Ioannis Bourousis

Ioannis Bourousis

Bourousis celebrating Greece's win against Turkey in EuroBasket 2009
No. 29 – Panathinaikos
Position	Center
League	Greek Basket League EuroLeague
Personal information
Born	(1983-11-17) November 17, 1983 (age 33) Karditsa, Greece
Nationality	Greek
Listed height	7 ft 0.75 in (2.15 m)
Listed weight	270 lb (122 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	2005 / Undrafted
Playing career	2001–present
Career history
2001–2006	AEK Athens
2006	FC Barcelona
2006–2011	Olympiacos
2011–2013	EA7 Milano
2013–2015	Real Madrid
2015–2016	Laboral Kutxa Baskonia
2016–present	Panathinaikos
Career highlights and awards
EuroLeague champion (2015) 2× All-EuroLeague First Team (2009, 2016) Spanish League champion (2015) Spanish League MVP (2016) All-Spanish League First Team (2016) Greek All-Star MVP (2009)
Medals Men's basketball Representing Greece EuroBasket 2005 Serbia & Montenegro National Team 2009 Poland National Team FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship 2002 Lithuania Team

Ioannis Bourousis (Greek: Ιωάννης Μπουρούσης; born November 17, 1983) is a Greek professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. He is a 7 ft 0¾ in (2.15 m) 270 lb (122 kg) tall center. A two-time All-EuroLeague First Team selection (2009, 2016), Bourousis has been compared to FIBA Hall of Fame center Vlade Divac by San Antonio Spurs' head coach Gregg Popovich.

Bourousis originally began his athletic career training to be a professional swimmer, but he grew too tall for the sport and instead took up playing basketball, at the age of 18. He began his professional career in the year 2001 with AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League. In 2006, he transferred to FC Barcelona of the Spanish ACB League. Later that same year, he joined the Greek EuroLeague club Olympiacos.

In 2009, he was offered a 3-year $12 million contract by the NBA club the San Antonio Spurs. However, he turned down San Antonio's offer, and instead signed a 3-year contract extension with Olympiacos worth €5.1 million euros net income. The contract contained a €1 million euros buyout amount, which could only be used to sign with an NBA team. After 5 years with Olympiacos, the club decided to terminate his contract.