A strong emotion is necessary for all the things in your life to which you dedicate yourself – defined as love. Kostas Sloukas showed it. When you add faith and hope to that…
With a bit of defiance, defiance and championship spirit you get everything that Kostas Sloukas displayed in the EuroLeague final against Real Madrid. And this time it lasted “only” ten months.
Many often criticize the creators of the “seventh art” for running out of creativity and ideas to reach the pinnacle of some previous, and for many, unmatched times. Perhaps this was the case when the news came out that Kostas Sloukas was leaving Olympiacos and moving to where it could “cost him dearly” – Athens’ Panathinaikos.
A difficult start
When Kostas Sloukas traded the basketball uniform of Olympiacos for that of the Athens “Greens,” nothing was going in favor of Panathinaikos. The Reds had made it to the Final Four twice in a row. Panathinaikos hadn’t seen the final tournament for a whole 12 years and the title seemed elusive for the “unlucky 13.”
Olympiacos’ period of dominance is best illustrated by their 15 consecutive wins against Panathinaikos. For comparison, Crvena Zvezda defeated Partizan six times in a row during the 2023/2024 season, leaving everyone in disbelief. The rivalry between these teams is something that is unnecessary to comment on. Love for the club exists, faith always, and the hope that such things will stop is never absent. Even though sometimes it seems that way.
The first game between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos this season was won by Georgios Bartzokas and his team. The score at the start of the second quarter was 32:4. Yes, you read that right. Perhaps head coach Bartzokas felt that defiance and resentment towards Sloukas as a “traitor” in a sports sense at that moment.
Likely, the Greek playmaker felt as if he was experiencing a nightmare. The scoreboard at the Peace and Friendship Stadium after the game showed 75:51. Do you know what Ergin Ataman said after that defeat?
“Who cares, everyone will forget this in 20 days anyway.”
Hollywood ending
When something starts like that, it can only be overcome with three “elements” on which we base this whole story. To further elevate the film scenario, let’s add some “visual effects” that seem to belong to the category of “this is made up in this story,” but it was actually like this:
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