The season finale of “The Show” is here and Vassilis Skountis is excited to host former NBAers Efthimis Rentzias and Andreas Glyniadakis! Life lessons from playing basketball and winning multiple titles, representing the National team, the road to the NBA, their career after retiring from sports and plenty of stories from playing next to and against NBA superstars like Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and Ray Allen!
Rentzias started his career with the amateur youth teams of Danaos Trikalon, a local team from Trikala, Greece before transferring to PAOK B.C. at the age of just 17, winning the FIBA Korać Cup in the 1993–94 season, and the Greek Cup title in the 1994–95 season. He then moved to the Spanish ACB League powerhouse Barcelona where he won his second FIBA Korać Cup championship in the 1998–99 season and 2 Spanish League championships, in the 1998–99 and 2000–01 seasons. In his last year with Barcelona, he averaged 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per game and 51 games played, in both the Spanish League (ACB) and in Europe’s premier club basketball competition, the EuroLeague, shooting 61.6 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from three-point range, and 71.4 percent from the foul line. Rentzias, the 23rd overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in the 1996 NBA draft, signed with the 76ers, during the 2002–03 season, becoming just the second Greek-born basketball player to have played for an NBA team. After leaving the NBA, Rentzias subsequently played with Ülkerspor, of the Turkish Super League, Montepaschi Siena, of the Italian A League, and Forum Valladolid of the Spanish ACB League, before announcing his retirement from playing pro club basketball at the age of just 30, because of injury problems. 
Rentzias was a part of the Greek junior national basketball teams, winning the silver medal at the 1991 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship and the gold medal at the 1993 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, being named the MVP of the 1995 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, where he helped Greece win the tournament’s gold medal, scoring 33 points and grabbing 21 rebounds in the final against Australia. In the process, Greece also beat (by a score of 98–78) an Under-19 U.S.A. Team that featured future NBA players like Vince Carter, Trajan Langdon, Stephon Marbury, and Samaki Walker. He was also a member of the senior men’s Greek national team, from 1992 to 2003, and with Greece he competed at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games, just the second ever appearance by Greece’s senior men’s basketball team in a Summer Olympic Games, and their first since the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympic Games. He also played with Greece at the following major FIBA tournaments: the 1994 FIBA World Championship, the 1995 EuroBasket, the 1997 EuroBasket, the 1998 FIBA World Championship, the 2001 EuroBasket, and the 2003 EuroBasket.
His many accolades include the following:
- 2× FIBA Korać Cup Champion: (1994, 1999)
- Greek Cup Winner: (1995)
- 2× Spanish League Champion: (1999, 2001)
- Spanish Cup Winner: (2001)
- Turkish Supercup Winner: (2003)
- Turkish Cup Winner: (2004)
- Italian Supercup Winner: (2004)
- 1991 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: Silver Medal
- 1993 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: Gold Medal
- 1995 FIBA Under-19 World Cup: Gold Medal
- 1995 FIBA Under-19 World Cup: All-Tournament Team
- 1995 FIBA Under-19 World Cup: MVP
Glyniadakis meanwhile started his career with Kydonas of Chania, Crete, Greece, before moving on to Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos B.C. and then Peristeri, AEK B.C., Maroussi B.C. (where he was the MVP of the last 16 week 1 in the EuroCup 2008–09 season), and eventually Olympiacos B.C., winning the EuroLeague and Greek League championship in 2012. He was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 58th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and in the 2005–06 season, he played with the Roanoke Dazzle of the NBA D-League, the Atlanta Hawks during the 2006 NBA preseason and with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA D-League, winning the D-League championship in 2006. He was signed by the Seattle SuperSonics on 5 November 2006 and appeared in 13 games with the team, while also playing for the Boston Celtics in the 2007 NBA Summer League. His career included stints with B.C. Astana of the VTB United League, he signed with Lietuvos Rytas of Lithuania, Cypriot side APOEL, where he helped his team win the Cypriot League championship, Turkish team Royal Halı Gaziantep, Enegria Rovinari of Romania, Les Lions de Geneve of the Swiss Championnat LNA, Nea Kifissia, PAOK B.C. and Kymis before returning to his home land of Crete after nearly two decades, signing a one-year deal with the Rethymno Cretan Kings.
Glyniadakis was a member of the Greek junior national teams, playing at the 1997 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, and winning the bronze medal at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, while he also participated at the 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, and at the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. A member of the senior men’s Greek national basketball team for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, he won the bronze medal with Greece at the 2009 EuroBasket, and he also played at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
His many awards and achievements include the following:
- 2× EuroLeague champion (2000, 2012)
- 5× Greek Basket League champion (1998–2001, 2012)
- 2× Greek Cup winner (2010, 2011)
- Kazakh League champion (2013)
- Kazakh Cup winner (2013)
- Cypriot League champion (2014)
- NBA G League champion (2006)
- 2× Greek League All-Star (2004, 2009)
Stay tuned for a brand new season of “The Show” by Trace ‘N Chase launching in the upcoming fall…!
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