Panathinaikos B.C.

Panathinaikos B.C. (Greek: ΚΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός), also simplified to Panathinaikos, and as Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens for sponsorship reasons, is the professional basketball team of the major Athens-based multi-sport club Panathinaikos A.O. It is owned by the Giannakopoulos family.

The parent athletic club was founded in 1908, while the basketball team was created in 1919, one of the oldest in Greece. Along with Aris, they are the only un-relegated teams with participation in every Greek First Division Championship.

Panathinaikos has developed into the most successful basketball club in Greek basketball history, and one of the most successful in European basketball, creating its own dynasty. They have won seven EuroLeague Championships, forty Greek Basket League Championships, twenty-one Greek Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, one Greek Super Cup and two Triple Crowns. They also hold the record for most consecutive Greek League titles, as the only team to have won nine consecutive championships (2003–2011), as well as for the most consecutive Greek Basketball Cup titles, winning six from 2012 to 2017. Panathinaikos counts one more championship that took place in 1921 and was organized by the YMCA. It is however not recognized by the Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association, because it was before the creation of the Hellenic Basketball Federation. The team plays its home games in the OAKA Basketball Arena, which has a capacity of 19,250 for basketball. Panathinaikos also holds the world record for the longest title-winning streak, spanning 27 seasons, starting in 1995–96 and continuing until 2021–22. Over these 27 years, Panathinaikos have won at least one title each season and 43 titles overall.

Among many top class players who have played with the club over the years are Dominique Wilkins, Fragiskos Alvertis, Byron Scott, Nick Galis, John Salley, Dimitris Diamantidis, Antonio Davis, Stojko Vranković, Dino Rađja, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Dejan Bodiroga, Nick Calathes, Nikola Peković, Panagiotis Giannakis, Fanis Christodoulou, Mike Batiste, Antonis Fotsis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Željko Rebrača, Vassilis Spanoulis, Dejan Tomašević, Nikos Oikonomou, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, Byron Dinkins, İbrahim Kutluay, Mike James, Sani Bečirovič, Jaka Lakovič, Marcelo Nicola, Hugo Sconochini, Nando Gentile, Pepe Sánchez, Darryl Middleton, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Žarko Paspalj, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Dimos Dikoudis, Oded Kattash, Alexander Volkov, John Amaechi, Tiit Sokk, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Jason Kapono, Arijan Komazec, Edgar Jones, Romain Sato, Johnny Rogers, Tony Delk, Drew Nicholas, James Gist, Stéphane Lasme, Jonas Mačiulis, Roko Ukić, Robertas Javtokas, Ioannis Bourousis, Keith Langford, Jimmer Fredette, Kostas Sloukas, Juancho Hernangómez, Mathias Lessort and Kendrick Nunn. Such players, the successful management of former long-time presidents Pavlos Giannakopoulos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos, as well as the long-time guidance of the most successful coach in EuroLeague history, Željko Obradović, turned Panathinaikos into the most successful team in Europe over the last quarter century.

Panathinaikos is the only team on the European continent to win as many as seven EuroLeague titles (1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2024), since the establishment of the modern era EuroLeague Final Four format in 1988 (no other club has won more than four EuroLeague championships in this period). They were also EuroLeague runners-up in 2001. They reached the EuroLeague Final Four thirteen times altogether (1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2024, 2025).