Nick Galis
(Born 1957)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2017
Card Shown:
2017 Panini
Hall of Fame Enshrinement
Position: G
Height: 6’2″
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Nick “Nikos” Galis was one of the world’s best basketball players in the 1980s and early 1990s, although he remained largely unknown in the USA. After playing his college basketball in the United States at Seton Hall University, Galis returned to his parents’ homeland of Greece to play professional basketball. He is widely regarded as the greatest Greek basketball player ever. Nick was a combo guard who could score the ball and also find his teammates for assists. He scored over 30 points per game during his distinguished basketball career.
Awards and Honors
- Nick led Greece to the gold medal at the European Championship, known as EuroBasket, in 1987. He was selected the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. In 1989 Galis’ Greek team added a silver medal at the European Championships.
- Nick was a four-time EuroBasket scoring champion, earning this honor in 1983, 1987, 1989, and 1991.
- Galis was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.
- Nick led his Aris Thessaloniki club team to eight Greek League Championships from 1983-1991. The only title his team did not win during that stretch was in 1984. Galis also earned five Greek League MVP awards during his career.
- Nick led his his team to seven Greek Cup championships in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, and 1993.
Points of Interest
- In 1978-79 Galis, playing for Seton Hall, was the NCAA’s third leading scorer at 27.5 points per game. He trailed only Idaho State’s Lawrence Butler (30.1 ppg) and Indiana State’s Larry Bird (28.6 ppg). The Pirates had four straight winning seasons while Nick was at Seton Hall. Galis becomes the fourth Pirate to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player, joining Bob Davies, Bobby Wanzer, and former Seton Hall coach Honey Russell.
- Galis was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 68th overall selection, in the fourth round, of the 1979 NBA Draft. After an injury-riddled training camp he and the Celtics mutually agreed to part ways. Nick decided to play in Greece where he averaged over 30 points per game during his sixteen-year career. Red Auerbach, who was the Celtics general manager at the time, reportedly once said that not signing Galis was the only big mistake of his career.
- During his career, several NBA teams expressed interest in Nick, but he remained loyal to his Greek team. He knew that signing an NBA contract would make him ineligible to play for Greece in FIBA competition and he did not want to let his country down.
- Nick was the first torchbearer along the final route of the Olympic flame as the Olympics began in Athens in 2004.
- In four of the five European Championships in which he participated, Galis was the leading scorer.
Nick Galis Signed 2017 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Program
