AEK B.C.

AEK Basketball Club (Greek: ΚΑΕ ΑΕΚ Greek pronunciation: [ˈaek]; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupóleos, "Athletic Union of Constantinople"), and also known as AEK B.C. or simply AEK, and more commonly known in European competitions as AEK Athens, is a Greek professional basketball club based in Athens, Attica, Greece, part of the major multi-sport club AEK. The club was established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). The club's emblem is the double-headed eagle, the symbol of Palaiologos dynasty and the Byzantine Empire, their colours yellow and black, also inspired by the Byzantine Empire, serving to remind future generations of the glorious legacy of the Greeks of Constantinople. Their home arena is the SUNEL Arena, a 9,025-capacity indoor arena in Ano Liosia, Athens. AEK has been established as one of the most successful basketball teams in Greek and European basketball history, having won 8 Greek Championships, 5 Greek Cups, 2 Saporta Cups (former European Cup Winners' Cup), 1 Champions League and 1 Intercontinental Cup. They are the first ever Greek basketball team to reach a European Cup Final and the first ever to win a European title. On 4 April 1968, AEK defeated Slavia VŠ Praha by a score of 89–82, in Athens in front of 80,000 fans. AEK have also reached the Final of EuroLeague in 1997–98 and have also reached the Final Four of Basketball Champions League in four occasions. AEK holds the all-time European attendance record, with an official crowd of approximately 80,000 (and tens of thousands more outside the stadium). They have produced great figures of the sport, foremost among them is Giorgos Amerikanos, in whose honor the number 10 jersey has been retired. Furthermore, it was named the best team across all sports at either...