Vassilis Spanoulis

Vassilis Spanoulis (Greek: Βασίλης Σπανούλης), also commonly known as Bill Spanoulis (Greek: Μπίλλ Σπανούλης), or Billy Spanoulis (Greek: Μπίλλυ Σπανούλης; born 7 August 1982) is a Greek former professional basketball player and coach, who is currently the head coach for AS Monaco of the French LNB Élite and the EuroLeague, as well as the head coach of the senior men's Greek national team. In the sport of basketball, his signature move is a cut originating from under the rim where the player moves up the floor to receive a handoff from another player, which is commonly known as "Spanoulis Action", "The Spanoulis System", or simply "Spanoulis". During his pro playing career, at a height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) tall, and a weight of 212 lb (96 kg), Spanoulis played as a point guard-shooting guard, and was nicknamed Kill Bill, V-Span, Greek Thunder, and MVP ("Most Vassilis Player"). Spanoulis was named the Balkan Athlete of the Year in 2009, the Eurobasket Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013, the International Sports Prize's World Athlete of the Year in 2013, and the EuroLeague MVP the same year. He earned a record eight All-EuroLeague Team selections and was voted the EuroLeague's 2010–2020 Player of the Decade. Spanoulis retired as the EuroLeague's all-time career leader in assists and total points scored. In 2025, Spanoulis was voted The Greatest of All Time (GOAT) Athlete in the 100-year history of Olympiacos Piraeus CFP, which is the multi-sport club with the most championships won in sports history, with over 300 awards.

During his professional club playing career, on the international level, Spanoulis was a FIBA World Club Championship champion, a European Triple Crown winner, a three-time EuroLeague champion and five-time EuroLeague finalist, and a FIBA Europe League finalist. While on the national domestic level, Spanoulis was a seven-time Greek Basket League champion, thirteen-time Greek Basket League finalist, and a four-time Greek Cup winner and nine-time Greek Cup finalist. He spent most of his playing career in the Greek Basket League, winning four Greek League titles as a member of Panathinaikos Athens, and three Greek League titles as a member of Olympiacos Piraeus. With those same two Greek clubs, he also won three EuroLeague titles, one with the former club (2009), and two consecutively (2012 and 2013) with the latter. In total, in four seasons with Panathinaikos, Spanoulis won eight club championship titles, and in eleven seasons with Olympiacos, he won seven club championship titles.

In international competitions of the national team, Spanoulis played an instrumental role in the gold medal win of the senior men's Greek national team, at the 2005 FIBA EuroBasket. He was also one of the main stars of Greece's 2006 FIBA World Cup silver medal team, as he led Greece with 22 points scored in their memorable victory over Team USA, by a score of 101–95, in the tournament's semifinals. It was however, Greece's bronze medal win at the 2009 FIBA EuroBasket, that emphasized Spanoulis' leadership within an injury-plagued Greek national team, and consequently earned him a EuroBasket All-Star Five honor. In 2020, Spanoulis was named to the FIBA Summer Olympics 1992–2020 Dream Team, which consisted of the 25 best players in FIBA Summer Olympics history, since the inclusion of NBA players, in 1992, and to the FIBA EuroBasket 2000–2020 Dream Team, which consisted of the five best players of the FIBA EuroBasket, since the year 2000.

Spanoulis, whose clutch end-of-game play earned him the nickname "Kill Bill", is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in Europe. In 2017, the European basketball expert and historian, Vladimir Stanković, and the EuroLeague's expert basketball panel, named Spanoulis "The Most Clutch Player in EuroLeague History". In 2018, he was named to the 101 Greats of European Basketball selection. Along with the Spanish player Juan Carlos Navarro, Spanoulis was one of just two players, that were still active players at the time, that were specially selected for the honor. In 2020, Spanoulis was named the "Best EuroLeague Player of The 2010s Decade" by the readers of the website Eurohoops.net. HoopsHype.com named Spanoulis one of the 75 Greatest International Players Ever in 2021. In 2022, Spanoulis was named a EuroLeague Legend, which is the EuroLeague's Hall of Fame award. Spanoulis was also inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame, in 2022. Spanoulis' number 7 jersey was retired by the Greek EuroLeague club Olympiacos Piraeus, on 17 September 2023. In October 2023, Spanoulis was voted the EuroLeague's "GOAT" ("Greatest of All Time") player, in a BasketNews.com poll of EuroLeague players. Spanoulis received 40% of the vote total, while the second-placed vote-getter, Nando de Colo, received a total of 14% of the vote.