Dimitris Diamantidis has officially returned to Panathinaikos, joining the club’s management structure as part of Zeljko Obradovic’s major summer rebuild. The Greek basketball icon reunites with the coach under whom he achieved the greatest successes of his legendary career.
This marks the continuation of the major changes taking place at Panathinaikos this summer. Head coach Ergin Ataman was the first to leave the club, before being replaced by Zeljko Obradovic, the most successful coach in Panathinaikos history, who returned to the club after 14 years. More recently, Obradovic appointed Mike Batiste as his assistant coach.
Diamantidis built a Panathinaikos dynasty under Obradovic
It is worth recalling that Diamantidis enjoyed the greatest successes of his career during Obradovic’s tenure at Panathinaikos, while Batiste was his longtime teammate. He played for Panathinaikos from 2004 to 2016, winning three EuroLeague titles, 10 Greek League championships, and 10 Greek Cups. Among his individual accolades, Diamantidis was named the EuroLeague MVP in 2011, earned EuroLeague Final Four MVP honors in 2007 and 2011, was selected to the All-EuroLeague First Team four times, won the EuroLeague Best Defender award a record six times, and finished as the EuroLeague Assists Leader on two occasions.
Επέστρεψε «σπίτι» του ο Δημήτρης Διαμαντίδης ☘️
— Panathinaikos BC (@Paobcgr) July 7, 2026
Η ΚΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός AKTOR ανακοινώνει την επιστροφή του Δημήτρη Διαμαντίδη στο «σπίτι» του.
Ο Δημήτρης Διαμαντίδης έγραψε ιστορία με την ομάδα μας στα δώδεκα χρόνια (2004-2016) που φόρεσε την πράσινη φανέλα κατακτώντας μαζί της 22… pic.twitter.com/6Vn2C35Iq5
Diamantidis explains his decision: “It feels like I have returned home”
Diamantidis did not hide his excitement about returning to Panathinaikos.
“I am truly happy to be back at Panathinaikos because it feels like I’ve returned home. It means a lot to me that I will once again work with coach Obradovic, and more generally with people I know very well and have tremendous respect for. That made my decision much easier.”
He also emphasized that reaching an agreement with Dimitris Giannakopoulos was a very straightforward process.
“I met with Mr. Giannakopoulos, and within just a few minutes we shook hands. There was no need for lengthy discussions.”
When asked about his exact role within the club, he explained:
“Titles are not important. We will figure that out along the way. What matters is that we all work together for the team we love and achieve our goals.”
Panathinaikos continues major summer roster rebuild
The changes at Panathinaikos this summer are not limited only to the coaching staff, as the same applies to the playing roster. Earlier today, president Dimitris Giannakopoulos announced four new signings, while it is already known that Brancou Badio from Valencia and Isaac Bonga from Partizan will join the club.
The team had already parted ways with T.J. Shorts, Marius Grigonis, Kenneth Faried, and Alexandros Samodurov, while the only officially confirmed arrival so far is Moustapha Fall, who is joining from Panathinaikos’ biggest rival, Olympiacos. You can see all Panathinaikos moves on EuroLeague Transactions.
