- Basketball Capitals
Cities in Focus - Athens
Mark Woods
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In an ancient city sprinkled with historic monuments, two modern creations are already infused with glorious tradition. And each possesses its own legends, tales of great deeds passed down through the generations, as well as stories yet to be written.
Near the shore, where Athens merges with the sea at the Port of Piraeus, stands the Peace and Friendship Stadium, the towering 14000-capacity home of reigning Euroleague champions Olympiacos.
Take a ride of barely 30 minutes on the modern metro system and you are transported across the Greek capital into foreign territory. Green is the colour of choice, not red. And around the 18000-seater Indoor Hall constructed for the 2004 Olympic Games, it is Panathinaikos, six times the basketball kings of Europe, who reign supreme.
Tough economic times have united Athenians as never before but sporting divisions run deep and have retained their full value. Basketball here invokes passions, divides families and splits loyalties. And while a number of teams have proud pasts, it is the never-ending duel between its two most famous clubs which commands the daily conversation around the central Syntagma Square.
The Athens stop of our Basketball Capitals features premières Wednesday 22/5
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Their mutual antipathy dates back almost 80 years to a time when both were formed as adjuncts to football sides of the same name. Olympiacos, The Reds, drew their support from the fisherman and tradesman who made their living around the harbour. While the Greens of Panathinaikos were the club of the nobles, of the old society who lived within sight of The Parthenon, the temple that sits on the rocky hill of the Acropolis overlooking what was once the centre of an empire.
Pana, as they are known, have remained the aristocrats even as Athens has expanded and the class divisions of old have disappeared. The Euroleague trophy has been brought back to Piraeus on six occasions, four more than their neighbours have managed, and they have featured in the competition's Final Four nine times since 1999. Although the pair have claimed 42 domestic championships between them, most have been wrapped in green. But over the decades, through tough times and good, each has been fuelled by the other's success or failure.
Such tensions are at their highest when the teams meet in European basketball's most compelling derby. The enemies line up against each other up to six times each season and these are not occasions for the faint-hearted. Twice in their 195 meetings so far, the game has been abandoned due to rioting among their followers. In 2009, when they last squared off in the Euroleague, armed police swarmed Berlin's O2 World Arena to ensure that peace was kept during a frantic semi-final.
War could break out again this season, with both still in the race to reach the 2013 Final Four in London in May. However should either Greek contender emerge victorious, it might be their finest hour yet.
The financial squeeze has hit both. The lavish spending of the past has been reined in and the days of out-bidding NBA teams for new signings is surely over. That the two are still flourishing is testament to talent, coaching and a little luck. And to a rich old tradition that money cannot buy.
Basketball Capitals is a new ESPN documentary series profiling the passion for basketball within the world's most iconic cities. The four-part series will premiere in May across ESPN in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
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