Gymnastikos S. Larissas 1928 B.C.

Gymnastikos Syllogos Larissas 1928 B.C. (Greek: Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Λάρισας 1928 K.A.E.), commonly known as Gymnastikos S. Larissas, G.S. Larissas, or G.S.L., is a Greek professional basketball club that is based in Larissa, Greece. The club’s colors are green, white, and blue, and its emblem is the Discobolus. The club is known for being the first professional club team of the legendary European basketball player, Vassilis Spanoulis.

History
Gymnastikos S. Larissas was originally founded in 1928, and it was the first basketball club of the city of Larissa, that played in the top-tier level Greek Basket League (A1 National). In 1979, basketball coach Giannis Ioannidis, after winning the top-tier Greek League championship with Aris, surprisingly agreed to become the head coach of Gymnastikos. Gymnastikos was in the B National (at that time, the Greek 2nd division) at the time, and had great aspirations of being promoted to the top-tier Greek league.

After Ioannidis' team went undefeated in the Greek 2nd Division during the 1979–80 campaign, the team was promoted to the top division in 1980. From that time, and through the 2005–06 season, the club played several times in the top-tier Greek League (in the 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, and 2005–06 seasons). The club's best season to date was the 1994–95 season, when under head coach Vangelis Alexandris' guidance, they almost earned a qualification place in the 3rd-tier European-wide league, the FIBA Korać Cup. They were ultimately denied a place in the Korać Cup by Sporting, by just one point (86–85), in the play-off decider game that determined which team qualified for Korać Cup.

Gymnastikos later suffered relegation to the Greek second division in 1998, but against all odds, they returned to the top flight Greek league in 2005. Despite the club's low budget, they had a good season in the top-tier Greek League, during the 2005–06 season. However, due to financial problems, the club was merged with AEL 1964, in 2006, which again ended its presence in Greece's top basketball league.

Also in 2006, Keravnos Larissa, the club's feeder team, changed their name to Keravnos Gymnastikos, as a reminder of the club's past glory days. Eventually, 9 years later, in 2015, Gymnastikos returned to existence, after merging with another other local club of Larissa, Foinix Larissas. Foinix Larissas had been founded in 1995, and in the previous season, it had played in the 3rd-tier level Greek B League (Beta Ethniki).

Foinix Larissas was then replaced by Gymnastikos S. Larissas, after the two clubs merged in 2015, thus ending Foinix's presence in Greek basketball competitions. The club played in the 3rd-tier level Greek B League during the 2015–16 season,  and was promoted to the 2nd-tier level Greek A2 League, for the 2016–17 season.

In the summer of 2017, Gymnastikos merged with Faros Keratsiniou, and then took Faros' place in the upcoming top-tier level Greek Basket League's 2017–18 season. Faros retained all of its amateur and junior clubs. Gymnastikos' club name then officially became Gymnastikos Syllogos Larissas Faros 2017, abbreviated as G.S.L. Faros 2017. In 2018, GSL merged with Ifaistos Limnou. Ifaistos later separated its history from Gymnastikos, and ultimately the club was closed down in 2020. Gymnastikos then retained all of its own history, under its current name of Gymnastikos S. Larissas 1928 B.C.

Arenas
Gymnastikos used the 2,000 seat capacity Alkazar Hall as its home arena for more than 20 years, until 1995, when the Larissa Neapolis Indoor Arena was opened. The club has since played its home games at the Larissa Neapolis, which can seat between 4,000 to 5,500 people for basketball games.

Honors and titles

 * Greek Second Division
 * Champions (1): 1979–80
 * Greek Fourth Division
 * Champions (1): 1989–90

Notable players
Greece:
 * Flag of Greece.svg Vangelis Alexandris
 * Flag of Greece.svg Vassilis Angelakopoulos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Dimitris Bogdanos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Chris Chougkaz
 * Flag of Greece.svg Dimitris Despos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Georgios Diamantakos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Sotiris Gioulekas
 * Flag of Greece.svg Nestoras Kommatos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Christos Konstantinidis
 * Flag of Greece.svg Achilleas Mamatziolas
 * Flag of Greece.svg Paris Maragkos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Vassilis Mouratos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Manos Papamakarios
 * Flag of Greece.svg Nikos Papanikolopoulos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Nondas Papantoniou
 * Flag of Greece.svg Chris Roupas
 * Flag of Greece.svg Dimitris Spanoulis
 * Flag of Greece.svg Vassilis Spanoulis
 * Flag of Greece.svg Tasos Spyropoulos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Nikos Stavropoulos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Kostas Totsios

Europe:
 * Flag of Lithuania.svg Darius Dimavičius
 * Flag of Netherlands.svg Roeland Schaftenaar
 * 🇮🇸 Teitur Örlygsson

USA:
 * Flag of the United States.svg Travis Bader
 * Flag of the United States.svg Walter Bond
 * Flag of the United States.svg Melvin Cheatum
 * Flag of the United States.svg Lorenzo Coleman
 * Flag of the United States.svg Greg Dennis
 * Flag of the United States.svg James Donaldson
 * Flag of the United States.svg Richard Dumas
 * Flag of the United States.svg Chris Garner
 * Flag of the United States.svg Keith Hill
 * Flag of the United States.svg Reggie Keely
 * Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Lorthridge
 * Flag of the United States.svg Jeremiah Massey
 * Flag of the United States.svg Marlon Maxey
 * Flag of the United States.svg Tod Murphy
 * Flag of the United States.svg Dan Robinson
 * Flag of the United States.svg Brent Scott
 * Flag of the United States.svg Deon Thomas
 * Flag of the United States.svg Sedale Threatt
 * Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Ware

Rest of Americas:
 * Flag of Panama.svg Gary Forbes
 * Flag of Puerto Rico.svg José Ortiz
 * Flag of Canada.svg Chris Webber

NBA players
Over the years, the team has featured players who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before or after their stint with Gymnastikos.


 * Flag of the United States.svg James Donaldson
 * Flag of the United States.svg Richard Dumas
 * Flag of Panama.svg Gary Forbes
 * Flag of the United States.svg Chris Garner
 * Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Lorthridge
 * Flag of the United States.svg Marlon Maxey
 * Flag of the United States.svg Tod Murphy
 * Flag of Puerto Rico.svg José Ortiz
 * Flag of the United States.svg Brent Scott
 * Flag of Greece.svg Vassilis Spanoulis
 * Flag of the United States.svg Sedale Threatt

Head coaches

 * Flag of Greece.svg Giannis Ioannidis
 * Flag of Greece.svg Vangelis Alexandris
 * Flag of Greece.svg Michalis Kyritsis
 * Flag of Greece.svg Steve Giatzoglou
 * Flag of USA.svg Sam Vincent
 * Flag of Greece.svg Periklis Tavropoulos
 * Flag of Greece.svg Kostas Pilafidis
 * Flag of Greece.svg Giannis Tzimas
 * Flag of Greece.svg Thanasis Skourtopoulos