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- Title: GREECE: PANATHINAIKOS FANS WELCOME NBA STAR DOMINIQUE WILKINS.
- Date: 1st September 1995
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 1, 1995) 1. FANS AT AIRPORT 2. DOMINIQUE WILKINS ARRIVING 3. FANS AROUND WILKINS' CAR 4. WILKINS GETTING INTO CAR. 5. CAR DRIVING AWAY Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 16th September 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE
- City:
- Country: Greece
- Reuters ID: LVA29T11QDUYQ735U274DKTN1BRY
- Story Text: Thousands of Panathinaikos fans turned up at Athens airport on Friday (September 1) to welcome NBA star Dominique Wilkins who has signed a two-year, 7 million U.S. dollars contract with the Greek club -- the highest ever basketball transfer in Europe.
The fans cheered and sang club songs as the smiling Wilkins boarded a limousine which took him to a seaside hotel where he and his family will stay until they move into a permanent home.
Wilkins, the NBA's seventh best scorer with 25,389 points, was persuaded to cross the Atlantic when Panathinaikos president Pavlos Yannakopoulos matched dollar-for-dollar all offers he had in the NBA.
"When we first heard that Yannakopoulos was negotiating with Dominique Wilkins we thought he was joking," a club official said.
"But now the great Wilkins is here and will lead Panathinaikos to the top of Europe." Wilkins, 35, was drafted by Utah in 1982 and later played for Atlanta for 11 years until 1993 when he signed for the Los Angeles Clippers. He moved last year to the Boston Celtics.
A winner of the All-Stars shot-for-shot award twice, the explosive forward is expected to make Panathinaikos one of the favourites to win the European Champions clubs' cup.
The Greeks have finished third in the last two "Final Fours," losing both times in the semifinals to big Greek rivals Olympiakos.
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