Nikos Galis

Nikolaos Georgalis (Νικόλαος Γεωργαλής; born July 23, 1957), commonly known as either Nikos Galis (Νίκος Γκάλης), or Nick Galis, is a Greek former professional basketball player.

Galis, who during his playing days was nicknamed, "Nick The Greek", "The Gangster", and "The Iron Man", is widely regarded as Europe's greatest scorer to ever play the game, and as one of the all-time greatest players in FIBA international basketball history.

Among qualified players, he is the EuroLeague's all-time leader in points per game scoring average, when counting both the FIBA and EuroLeague Basketball eras (1958–present).

He was also the league's top scorer of the season, numerous times.

In his senior 1978–79 season, Galis saw his scoring average reach 27.5 points per game, which was third in the nation, behind Idaho State's Lawrence Butler (30.1 points per game) and Indiana State's Larry Bird (28.6 points per game), including a 48-point outburst against the University of Santa Clara.

Also in his senior year of college, Galis won the Haggerty Award (the New York City metro area's best player award), and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Year award.

The same year, he also played in the Pizza Hut All-American game, alongside Bird and Vinnie Johnson.

During his four-year college career, Galis played in a total of 107 games and scored 1,651 points, for a career scoring average of 15.4 points per game.

Galis' head coach at Seton Hall, Bill Raftery, would later state that Galis was the best player that he ever coached.

While at Seton Hall, Galis was a good friend and roommate of Italian-American professional basketball player Dan Callandrillo.

After finishing his collegiate career in 1979, Galis signed with agent Bill Manon, who also managed Diana Ross.

Overall during his national team career, he was named to the All-EuroBasket Team four times (1983, 1987, 1989, 1991).

Among his myriad of accomplishments, he holds the EuroBasket's record for the highest career scoring average (31.2 points per game), and he was also the leading scorer of four EuroBasket tournaments, in 1983, 1987, 1989, and 1991.

Galis also owns two major records of the FIBA World Championship/Cup tournament.

He holds the records for the highest career scoring average (33.5 points per game), and the most total points ever scored in a single tournament, which he set at the 1986 FIBA World Championship.

Galis, who was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year three times (1986, 1987, 1989), is highly revered in Greece, where he is considered by many to be one of the greatest national athletes that the country has ever had.

His years with Aris Thessaloniki and the Greece national team, lifted Greek basketball from a place of relative obscurity, to both European and global power status.

Galis was the sports icon that eventually inspired thousands of Greeks to take up playing the game of basketball.

He is still widely lauded in Greece and has kept his position as a legend and a hero for the Greek nation and people.

Galis led the Greece men's national basketball team to the EuroBasket's gold medal in 1987, and he earned the tournament's MVP award in the process.

Following his stunning success in winning the 1987 EuroBasket title, Galis won both the Mr. Europa and the Euroscar player of the year awards.

In Europe's premier basketball club competition, he reached the EuroLeague Final Four on four occasions, making it in three consecutive years with Aris (1988, 1989, 1990), and in another year with Panathinaikos (1994).

He also led Greece to a silver medal at the 1989 EuroBasket, where he was also selected to the All-EuroBasket Team.

In 1991, Galis was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players.

Galis was later inducted into the Seton Hall Athletic Hall of Fame, in 1991.

Galis won eight Greek league championships, and he is also the Greek Championship's amateur era all-time leading scorer, in both career points scored and career scoring average, when counting all league formats prior to the league becoming fully professional, in the 1992–93 season.

In 2007, he became an inaugural member of the FIBA Hall of Fame.

In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

Galis' number 6 jersey was retired by Aris, in 2013, and his number 4 jersey was retired by the Greek national team, in 2023.

Galis was born in Union City, New Jersey.

The child of a poor immigrant family, from the Greek islands of Rhodes and Nisyros, Galis took up boxing in his early years, after his father, George Georgalis, who had also been a boxer in his youth.

He was later persuaded to give up boxing by his mother, Stella Georgalis, who was terrified after each time that her son would return home from boxing training with a new facial injury.

As a result, Galis started playing the sport of basketball instead of boxing.

He attended Union Hill High School, in Union City, where he played high school basketball for legendary coach William J. McKeever, as well as American football.

After high school, Galis enrolled at Seton Hall University, where he played college basketball as a member of the Seton Hall Pirates.

In 2017, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In 2022, he was inducted in to the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame.

During his college basketball career at Seton Hall University, Galis played at the point guard position.

However, his primary position during his pro career was shooting guard.

He spent most of his club playing career with Aris Thessaloniki, before having a late career stint with Panathinaikos Athens.