Loukas Mavrokefalidis

Loukas Mavrokefalidis (alternate spelling: Mavrokefalides) (Greek: Λουκάς Μαυροκεφαλίδης; born July 25, 1984) is a Greek professional basketball player for Peristeri of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. He has also represented the senior Greek national team. He was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2nd round (57th overall) of the 2006 NBA draft.

Loukas Mavrokefalidis

Mavrokefalidis warming up with AEK Athens in 2015
Peristeri
Position	Center
League	Greek Basket League BCL
Personal information
Born	(1984-07-25) July 25, 1984 Jeseník, Czechoslovakia
Nationality	Greek
Listed height	6 ft 10.75 in (2.10 m)
Listed weight	265 lb (120 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	2006 / Round: 2 / Pick: 57th overall
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Playing career	2002–present
Career history
2001–2006	PAOK
2006–2007	Virtus Roma
2007	→ Valencia
2007–2011	Olympiacos
2008–2009	→ Maroussi
2011–2013	Spartak St. Petersburg
2013	Barcelona
2013–2015	Panathinaikos
2015–2016	AEK Athens
2016–2017	Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles
2017	AEK Athens
2017–2018	Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius
2018–2019	Ionikos Nikaias
2019–2020	Promitheas Patras
2020–present	Peristeri
Career highlights and awards
All-EuroCup Second Team (2013) Greek League champion (2014) 4× Greek Cup winner (2010, 2011, 2014, 2015) Greek League Top Scorer (2016) 2× Greek League Best Five (2015, 2016) Greek League Most Improved Player (2006) Greek Cup MVP (2015) Greek 2nd Division champion (2019) Greek League All Star (2020)
Medals Men’s Basketball Representing  Greece FIBA U-19 World Cup 2003 Thessaloniki Under-19 FIBA U-21 World Cup 2005 Mar del Plata Under-21

Born in Jeseník, Czechoslovakia, he is a 2.10 m (6'10 ​³⁄₄"), 120 kg (265 lbs.) center.

Professional career

Europe

Mavrokefalidis started his professional career with PAOK, after moving to Thessaloniki from Kilkis, where his parents come from. From the first days of his professional career, PAOK head coach Bane Prelević took advantage of his height and decided to play him at the center position, which, as it was proved later in his career, fit him very well.

Mavrokefalidis played for PAOK in the Greek Basket League during the Greek League 2005–06 season, averaging 16.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He played in the Greek All-Star Game and he won the Greek League's Most Improved Player Award that year.[1] After many months of hard work, Mavrokefalidis was almost always a member of the starting five in PAOK, creating havoc to the opposition's defense with his ability to get to the rim and make easy buckets or exciting dunks. He also became a defensive force, chasing down rebounds relentlessly, something that can be shown by the 8.4 rebounds per game that he averaged during the 2005–06 season.

During the summer of 2006, Mavrokefalidis was signed by Virtus Roma of the Italian League and EuroLeague, but he was not established as a key member of the team, averaging just 2 points and 1 rebound per game. In February 2007, he was transferred from Roma to Pamesa Valencia of the Spanish ACB League, in exchange for Roberto Chiacig and Jon Stefánsson. On July 12, 2007, Mavrokefalidis joined Olympiacos.[2][3] In 2008, Mavrokefalidis moved to Maroussi.[4] In 2009, he re-signed with Olympiacos through the 2010–11 season.[5]

In 2011, Mavrokefalidis was signed by the Russian League club Spartak Saint Petersburg[6] to a 2-year contract worth €2.4 million euros net income.[7] He was named to the All-EuroCup Second Team in 2013.[8] He signed with the Spanish League club FC Barcelona in May 2013.[9]

On 10 July 2013, even though the Greek media were saying that Mavrokefalidis was very close to signing with Olympiacos, he was instead announced as a signing of Panathinaikos.[10][11] In the 2015 Greek Basket League playoffs, he was the best player for Panathinaikos, averaging 18.4 points, 8.1 rebounds (5.8 offensive rebounds), and 2.2 assists per game.

On August 10, 2015, he signed a one-year deal with AEK Athens.[12] Mavrokefalidis was the top scorer of AEK Athens in the 2015–16 Greek Basket League season, averaging 14.5 points per game.[13]

China

In December 2016, Mavrokefalidis joined the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) club Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles for the 2016–17 CBA season. He became the first Greek player to ever play in China.[14] He averaged 19.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.[15]

Back to Europe

On February 20, 2017, Mavrokefalidis returned to the Greek club AEK Athens, signing a contract with them for the rest of the season.[16] On September 25, 2017, Mavrokefalidis signed with Lithuanian club Lietuvos rytas Vilnius, for the 2017–18 season.[17][18]

In 2018, he joined the Greek A2 League club Ionikos Nikaias. On December 23, 2019, after a very productive and successful stint with Ionikos, Mavrokefalidis transferred to the Greek EuroCup club Promitheas Patras, in order to replace Georgios Bogris on the club's roster. Mavrokefalidis signed with Peristeri on July 3, 2020.[19]

National team career

Greek junior national team

Mavrokefalidis helped Greece win the bronze medal at the 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Cup. He also played at the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. In 2005, Mavrokefalidis' contribution during the FIBA Under-21 World Cup was very significant, as Mavrokefalidis greatly helped the Under-21 Greek National Basketball Team win the silver medal, after losing to Lithuania by just two points in the gold medal game.

Greek senior national team

A year later, in 2006, the senior men's Greek national basketball team head coach Panagiotis Giannakis became impressed by the Mavrokefalidis' abilities and called him to participate in the Greek basketball senior men's training camp, one month before the 2006 FIBA World Championship took place in Japan. However, as he was selected in the 2006 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Mavrokefalidis informed the coach shortly before the outset of the World Championship that he had decided to go back to Minnesota and participate in performance improvement training camps, and thus he lost the team's 12th man roster place to Sofoklis Schortsanitis.

In 2011, Mavrokefalidis was given a 2-month suspension from all competitions by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, for refusing to play for Greece's national team for the second consecutive summer.[20] However, two years later, he played with the Greek senior men's national team at the EuroBasket 2013.

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

Regular season

Legend
GP	Games played	MPG	Minutes per game	FG%	Field goal percentage
3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game
PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high		Led the league

Note: Only games in the primary domestic competitions are included. Therefore, games in cup or European competitions are left out.

Year	Team	League	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2001–02	PAOK	GBL	2	3.4	.000	.000	.000	1.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
2002–03	PAOK	GBL	6	4.3	.636	.000	1.000	0.8	0.1	0.3	0.1	3.0
2003–04	PAOK	GBL	19	11.3	.535	.500	.861	3.6	0.4	0.3	0.4	4.9
2004–05	PAOK	GBL	14	7.0	.423	.000	.562	1.7	0.1	0.2	0.1	2.2
2005–06	PAOK	GBL	26	31.5	.553	.276	.796	8.1	1.0	0.7	0.5	16.5
2007–08	Olympiacos	GBL	17	9.4	.534	.000	.800	2.3	0.8	0.2	0.1	3.1
2008–09	Maroussi	GBL	26	24.2	.485	.280	.811	5.7	1.1	0.6	0.5	12.0
2009–10	Olympiacos	GBL	20	15.0	.644	.400	.851	2.9	0.9	0.6	0.3	7.9
2010–11	Olympiacos	GBL	24	17.2	.548	1.000	.790	4.2	0.7	0.5	0.5	9.0
2013–14	Panathinaikos	GBL	25	13.3	.579	.400	.756	3.7	1.2	0.3	0.2	6.8
2014–15	Panathinaikos	GBL	19	12.2	.441	.400	.678	3.2	0.9	0.7	0.3	5.2
2015–16	AEK Athens	GBL	26	25.3	.459	.431	.810	6.7	2.0	0.7	0.4	14.5

Playoffs

Year	Team	League	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2001–02	PAOK	GBL	2	1.3	1.000	.000	.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
2003–04	PAOK	GBL	2	5.1	1.000	.000	.500	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5
2005–06	PAOK	GBL	3	28.1	.434	.000	.500	4.6	1.0	0.3	1.0	7.0
2007–08	Olympiacos	GBL	7	13.1	.700	.500	1.000	2.4	0.2	0.4	0.0	3.1
2008–09	Maroussi	GBL	10	23.2	.476	.166	.862	5.0	1.6	0.7	0.3	10.7
2009–10	Olympiacos	GBL	9	8.4	.551	1.000	.888	1.5	0.1	0.3	0.0	4.5
2010–11	Olympiacos	GBL	9	21.3	.571	.000	.772	3.2	1.4	0.4	0.2	11.6
2013–14	Panathinaikos	GBL	10	15.2	.465	.500	.823	3.6	0.7	0.5	0.7	10.9
2014–15	Panathinaikos	GBL	9	26.0	.548	.384	.678	8.1	2.2	0.7	0.3	18.4

FIBA Champions League

[21]

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2016–17	A.E.K.	2	21.3	.312	-	.857	9.0	1.0	1.5	0	11.0

Awards and accomplishments

Greek junior national team

• 2003 FIBA Under-19 World Cup:  Bronze
• 2005 FIBA Under-21 World Cup:  Silver

Pro clubs

• 4× Greek League All-Star: 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014
• Greek League Most Improved Player: 2006
• 4× Greek Cup winner: 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015
• All-EuroCup Second Team: 2013
• Greek League champion: 2014
• Greek Cup MVP: 2015
• 2× Greek League Best Five: 2015, 2016
• 2× EuroCup MVP of the Round: 2015–16 (Regular Season Round 1 & 2)
• 2015–16 EuroCup Highest Index Rating in a game: 55
• 2015–16 EuroCup Most points in a game: 42
• Greek League Regular Season Top Scorer: 2016
• Greek 2nd Division Champion: 2019

References

1. Eurocupbasketball.com Article.
2. Mavrokefalidis Olympiacos BC's latest addition. Archived 2007-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
3. Reds add Vasiliadis, Roberts, Mavrokefalidis
4. Maroussi adds size with Loukas Mavrokefalidis.
5. Euroleague.net OLYMPIACOS locks Mavrokefalides up till '11.
6. Eurocupbasketball.com Spartak St. Petersburg lands Mavrokefalidis.
7. Redplanet.gr Υπέγραψε στην Σπαρτάκ ο Μαυροκεφαλίδης (in Greek). Archived 2011-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
8. Eurocupbasketball.com Star power fills 2012-13 All-Eurocup teams!
9. Eurohoops.net Mavrokefalidis is signing with Barcelona. Archived 2013-06-13 at the Wayback Machine
10. Mavrokefalidis: “Adaptation and assistance”
11. "Panathinaikos announced Loukas Mavrokefalides". Sportando. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
12. "AEK Athens lands center Mavrokefalidis". Eurocupbasketball.com. August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
13. A1Basket.gr Basket League Greece 2015-2016 All Teams' Top 3 Scorers
14. Qingdao Eagles welcomed Loukas Mavrokefalidis.
15. 卢卡斯·M资料 (in Chinese).
16. Loukas Mavrokefalidis is back in AEK.
17. "Vilniaus "Lietuvos ryto" komandoje – graikų aukštaūgis Loukas Mavrokefalidis". bcvilnius.lt (in Lithuanian). September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
18. Loukas Mavrokefalidis signs with Lietuvos Rytas
19. "Loukas Mavrokefalidis signs with Peristeri". Sportando. July 3, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
20. Talkbasket.net Mavrokefalides banned for two months.
21. All Phases AVERAGE STATISTICS.

External links

• Euroleague.net Profile
• FIBA Archive Profile
• FIBA Europe Profile
• Eurobasket.com Profile
• Greek Basket League Profile (in English)
• Greek Basket League Profile (in Greek)
• Italian League Profile (in Italian)
• Spanish League Profile (in Spanish)
• EuroCup Loukas Mavrokefalidis Article