FRAGISKOS ALVERTIS
Fragiskos Alvertis and Panathinaikos BC have gone hand-in-hand through the most brilliant years in the team’s history. Adored by the “clover” fans, “Fraghi” became an iconic player putting on the green jersey for 19 years and winning 11 Hellenic Basketball Clubs Association (HEBA) Championships, 8 Greek Cups, 5 European Championships as well as 1 Transcontinental Cup. For all these accomplishments and following his retirement announcement, Panathinaikos BC honored Fraghi with an exhibition game against CSKA Moscow at a packed OAKA home arena where 20,000 green fans gave him a thunderous standing ovation. Sensational! It was October 11, 2009. Since then, the jersey with No. 4 at the back has been withdrawn to decorate the OAKA roof.
Fraghi was born on June 11, 1974, in Athens. He is 6 ft 9 in. (206 cm) tall and used to play small and power forward. He is thought to be one of the most accurate shooters in Greek basketball history despite his peculiar shooting style. As a youngster he started out his career playing for Glifada until 1990 when his move to Panathinaikos BC was completed. That was it! He donned the green jersey and lifted 25 trophies overall until July 1, 2009 –– this day he announced his retirement after the accomplishment of the second “Triple Crown” feat (i.e., 1 HEBA Championship, 1 Greek Cup and 1 European Championship in a season) in his illustrious career. He now serves as the team manager of Panathinaikos BC, the team of his heart.
In 2008 he was among the 35 basketball players featured, along with 10 coaches and 5 referees, in the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors list.
In addition to his achievements with the “clover”, Alvertis was a key member of the Greek National Basketball Team for many years. In 1991 he won the silver medal in the European Championship U-17 followed by another silver medal in the 1992 European Championship U-18. As a member of the Greek Men’s National Basketball Team he made 155 international appearances playing in 5 consecutive FIBA European Basketball Championships in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003. His international career also included participation in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, 1998 FIBA World Championship and 2004 Athens Olympic Games with Greece ranking 5th. Until 2006 he was president of the Greek Association of Professional Basketball Players and was succeeded by another former “green” player, Dimos Dikoudis.
Fragiskos Alvertis’s overall career achievements with Panathinaikos BC:
11 HEBA Championships: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
8 Greek Cups: 1993, 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
5 European Championships: 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009
1 Transcontinental Cup: 1996
GALLERY
