The EA7 Emporio Armani Milan center played his 393rd game in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague on Tuesday night.
Kyle Hines breaks the EuroLeague games-played record
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Some 4,745 days after making his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut, Kyle Hines has become the new record holder for games played the competition.
During Tuesday night's Round 3 meeting between EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and Olympiacos Piraeus, the 37-year-old center stepped onto the court for the 393rd time and therefore made history, beating the 392 appearances previously by Zalgiris Kaunas legend Paulius Jankunas.
Fittingly, Hines broke Jankunas's record against a team that he used to play for: Olympiacos. The veteran big man spent just two years with the Greek side, but he made quite the impact in Piraeus, playing a key role off the bench as the Reds won back-to-back EuroLeague titles in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
Hines's 393 games to date have come across four clubs, with the American playing for Brose Bamberg (2010-11), Olympiacos (2011-13) and CSKA Moscow (2013-20) before joining Milan (2020-present). He made 10 appearances for Bamberg, 53 for Olympiacos, 218 with CSKA and now 112 with Milan.
"For me personally, it is a huge honor, especially given the many great players that have taken part of this competition over the years," Hines said before Tuesday's game. "And as an American player the achievement is probably much more significant. So, it is special for me."
Also on Tuesday, Sergio Rodriguez of Real Madrid moved into fourth place with 376 career EuroLeague games played, one more than Georgios Printezis (375) and one behind his teammate Sergio Llull (377).
Kyle Hines and his roll of honors
It was not just with Olympiacos where Hines lifted the EuroLeague trophy, however. He became a two-time winner with CSKA in the 2015-16 and 2018-19 campaigns. Add to that his three EuroLeague Best Defender awards (2015-16, 2017-18, 2021-22) and his selection in the EuroLeague 2010-20 All-Decade Team and it's quite the roll of honors.
Want to be more impressed? Easy. Hines also holds the record for the most offensive rebounds in EuroLeague history with 789, 84 clear of former Real Madrid stalwart Felipe Reyes in second place, while he is currently third for the most rebounds of all time with 1,780. It's likely that he could finish the season in second spot, as he finds himself just 19 behind Reyes. Catching Jankunas in first with 2,010 might be a bit of a stretch, though.
There's more, too, as Hines is placed 10th in the all-time standings for steals with 275 and third all-time for blocks with 308. His combined PIR of 4,183 also places him third in those all-time rankings.
It's no surprise that the 37-year-old Hines is at the tail end of his playing career, but his status as a EuroLeague legend is something that he achieved a long time ago. Congratulations on writing your name further into EuroLeague folklore, Kyle!