Near East B.C.

A.O. Near East B.C. is one of the oldest professional basketball clubs in Greece. The basketball club was founded in 1927. The team is located in Kaisariani, which is a suburb of the city of Athens. Near East's home arena, Near East Indoor Arena, is located only about 2 miles from the downtown center of Athens. It takes its name from the Near East Foundation.

Early history
Near East B.C. was one of the teams that participated in the first Pan-Hellenic Basketball tournament, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. In 1936, Near East B.C. won its first official Greek League championship, by defeating the University of Athens basketball team in Thessaloniki. To this day, this is still the only Greek national championship the club has won. In 1937, Near East B.C. finished second in the Greek League championship, as the University of Athens basketball club defeated them in the championship's final.

Recent history
In more recent times, the Near East basketball team struggled to hold on to its position in the top-tier-level league in Greece, the first division Greek Basket League. In 1998, the team won the top Greek pro league's second division championship, the Greek A2 League. The team participated in the European-wide 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup, in the years 1999–00 and 2000–01. In 2001–02, the team competed in the Greek first division, for the last time in recent years.

Arena
Near East plays its home domestic league games at the 1,300 seat Near East Indoor Arena.

Titles and honors
Domestic:
 * Greek League Champion:
 * 1936
 * Greek 2nd Division Champion:
 * 1998

Notable players
Greece:
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Antonis Asimakopoulos
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Marios Batis
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Dimitris Fosses
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Kostas Kaimakoglou
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Georgios Karagkoutis
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Nikos Papanikolopoulos
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Kostas Politis
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Christos Tapoutos
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Kostas Tsartsaris
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Nikos Vetoulas
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Vangelis Vourtzoumis
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Vassilis Xanthopoulos
 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]]-[[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|20px]] Anatoly Zourpenko

USA:
 * [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] Anthony Bowie
 * [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] Lynn Greer
 * [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] Shawn Respert
 * [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] Randy White
 * [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] David Vaughn III

Rest of Americas:
 * [[Image:Flag of Cuba.svg|20px]] Andrés Guibert
 * [[Image:Flag of the Bahamas.svg|20px]] Ian Lockhart

Europe:
 * [[Image:Flag of Croatia.svg|20px]]-[[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Franko Nakić

Oceania:
 * [[Image:Flag of Australia.svg|20px]] Shane Heal

Head coaches

 * [[Image:Flag of Greece.svg|20px]] Takis Koroneos