Panathinaikos Basketball Club owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos says the Athens-based team made a serious effort to bring Nikola Jokic to Greece, including an attempt to buy the Denver Nuggets star out of his NBA contract for next season.
Giannakopoulos said he believes Panathinaikos can sign Jokic when the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player becomes a free agent next summer. The comments mark an unusually ambitious public pursuit of one of the NBA’s most accomplished players by a European club.
Jokic has spent his entire NBA career with Denver and has established himself as one of the league’s premier players. His résumé includes three MVP awards and a central role in the Nuggets’ rise among the NBA’s top teams.
Panathinaikos, one of Europe’s most prominent basketball clubs, is based in Athens and competes at the highest levels of Greek and European basketball. Giannakopoulos’ remarks underscore the club’s willingness to explore a major move involving one of the sport’s biggest names, though Jokic remains under NBA contract for next season.