ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Giannis Ioannidis, one of Greece's most successful basketball coaches who later entered politics and served as a minister for sports, has died at the age of 78.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis led plaudits Wednesday for the veteran player and coach, whose teams dominated Greek basketball in the formative 1980s and 1990s, winning 12 league championships and six cups.
“He set his own seal on the history of Greek basketball,” Mitsotakis said in a social media post.
Born in 1945 in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Ioannidis played for local team Aris and then went on to coach the club from 1978-79 and 1982-90. During that period Aris won eight league championships, including six straight titles from 1985-90, and five cups.
Parliament speaker Konstantinos Tassoulas said Ioannidis contributed greatly “to the popularity of basketball and the active participation of many young people in the sport.”
The 1980s were seminal for Greek basketball, and Ioannidis' Aris players supplied the backbone of the national team — coached by Kostas Politis — that won the 1987 European Championship in Athens, triggering a nationwide frenzy for the sport.
After Aris, Ioannidis, who was known for his explosive temperament on and off court, coached Olympiakos, winning four straight Greek championships, and AEK.
He was elected in 2004 as a lawmaker for Thessaloniki with the center-right New Democracy party, currently led by Mitsotakis, and twice served as a deputy minister of culture holding the sports portfolio.
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The Associated Press
