Ataman May Leave Panathinaikos After Failing to Deliver Major Title

Panathinaikos lost 89-85 to Olympiacos on Saturday night in the decisive fifth game of the Greek championship series, ending its season with only the Greek Cup and watching its archrival complete a prized double. The result capped a disappointing year for the club, which had hoped to add either the domestic league title or the EuroLeague crown over the past two seasons.

After the game, coach Ergin Ataman was furious. He said, “I do not understand what is happening in the Greek league, it is simply unfair,” and accused Olympiacos player Thomas Walkup of entering Panathinaikos’s locker room after being ejected and hitting Kendrick Nunn. “He is injured now. A player cannot come into the opponent’s locker room, that is not normal in basketball,” Ataman said.

Greek reports now say Ataman could leave Panathinaikos this summer. The coach has not met the expectations of the management, which wanted one of the two major titles in the last two years, either the Greek league championship or the EuroLeague.

Ataman himself warned in January, “Without a title, I will leave the team at the end of the season.” He did win the Greek Cup, but that was not the trophy Panathinaikos had targeted, and the partnership may now end.