Panathinaikos Athens has announced the signing of dominant center Mathias Lessort to a two-year deal. Lessort (27 years old, 2.06 meters) is coming off a very impressive season with Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, which saw him earn All-EuroLeague First Team honors. Across 38 appearances last season, the Frenchman averaged 12.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists and a 19.1 PIR. Lessort follows the likes of Luca Vildoza, Kostas Antetokounmpo and Dimitris Moraitis, who have all joined Ergin Ataman's project at Panathinaikos this summer.
Panathinaikos secures center Mathias Lessort
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Lessort has four years of experience in the EuroLeague, but last season was really his breakout campaign. Curiously, the big man's first taste of EuroLeague basketball came with Partizan's archrival, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, in the 2017-18 season. That year, Lessort averaged 8.5 points and 5.7 rebounds, his second-best totals in the competition. He also had a reserve role with FC Bayern Munich in 2019-20 and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv at the start of the 2021-22 season. Partizan ended up picking Lessort off the back of his time at Maccabi, with the Frenchman thriving under coach Zeljko Obradovic in the 7DAYS EuroCup before taking his game to another level in last season's EuroLeague. Lessort has also played in the EuroCup for Unicaja Malaga (2018-19) and AS Monaco (2020-21), while he began his professional career in his native France with Elan Chalon (2014-16) and Nanterre (2016-17).