Two-time EuroLeague champ Ergin Ataman takes charge at Panathinaikos

Panathinaikos Athens has appointed two-time Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Ergin Ataman as its new head coach on a two-year deal, with the Greens eager to become a European powerhouse once again. Ataman arrives from Anadolu Efes Istanbul, where he was in charge between 2017 and 2023 and guided the team to back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2021 and 2022. The 57-year-old was named the EuroLeague Coach of the Year in 2021, too.

Ataman arrives in Athens with a ton of experience coaching in the EuroLeague, having overseen a combined 389 games with Montepaschi Siena (2002-03), Ulkerspor (2003-06), Fortitudo Bologna (2006-07), Efes (2008-10), Galatasaray (2013-17) and Efes again (2017-23). The Turkish tactician has won 195 of those fixtures and lost 194, giving him a winning percentage of 50.1%. In his second spell with Efes, Ataman was on the sidelines for 192 games, winning 117 and losing 75 for a winning percentage of 64.1%.

He took over at Efes with the club languishing at the bottom of the EuroLeague standings in the middle of the 2017-18 campaign, but he soon managed to build the team into a dominant force in Europe. In fact, Efes reached the 2019 EuroLeague Championship Game after defeating FC Barcelona in the playoffs and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in the semifinals, yet it came up short against CSKA Moscow in the title game.

Rather than rest on its laurels, Efes came back the following season even stronger, going 24-4 through the first 28 games to top the standings. However, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the season being cancelled. The following two seasons saw Efes beat Barça and Real Madrid in the 2021 and 2022 championship games, respectively, as it became just the third team this century to go back-to-back. A turbulent campaign followed in 2022-23, though, as Efes went 17-17 in the regular season and missed the playoffs.

Panathinaikos, which has not made the playoffs since 2019, is hoping that Ataman will bring a similar level of success to the six-time EuroLeague champion. The appointment of Ataman is set to light the fuse for a very busy summer at Panathinaikos, with a number of players already rumored to have been approached by the Greens.