Nikos Gkikas

Nikos Gkikas
Νίκος Γκίκας
Gkikas in 2017
No. 88 – Panionios
PositionPoint guard
LeagueGBL
Personal information
Born (1990-11-22) November 22, 1990 (age 34)
Athens, Greece
Listed height6 ft 1.25 in (1.86 m)
Listed weight178 lb (81 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2012: undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2013Filathlitikos
2013–2015Aris
2015Ventspils
2015–2016Nea Kifissia
2016–2019Promitheas Patras
2019–2021AEK Athens
2021–2023Promitheas Patras
2023–presentPanionios
Career highlights and awards

Nikolaos Gkikas (alternate spelling: Gikas) (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Γκίκας; born November 22, 1990) is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Panionios of the Greek Basketball League. He is a 6'1 1⁄4" (1.86 m) tall point guard.

Professional career

After playing basketball at the Greek amateur and minor league levels with Filathlitikos, from 2008 to 2012, Gkikas started his pro career in 2012, with Filathlitikos in the Greek 2nd Division. During the seasons that Gkikas played at Filathlitikos, he played with players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Michalis Kamperidis, and Christos Saloustros, during the club's peak years. During the 2012–13 season, Gkikas almost gained a league promotion with Filathlitikos, but at the end of the season, the club finished in 3rd place in the Greek 2nd Division, just missing the league promotion to the Greek 1st Division.

Gkikas moved to the Greek 1st Division club Aris, in 2013.[1] During the two years he played at Aris, his numbers dropped, due to the limited playing time he had with the club. On 15 January 2015, after leaving Aris, Gkikas signed with the Baltic League club Ventspils.[2] With Ventspils, he led the 2014–15 Baltic Baltic League in assists per game, and was one of the key players of the team.

He spent the 2015–16 season with the Greek club Nea Kifissia. On July 17, 2016, Gkikas signed a two-year deal with the Greek club Promitheas Patras.[3] On June 19, 2017, after being one of the best players of Promitheas in the 2016–17 season, he renewed his contract with the club for two more years.[4] He then became the team captain.

On July 4, 2019, Gkikas signed a three-year contract with AEK Athens.[5] In the 2020-2021 season, Gkikas averaged 6.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, playing 17.4 minutes per contest.

On August 6, 2021, Gkikas signed back with his former team Promitheas Patras. In 22 league games, he averaged 7.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.7 steals, playing around 24 minutes per contest. On June 21, 2022, playing against Larisa for the Greek Basket League playoffs, Gkikas achieved a career-high of 20 points and 13 assists.

On June 28, 2022, Gkikas renewed his contract for another season. In 25 domestic league matches, he averaged 4.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists, playing around 19 minutes per contest.

On June 30, 2023, Gkikas signed with Panionios in order to lead the club in its return to the professional divisions.

National team career

Gkikas became a member of the senior men's Greek national basketball team in 2017.[6] He played at the 2019 FIBA European World Cup qualification.[7]

Career statistics

Domestic Leagues

Regular season

Legend
  GP Games played  MPG  Minutes per game  FG%  Field goal percentage
 3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high     Led the league

Note: Only games in the primary domestic competitions are included. Therefore, games in cup or European competitions are left out.

Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Promitheas GBL 26 25.4 .377 .317 .768 2.5 6.2 1.3 0 9.4
2018–19 Promitheas GBL 25 18.5 .286 .226 .808 2.0 3.8 .9 0 5.1

FIBA Champions League

[8]

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Promitheas 15 23.0 .386 .351 .857 2.5 4.8 1.7 0 8.9

References

  1. ^ "Γιάννης Αθηναίου και Νίκος Γκίκας στον ΑΡΗ {{in lang|el}}". Archived from the original on 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  2. ^ Nikos Gikas signs with Ventspils till June 2016.
  3. ^ "Promitheas land Mouhammad Faye, Zisis Sarikopoulos and Nikos Gikas". 17 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Gikas re-signs at Promitheas". 19 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Gkikas until 2022". aekbc.gr. Online. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  6. ^ Η "πρώτη" της Εθνικής σε φωτογραφίες (in Greek).
  7. ^ Greece announce preliminary player list for games against Great Britain and Israel.
  8. ^ "Promitheas Patras at the Basketball Champions League 2018-19 2019 - FIBA.basketball".