Vassilis Spanoulis, with 0.7 seconds remaining on the game clock, to give Olympiacos the EuroLeague championship, with a victory over the Russian VTB United League club CSKA Moscow.[7]

On 12 July 2012, Printezis signed a new three-year contract with Olympiacos.[8] Prior to signing that contract, he had considered signing a three-year, US$4.5 million net income contract offer from the Turkish Super League club Fenerbahçe Ülker, but he chose to stay with Olympiacos instead.[9] With Olympiacos, he also won the 2012–13 season championship of the EuroLeague. On 8 July 2014, he extended his contract with Olympiacos until 2017.[10]

On 14 June 2017, Printezis signed a three-year contract extension with Olympiacos.[11] He signed a one-year extension with the team on 16 June 2020.[12] On 15 July 2021, Olympiacos announced that Printezis had agreed to another one-year contract extension with the club.[13]

On June 17, 2022, Printezis officially announced his retirement from playing professional club basketball, after winning the Greek Basket League championship of the 2021–22 season with Olympiacos. During his final season with the Reds, he served as the team's captain.

NBA draft rights

Printezis was selected by the San Antonio Spurs, in the second round, with the 58th selection overall of the 2007 NBA draft. The draft rights to Printezis were then acquired by the Toronto Raptors, in exchange for their second-round draft pick in the 2008 NBA draft (the Spurs used that pick to draft Goran Dragić, and immediately traded Dragić to the Phoenix Suns, in order to acquire the draft pick they used in 2009 to draft future NBA All-Rookie Second Team member DeJuan Blair).[14] On 20 January 2011, the Toronto Raptors traded Printezis' draft rights to the Dallas Mavericks, in exchange for Alexis Ajinça, a conditional 2013 second-round draft pick, and cash.[15]

On 10 December 2011, the draft rights to Printezis were traded to the New York Knicks, along with Tyson Chandler, and the draft rights to Ahmad Nivins, in a three-way trade. The Mavericks received Andy Rautins from the Knicks, and a second-round pick from the Washington Wizards. The Wizards received Ronny Turiaf from the Knicks, in addition to a Dallas 2012 second-round draft pick, a 2013 Knicks second-round draft pick, and cash considerations.

In the summer of 2012, Printezis turned down a one-year contract offer from the Knicks, that reportedly was for slightly more than the minimum NBA salary.[9] On 16 July 2012, his and Kostas Papanikolaou's draft rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, in a deal that sent Raymond Felton to New York.[16] On 21 February 2013, the draft rights to Printezis were subsequently traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a deal that sent Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers.[17] On 15 July 2014, Printezis' draft rights and Thabo Sefolosha, were traded to the Atlanta Hawks, in exchange for the draft rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis, cash considerations, and a trade exception.[18] On 9 July 2015, the draft rights to Printezis, alongside a 2017 second-round draft pick, were traded to the Spurs, in exchange for Tiago Splitter.[19]

National team career

Greek junior national team

With the junior national teams of Greece, Printezis played at the 2001 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.

Greek senior national team

Printezis was selected to the senior Greek national team that played at the 2008 Summer Olympics. With Greece, he won the bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket.

In addition to that, Printezis was on Greece's national teams that played at the following major tournaments: the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2013 EuroBasket, the 2014 FIBA World Cup, the 2015 EuroBasket, the 2017 EuroBasket, and the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Club career statistics

EuroLeague

Denotes seasons in which Printezis won the EuroLeague

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="6"| Olympiacos| 3 || 0 || 2.0 || || || || .3 || || || || 0.0 || 0.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04| 3 || 0 || .9 || 1.000 || || || .3 || || || || 0.7 || 0.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05| 1 || 0 || 5.2 || || || || || || || || 0.0 || -1.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06| 8 || 0 || 8.9 || .611 || .500 || .500 || 1.1 || .1 || .3 || || 3.8 || 2.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08| 21 || 10 || 19.0 || .513 || .238 || .609 || 3.2 || .6 || .3 || .2 || 6.7 || 6.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09| 20 || 15 || 18.7 || .636 || .500 || .517 || 3.3 || .6 || .4 || .1 || 8.8 || 8.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Málaga| 12 || 6 || 24.2 || .517 || .421 || .750 || 4.3 || .8 || .7 || .2 || 11.7 || 11.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11| 14 || 8 || 15.6 || .386 || .182 || .688 || 2.7 || .3 || .2 || .1 || 5.6 || 3.7|-| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"| 2011–12†| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="11"| Olympiacos| 21 || 4 || 21.8 || .500 || .310 || .864 || 4.1 || 1.2 || .3 || .3 || 10.6 || 11.3|-| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"| 2012–13†| 29 || 27 || 20.9 || .465 || .312 || .750 || 4.0 || 1.0 || .2 || .1 || 10.5 || 10.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2013–14| 21 || 14 || 21.2 || .443 || .273 || .659 || 4.7 || 1.0 || .4 || .2 || 10.2 || 10.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2014–15| 20 || 13 || 25.1 || .486 || .300 || .696 || 4.8 || 1.0 || .4 || .2 || 12.2 || 13.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16| 21 || 20 || 25.3 || .561 || .364 || .698 || 5.5 || 1.3 || .2 || .1 || 14.1 || 15.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17| 32 || 32 || 25.4 || .468 || .403 || .700 || 5.1 || 1.0 || .7 || .2 || 12.8 || 14.9|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18| 28 || 27 || 25.6 || .466 || .343 || .691 || 5.5 || 1.4 || .5 || .3 || 12.0 || 13.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19| 30 || 26 || 25.6 || .480 || .308 || .621 || 5.2 || 1.3 || .4 || .2 || 10.6 || 12.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20| 25 || 21 || 25.0 || .526 || .371 || .690 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .4 || .2 || 11.8 || 13.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21| 31 || 14 || 18.2 || .561 || .436 || .569 || 2.7 || 1.0 || .3 || .1 || 8.5 || 8.9|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22| 35 || 0 || 9.3 || .485 || .375 || .846 || 1.2 || .3 || .1 || .0 || 3.6 || 3.3|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career| 375 || 237 || 20.3 || .543 || .340 || .685 || 3.9 || .9 || .3 || .2 || 9.6 || 10.2

Domestic leagues

Denotes season in which Printezis won the Greek Basket League championship
Year TeamLeague
11 6.5 .461 .562 1.8 .0 .0 .0 1.9
Olympiacos4 5.4 .666 .666 1.7 .0 .0 .0 3
Olympiacos1 8.4 .750 .0 .0 .0 .0 6
2005-06 Olympiacos23 14.1 .636 .230 .692 3.1 .5 .4 .3 6.2
Olympia Larissa26 21.1 .577 .396 .711 4.0 .8 .4 .3 11.5
Olympiacos36 20.0 .620 269 .743 4.9 1.4 .7 .0 8.6
2008-09 OlympiacosGBL30 18.4 .632 363 .704 3.9 .8 .5 .0 9.6
2009-10 Unicaja Malaga28 21.4 .597 .235 .829 3.3 .9 .7 .2 10.2
2010-11 Unicaja Malaga19 13.5 .534 .233 .826 2.7 1.1 .8 .5 7.5
8 10.0 .692 545 .723 1.6 .0 .0 .0 5.5
2011-12 Olympiacos34 21.1 .694 .380 .741 3.8 .9 .8 .1 12.6
2012-13 Olympiacos32 22.5 .655 .313 .766 4.7 1.3 .6 .0 12.8
2013-14 Olympiacos31 20.2 .592 .291 .736 4.6 1.0 .5 .1 11.3
2014-15 Olympiacos24 20.5 .597 .381 .627 3.3 1.0 .5 .2 11.0
2015-16 Olympiacos25 20.6 .557 .317 .584 4.4 1.2 .3 .0 9.7
2016-17 Olympiacos31 21.0 .440 .327 .569 4.1 1.3 .6 .2 9.1
2017-18 Olympiacos25 20.0 .465 .295 .766 5.4 1.6 .4 .4 8.8
2018-19 Olympiacos20 20.0 .570 .193 .553 4.7 1.2 .1 .1 10.4
2021-22 Olympiacos29 11.5 .671 .324 .730 2.3 0.9 .2 .0 5.3

Greece national team career statistics

National team

YearNational TeamTournament
2008Greece MenOlympic Qualifying Tournament44.51.8.8
2008Summer Olympics45.00.8.3
2009EuroBasket95.42.4.9
2010World Cup
2012World Cup qualification314.04.72.0
2013EuroBasket84.42.6.6
2014World Cup611.73.71.2
2015EuroBasket810.62.61.9
2017EuroBasket713.94.61.7
2019World Cup qualification115.04.01.0
2019World Cup512.22.22.0
2023World Cup qualification17.05.0
.

Awards and accomplishments

Titles won

Other honors

Greek senior national team

Individual awards and accomplishments

European awards

2020

2017

April 2015

2017[20]

Domestic awards

2022

2007

2007

2012

2012

Club team awards

National team awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://archive.today/20130102190003/http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/08/olym/men/teamPlay/play/p/eventid/4004/langid/1/langlc/en/openNodeIDs/6599/playernumber/38960/roundid/4004/selNodeID/6599/teamnumber/291/fe_teamPlay_playProf.html FIBA.com Official Player Profile Won Greek Dunk Contest.
  2. https://archive.today/20130102190003/http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/08/olym/men/teamPlay/play/p/eventid/4004/langid/1/langlc/en/openNodeIDs/6599/playernumber/38960/roundid/4004/selNodeID/6599/teamnumber/291/fe_teamPlay_playProf.html FIBA.com Official Player Profile Best Greek Player 22 And Under.
  3. http://www.gazzetta.gr/content/view/38926/35/ Gazzetta.gr Printezis signs with Unicaja Málaga .
  4. http://www.sportando.net/eng/europa/euroleague/3169/printezis_to_land_in_malaga.html Sportando.net Printezis to land in Malaga.
  5. http://newsdesk.thebasketballpost.com/2011/04/27/olympiacos-inks-georgios-pritenzis.aspx Olympiacos Inks Giorgios Pritenzis.
  6. Web site: ACB.com Giorgos Printezis abandona el Unicaja . 2011-04-28 . es . 2014-01-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140122145343/http://acb.com/redaccion.php?id=75722 . dead .
  7. http://www.euroleague.net/main/results/showgame/report?gamecode=188 Euroleague.net Final Four Game 2 - May 13, 2012 - SINAN ERDEM ARENA GAME REPORT CSKA Moscow 61 - 62 Olympiacos.
  8. News: OLYMPIACOS extends Euroleague hero Printezis. 8 July 2014. Euroleague.net. 11 July 2012.
  9. Web site: Varlas . Nikos . 12 July 2012 . Printezis said "no thanks" to Knicks . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120715035053/http://www.eurohoops.net/2012/07/flopping/7312 . 15 July 2012 . 12 July 2012 . Eurohoops.net.
  10. News: Olympiacos, Printezis together until 2017. 8 July 2014. Euroleague.net. 8 July 2014.
  11. News: Varlas . Nikos . 14 June 2017 . Printezis stays with Olympiacos for three more years . 15 February 2024 . Eurohoops.net.
  12. News: Borghesan . Ennio Terrasi . 16 June 2020 . Olympiacos, Georgios Printezis agree to extend contract . 16 June 2020 . Sportando.
  13. Web site: Πρίντεζης για εικοστή σεζόν. 15 July 2021. el. olympiacosbc.gr. 15 July 2021.
  14. Web site: 29 June 2007 . Raptors Acquire Draft Rights To Giorgos Printezis . 15 February 2024 . NBA.com.
  15. Web site: Satur . Jay . 24 January 2011 . Raptors Acquire Ajinca, Draft Pick And Cash Considerations From Dallas . 15 February 2024 . NBA.com . Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.
  16. Web site: Trail Blazers Acquire Jared Jeffries From New York.. iamatrailblazersfan.com. 2012-07-16. 2012-07-16. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120719054058/http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/PressReleaseDisplay/tabid/297/itemId/3179/Default.aspx. 2012-07-19.
  17. Web site: Golliver . Ben . 2013-02-21 . Reports: Thunder trade Eric Maynor to Trail Blazers . 2024-02-15 . SI.com.
  18. Web site: Wilson . J. . 10 July 2014 . Hawks Acquire Thabo Sefolosha in Sign-And-Trade Transaction . 15 February 2024 . NBA.com.
  19. Web site: Chandler . James . 9 July 2015 . Spurs Trade Tiago Splitter To Atlanta Hawks . 15 February 2024 . NBA.com.
  20. Web site: Eurobasket . 2023-05-17 . eurobasket.com.
  21. Web site: 2020-08-12 . Ολυμπιακός: Με Πρίντεζη, Σπανούλη, Σλούκα και Παπαλουκά η ομάδα της δεκαετίας . 2022-03-19 . Eurohoops.net . el.
  22. Web site: Stathakopoulos . Christos . Οι 7 πρώτοι όλων των εποχών στο ελληνικό πρωτάθλημα . 2024-03-27 . Olympiacos BC . el-gr.