It was at the end of the 30ies, when the basketball team of Olympiacos was founded with players from the “Ionidios” School. Great personas of Greek basketball have worn the “red and white” jersey, coaches have written history, victories have come, with Olympiacos starring in and out of Greece.

The first great protagonists of the “red and white” history had been the Spanoudakis brothers. Alekos was the first European to use the jump shot, while Giannis besides being a player, he also served as a coach of the team learning some of the sports secrets from the legendary Bob Cousy.

The 1949 championship had been the first title in the team history, while 11 years later (1960) came the second one. That year, Olympiacos played, for the first time in Europe, against the Turkish Galatasaray.

A few years later, the “red and white” were demoted to A2 category and at the end of the 60ies, Fedon Matheou came to lead the team. Olympiacos returns to the big category in no time. With the support of the President Nikos Goulandres, a team for titles was made, based on the golden era of Greek-American players. With the “Patriarch” of Greek basketball as the head coach, Olympiacos wins the Greek Championship in 1976, while two years later, with Kostas Mourouzis as the head coach, the fourth championship becomes a reality.

In 1978, Olympiacos makes the final round of the “6” of the European Championship Winners Cup. It had been the peak moment for the team that also won four Greek Cups. Players like Giatzoglou, Kastrinakis, Diakoulas, Melini, Katsafados, rammos, Spanos, Barlas and Kokorogiannis wrote history with the laurel crowned teen on their chest.

An unsuccessful decade follows, while in 1991 the rebirth of Olympiacos is materialized. Socrates Kokkales takes the reins of the team and leads it to the top of both Greece and Europe.

Five championships in a row 91993, 94, 95, 96, 97), three cups (1994, 97, 02) and of course the Euroleague trophy in the Rome Final Four (1997) is the crowning of an impressive route for Olympiacos that has participated in two more European Finals (1994, 1995) and four Final Fours (3rd place in 1999).

Two great coaches, Giannis Ioannides and Dusan Ivkovic have sat in its bench. While players of world class value like Paspalj, Rivers, Johnson, Tarpley, Volkov, Radja, Karnisovas, Komazec, Tarlac, Tomic together with great Greek players such as Fassoulas, Kambouris, Sigalas, Bakatsias, have built the “red and white” Empire.

In the 2001-02 season with Lefteris Subotic in the bench, Olympiacos returned to winning titles after five years, conquering the Greek Cup.

Two great coaches that have written their own history in European basketball, such as Jonas Kazlauskas and Pini Gershon worked for the team until February 2008, Panagiotis Giannakis became the head coach of the team and at the same summer super star players wore the “red and white” shirt. The Greek coach, together with Papaloukas, Vujcic, Childress, Greer, Bourousis, Halperin, Vasilopoulos and Teodosic led Olympiacos again to the Euroleague Final Four, after 10 years time. Another superstar was acquired in the summer of 2009, Linas Kleiza.

In February 2010, Olympiacos returned to winning titles, this time edging the “eternal” rival Panathinaikos at the Greek Cup Final and a few weeks later the second consecutive qualification to a Final Four was a reality.

During the summer of 2011, Dusan Ivkovic returned to the port. The Triple Crown coach led the team to the second consecutive greek cup trophy, beating again Panathinaikos in the Final.