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May 20, 2013

The Legend: Milan Tomic

Milan Tomic has earned his status as an Olympiacos icon with years of hard work both on the court and on the sidelines. A star player in the 1990s, Tomic eventually became team captain and over the past four seasons has taken on a key role as assistant coach.

Tomic started his career with Radnicki in his native Serbia and came to Olympiacos as an 18-year-old prospect in the summer of 1991. His fighting spirit persuaded head coach Ioannis Ioannidis to sign him for the first team. Tomic made his Olympiacos debut in the 1992-93 season and soon proved more than just a lucky charm as the Reds won five consecutive Greek League titles with him on the roster. He became a key player for Coach Ioannidis as the starting point guard of a lineup that also reached back-to-back Euroleague title games in 1994 and 1995.

Never a great scorer, his court sense and aggressive defense turned Tomic into a crucial player. In 1997, with Coach Dusan Ivkovic as his new boss, Tomic helped Olympiacos win a historic triple crown – the Greek League, the Greek Cup and the Reds' only Euroleague title to date. Tomic scored 9 points in the Euroleague title-game victory against F.C. Barcelona.

Tomic later became the Olympiacos team captain and led the Reds back to the Final Four in 1999. He kept playing for Olympiacos until 2004, when he joined Jesi of Italy. Tomic finished his career with Greek side Kolossos. Tomic totaled 383 Greek League games and 214 Euroleague showdowns in 13 years with Olympiacos. When Panagiotis Giannakis joined Olympiacos as head coach in February 2008, he asked Tomic to join his coaching staff. Tomic has been an assistant coach ever since, helping guide the team to three Final Fours in his four seasons on the bench.

Euroleague.net