AEK Basketball Club (Greek: ΚΑΕ ΑΕΚ Greek pronunciation: [ˈaek]; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupóleos, "Athletic Union of Constantinople"), also known as AEK B.C. or AEK, and more commonly known in European competitions as AEK Athens, is a Greek professional basketball club based in Athens, Greece, part of the major multi-sport club AEK. The club was established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).
AEK is one of the three most popular and successful teams in Greece (including Panathinaikos and Olympiacos) especially in European achievements, with millions of fans in both Greece and Cyprus
as well as in the Greek communities all over the world, mainly in Australia, United Kingdom and North America.
AEK was the first-ever Greek basketball team, not only to reach a European Cup Final, but also to win a European title. On 4 April 1968, AEK defeated Slavia VŠ Praha by a score of 89–82, in Athens in front of 80,000 fans. They have won the Greek League 8 times (1957–58, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1969–70, 2001–02), and the Greek Cup 5 times (1980–81, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2017–18, 2019–20), while they have also twice won the FIBA Saporta Cup (former European Cup Winners' Cup) (1967–68 and 1999–00). AEK won the Champions League on 6 May 2018, defeating Monaco by a score of 100–94 and the FIBA Intercontinental Cup on 17 February 2019, defeating Flamengo by a score of 86–70.Well-known players that have played with the club over the years have included: Rolando Blackman, Ricky Pierce, Danny Vranes, Ruben Patterson, Kurt Rambis, J.R. Holden, Willie Anderson, Joe Arlauckas, Anthony Bowie, Arijan Komazec, Martin Müürsepp, Josh Owens, Clint Richardson, Bill Edwards, Victor Alexander, Claudio Coldebella, İbrahim Kutluay, Pero Antić, Carl English, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Bane Prelević, Georgios Amerikanos, Georgios Trontzos, Vassilis Goumas, Minas Gekos, Pavlos Stamelos, Kostas Patavoukas, Angelos Koronios, Michalis Kakiouzis, Nikos Chatzis, Jake Tsakalidis, Nikos Zisis, Nasos Galakteros, Dimos Dikoudis, Dimitris Papanikolaou, Ioannis Bourousis, Mario Chalmers, Jonas Mačiulis and Keith Langford
AEK B.C. has been named as the best Greek team in all sports, at either the sports club or national team level, in 1965, 1966, and 1968, by SJA of Greece (the Sports Journalists' Association of Greece, Greek: ΠΣΑΤ).
1968Apr, 4
A.E.K. Athens B.C. becomes the first Greek team to win the European Basketball Cup.
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Events on 1968
- 30Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. - 31Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive. - 29Apr
Counterculture of the 1960s
The controversial musical Hair, a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, opens at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, with some of its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. - 14Oct
U.S. Marine Corps
Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps will send about 24,000 soldiers and Marines back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours of duty in the combat zone there. - 20Oct
Jacqueline Kennedy
Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.