There is too much discussion lately around Giannis Antetokounmpo or the young basketball phenom that has been widely known as the ‘Greek Freak’. Giannis is a great talent and an extraordinary story of a young man from a poor family that lived in the Greek capital, Athens that made it to the NBA without ever playing a single professional game in Europe – at the time he was drafted he used to play for the Philathletikos club that participates in the second national basketball league of Greece (known as A2). Giannis will, in a few days exhibit, once again, his talents at the 2015 NBA all-star; he will be playing for the ‘World Team’ at the ‘rookie game’ as well as competing for the title of the ‘dunk champion’ in the Slam Dunk Contest. I truly feel and hope so, much like many others, that Giannis will become a great player, as apart from his talents he seems to be concentrated on what he is doing and living his dream one-hundred per cent.
However, this article is not about Giannis; there is a plethora of them around the internet – and he deserves it. This article is mainly about a player that in my view was the ‘original Greek Freak’, in the sense that he was prior to Giannis. This player’s name is Sofoklis Schortsanitis, but he has been known as ‘Baby-Shaq’, ‘Big Sofo’ or even as the ‘Bulldozer’. If you have never heard of ‘Sofo’, which is possible if you are not following European basketball, he is a 6’10 (2.08) 345lbs (156kg) man and he has been almost like this since he was 16 year old. So, I argue that when it come to the description ‘Freak’, which in the case of Giannis refers to his extraordinary physique – he is now listed as 6’11 (2.11) with a wingspan of 7’3 – as well as his agility and ability to play from PG to C!!! The word freak is used in everyday language to signify someone whose appearance is not average or mainstream, but somehow exceptional; most of the time though it is used in a negative way. It is obvious, however, that the characterization ‘Freak’ in Giannis’ case is used in a positive, admiring, way about, mainly, his physique. I argue then that in this sense ‘Sofo’ was the first, the ‘original’, ‘Greek Freak’.
Those that have seen ‘Sofo’ at a young age (he made his first appearance with my favourite club Iraklis Thessaloniki at the age of 16!!!) would agree with me, without a second thought, that his physique was exceptional: 6’8 (2.04) and 270lbs (120kg). NBAdraft.net was writing about him in 2003: ‘A Greek Baby Shaq? A super prospect with developing offensive skills…The first thing that comes to mind when watching this kid is that its rare to find a body with such amazing strength and size at the age 16…He has incredible power, strength and body control, so at the junior level he’s an illegal weapon!!!’ Imagine that ‘Sofo’ was averaging 11.5p. and 6.4r. in 21.3mins per game at the age of 17, while playing at Greece’s first professional division (A1), which was one of the top-3 basketball leagues in Europe. In addition, numbers like those ‘Sofo’ had when he was 17 are still considered big numbers in European basketball especially if they come in 21 minutes/game. This is what ‘Sofo’ looked like in 2002:
Unfortunately, ‘Sofo’ never played up to his potential – at least this is how I see it – and he never played in the NBA, even though he was drafted in 2003 by the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round (his rights have been traded recently to the Oklahoma City Thunder – in other words, he can still play in the NBA). Even so, ‘Sofo’ was able because of his exceptional physique and basketball talent to achieve greatness in a European as well as international level (through Greece’s national team). I am sure that those that watched basketball world cup’s semi-final in 2006 in Japan between Greece and USA, will definitely remember ‘Sofo’ dominating team USA. He won championships in Greece and Israel as well as the Euroleague’s title, and was included in All-Euroleague 1st team in 2011.
As I do not intend to write an article on Sofoklis’ achievements (you can find more about his history in his own webpage: http://www.bigsofo.gr/), I am going to sum up by saying that I believe that ‘Sofo’ was (and still is) an exceptional case, a freak of nature in the good sense of a man with a rare combination of size and athleticism. Draftexpress.com wrote in 2006: ‘His size is immense, but doesn’t slow his outstanding quickness and explosiveness, which allow him to run the court in transition and usually finish most plays with an impressive dunk.’ I feel that if ‘Sofo’ didn’t love food that much or if he was more ambitious when it comes to basketball success he would have been able to achieve many more great things; in my opinion he could have easily been one of NBA’s best bigmen of the last decade (thankfully in 2009 we had the chance to watch ‘Sofo’ playing against Shaq as Olympiakos played against the Cavs in an exhibition game). I am not saying that he didn’t succeed, but from rare cases like him you always expect more…but this is me…’Sofo’ had other plans and priorities for his life and this is what counts.
NBA All Time 