Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos announced on Sunday that Željko Obradović is returning to the Greek club, 14 years after leaving Athens. Giannakopoulos posted a photo with the 66-year-old Serbian coach on Instagram and wrote, “The king is coming home.”
According to reports, Obradović signed a three-year contract worth a total of 10.5 million euros, about 3.5 million euros per season. The move is being described as one of the most eye-catching deals of the European basketball summer of 2026.
Obradović is widely regarded as the greatest coach in European basketball history, and most of his success came with Panathinaikos, which he led from 1999 to 2012. In that span, he won 11 Greek league titles, seven Greek cups and five EuroLeague championships, turning the club into one of the continent’s dominant powers.
After leaving Greece, he continued his success with Fenerbahce, where he won another European title and four Turkish league championships. He later coached Partizan Belgrade, departing in December after four seasons. Overall, Obradović holds nine European Cup titles, an unmatched record, and also lifted the trophy with Partizan Belgrade, Joventut Badalona, Real Madrid and Fenerbahce.
Greek reports also say two other Panathinaikos legends, Mike Batiste and Dimitris Diamantidis, are expected to return and join the coaching staff as assistants. If completed, the move would reunite several of the figures most closely associated with the club’s most successful era.
