The veteran Greek guard wrote his name further into the history books with his championship game heroics
Kostas Sloukas added to his Final Four legacy in Berlin
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens star Kostas Sloukas was chosen as the 2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four MVP after an excellent performance in the championship game against Real Madrid. It was the icing on the cake of his many Final Four milestones which, at age 34, he will likely add to in the coming years.
Sloukas just won his fourth EuroLeague title. He won back-to-back crowns with Olympiacos Piraeus in 2012 and 2013, totaling 22 points (5.5 ppg.) and 6 assists (1.5 apg.) in those four Final Four games. When Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul won the EuroLeague title in 2017, Sloukas had 3 points and 5 assists in the championship game. His highest PIR in a EuroLeague Championship Game was 11 with Olympiacos in 2015.
Last season, Sloukas had 6 points and 3 rebounds for Olympiacos against Real, then missed the game-winning shot at the buzzer. That frustration was probably in the back of Sloukas's mind throughout the season, and when he returned to the EuroLeague Championship Game last Sunday, he was ready.
Sloukas led Panathinaikos past Real Madrid with 24 points on near-perfect shooting, only missing one free-throw attempt. He added 3 assists and had a PIR of 31, by far his best performance in the EuroLeague Championship Game.
Sloukas joined an exclusive club
Above all, Sloukas lifted the trophy with a third consecutive team, something that only Saras Jasikevicius (FC Barcelona, 2003, Maccabi Tel Aviv 2004, 2005, Panathinaikos 2009) was able to do before him. His outstanding display in the title decider allowed him to earn Final Four MVP honors in a situation he knows better than almost anyone.
After not seeing game time at the Final Four in 2009 and 2010, Sloukas made his Final Four debut in 2012. Since then, he has been to 10 Final Fours and is close to holding some all-time records in European basketball's showpiece event. Sloukas ranks second in PIR at the Final Four (203), only trailing Victor Khryapa (208). He ranks fifth in scoring (191), third in assists (67) and second in free throws made (57).
Mr. Final Four
Sloukas has played for the title with Olympiacos in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2023, with Fenerbahce in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and with Panathinaikos this season. Those eight championship game appearances are unprecedented in the Final Four era.
You have to go back to the late 1970s to find something similar, as Pallacanestro Varese reached 10 consecutive European Cup finals from 1970 to 1979. Dino Meneghin leads the list with 13 championship game appearances. Only Meneghin, Aldo Ossola (10) and Clifford Luyk (9) have been to more top-tier championship games since European competitions started in 1958.
His four titles rank him high on the all-time lists. Only 17 players have been able to win four or more EuroLeague titles, and only two had previously done so in the 21st century: Jasikevicius and Kyle Hines (Olympiacos 2012, 2013; CSKA Moscow 2015, 2019). Ahead of him, there's just Meneghin (seven titles), Luyk and Ossola (five titles each).
Some may think that for many years Sloukas was in the right place at the right time. He has proved all of them wrong by leading Panathinaikos to the title as the Final Four MVP. Right in the prime of his career, Sloukas is in an optimal situation to keep winning, as he looks to lead the reigning EuroLeague champion to glory again next season.
Time will tell whether Sloukas can add to his personal roll of honors, but his numbers are already legendary.