

Kyle Hines has often been an unsung hero in the success of his teams throughout a trophy-laden Turkish Airlines EuroLeague career, with the undersized center winning two titles apiece with Olympiacos Piraeus (2012, 2013) and CSKA Moscow (2016, 2019) prior to joining EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in 2020.
In Friday night’s spectacular 83-62 home win over former club Olympiacos, the 36-year-old, who is able to play either as a power forward or a center, reached a rare milestone of collecting his 300th block in the EuroLeague, second only to Walter Tavares (345) and Bryant Dunston (321).
The night’s accolades went to Billy Baron, who paced Milan with 18 points thanks to his brilliant long-range shooting, but Hines was again instrumental with his physicality in the paint, which time and again forced the Olympiacos players to take and miss a barrage of difficult shots.
Standing at 1.98 meters (6ft6), Hines has regularly had to slug it out with players with a significant height advantage, but his tremendous physical strength, his leap and impeccable positioning in the paint has been a telling factor and a crucial ingredient in his teams’ strategies.
In the earlier stages of his career, Hines was just as devastating at the other end of the court, knocking down high-percentage shots from mid-range and closer to the basket.
Hines posted 6 points on 3-of-4 shooting against Olympiacos on Friday, and his offensive effort again underlined his productive use of the ball, while his movement without it enabled his teammates to find and sink open shots from the perimeter.