Theodoros Papaloukas - Greek National Team

Greek National Team

Papaloukas was part of the core element of the senior men's Greek National Basketball Team. He played at the following FIBA EuroBaskets: EuroBasket 2001 in Turkey, EuroBasket 2003 in Sweden, EuroBasket 2005 in Serbia and Montenegro, and EuroBasket 2007 in Spain.

Papaloukas, who was already well-established in European basketball as a result of appearances in three consecutive Euroleague Final Fours with CSKA Moscow, achieved an acclaimed position among the elite of European basketball at the EuroBasket 2005 in Serbia and Montenegro. After a series of mediocre performances in the first round, he led Greece to a victory over the Russian National Basketball Team in the quarterfinals and orchestrated a major comeback against the French National Basketball Team in the semifinal, when Greece was down 7 points with 47 seconds left on the clock.

In the final against the German National Basketball Team, led by the prodigious NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, Papaloukas scored 22 points, leading Greece comfortably to its second European title, eighteen years after its first win at the EuroBasket 1987. As such, Papaloukas was selected to the All-Tournament Team of the EuroBasket 2005, along with fellow Greek team player Dimitris Diamantidis, Spanish National Basketball Team shooting guard Juan Carlos Navarro, French National Team swingman and NBA player Boris Diaw, and Nowitzki, who also claimed the MVP title.

Papaloukas also joined the elite club of players who have achieved the European title at both the national and club levels during the same year, as he won the Euroleague title with CSKA at the Final Four in Prague, April 28–30, 2006.

Papaloukas climbed to the second position of global basketball as he, along with his fellow Greek team players, drove Greece to the final of the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, losing there in the final to the Spanish National Basketball Team. In Greece's win over Team USA in the semifinal, by a score of 101–95, Papaloukas had 12 assists, 8 points and 5 rebounds. He also earned a place on the All-Tournament Team, which also included the tournament MVP Pau Gasol of the Spanish team, Gasol's teammate Jorge Garbajosa, Team USA's Carmelo Anthony, and Manu Ginobili of the Argentina National Basketball Team.

His most formidable personal recognition came on January 26, 2007, when he was voted by fans and journalists as the FIBA Europe Player of the Year for 2006, topping the likes of Nowitzki, Gasol, and Tony Parker. In the summer of 2008, Papaloukas became the captain of Greece's national team.