By Vangelis Papadimitriou / info@eurohoops.net
The 6th “Pavlos Giannakopoulos” tournament was destined to make history. Panathinaikos celebrated the memory of the club’s patriarch in front of 35.000 spectators in the historic open-air Panathenaic stadium, home of the first modern Olympics.
However, Partizan got the 75-64 win, coached by Panathinaikos legend Zeljko Obradovic.
The Serbs proved to be more resistant to the autumn Athenian cold. At the same time, Panathinaikos played without Lorenzo Brown and Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, while Kostas Sloukas, Matias Lesor and Kostas Antetokounmpo had limited minutes.
Brandon Davies, acting as Partizan captain, scored 12 points and Duane Washington was the top scorer with 13.
For Panathinaikos, Kendrick Nunn scored 16 points but the MVP were the fans.
🔥☘️ More than 1 hour before tip-off and Panathinaikos fans already going crazy in the historic Panathenaic stadiumpic.twitter.com/PMYfeHmZ23
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) September 21, 2024
Anadolu Efes beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the first game of the night in front of a crowd that included many distinguished sports personalities, like European basketball legends Panagiotis Giannakis, Theodoros Papaloukas, Dimitris Diamantidis and Stojan Vrankovic, FIBA president Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani and EuroLeague president – and of course former Panathinaikos player – Dejan Bodiroga.
Dimitris Giannakopoulos was absent due to sanction
The big absence from the tournament was the son of Pavlos Giannakopoulos and Panathinaikos owner, Dimitris.
Back in June, Giannakopoulos was sanctioned with an 8-month ban from entering any Greek League games and a fine of 35,000 euros for “actions and statements that constitute defamation of the sport and took place before, during or after a league game,” by the Greek Sports Judge announced.
Before the game Dimitris Giannakopoulos expressed his complaint that he “cannot be there as a son for my father”, he described his punishment as “unfair and without a court order”, however, he made it clear that he “will accept it”.
