Lefteris Kakiousis, Dimitris Papadopoulos and Nikos Kouvelas bring back the memories for Iraklis B.C. in “The Show”

Posted by dio

On 13 January 2023

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Former professional basketball players Lefteris Kakiousis, Dimitris Papadopoulos and Nikos Kouvelas, the pillars of Iraklis B.C. during the “Golden Era of Greek Basketball” in the ‘90’s for one of the most historic and fascinating teams of Greece, take center court at Trace ‘n Chase for a captivating conversation with Vassilis Skountis in another episode of “The Show”!

Lefteris Kakiousis is one of the most important players in the history of the Iraklis basketball team, being present in the club’s greatest successes since 1990 and finishing off his career first in assists, third in scoring, fourth in three-pointers, and fifth in rebounds in the history of the club. He led Iraklis to the fourth place in the 1990 and 1991 Greek A1 Basket League Championships, while in 1994 he reached the Greek Cup Final. In 1995, in what was probably the most successful year in the history of the club he won the third place in the Greek championship and finished 4th in the European Cup, leading the league in assists. The next year, he competed in the EuroLeague and was a finalist in the Greek Cup while in 1997 Iraklis reached again the semi-final of the European Cup.
From 1997 until 1999 he played for PAOK B.C., winning the second place in the Greek championship in 1998 and claiming the Greek cup in 1999, his only title, before finishing off his career with Makedonikos B.C..
A longtime member of the Greek men’s national basketball team, Kakiousis played at the 1993 and 1995 EuroBasket and the 1996 Summer Olympic Games while after retiring he began his coaching career. As the head coach of Makedonikos in 2001 he won the Greek A2 Basket League championship, with a 24–2 record, while in 2002, he joined Iraklis, and lead the club to a third-place finish in the Greek Basket League during the 2003–04 season. In 2005, he became the head coach of AEK Athens, and in 2006, he became the assistant coach of Maroussi before returning to Iraklis B.C. in 2009. He was also an assistant coach for the senior men’s Greek national basketball teams that won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket and the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. He is currently the technical director for Iraklis B.C.

Dimitris Papadopoulos, also known as “The Doctor”, due to him graduating and becoming an MD, competed with Iraklis and was for many years one of the main pillars of the team. He led Iraklis to the fourth place in the 1990 and 1991 Greek A1 Basket League Championships, while in 1994 he reached the Greek Cup Final. He is second in the all-time scoring list for Iraklis after David Acrum, first in rebounds, first in three-pointers and third in games played in the history of the club. In 1995 he transferred to AEK while he was a member of the senior men’s Greek national basketball team that won the silver medal at the EuroBasket 1989. He was also a member of the Greek national team that finished in 6th place at the 1990 FIBA World Championship while after his retirement from playing professional basketball he became an interventional pain specialist and is currently the owner and CEO of Hermes Healthcare, a sophisticated technology company developing breakthrough solutions in healthcare.
Finally, Nikos Kouvelas was a charismatic forward who also played for Iraklis after beginning his career with MENT and Makedonikos before moving on to PAOK B.C. and finishing his career playing with Keravnos Agiou Pavlou in Thessaloniki.