Ioannis Bourousis, commonly known as Giannis Bourousis (alternate spelling: Yannis, Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Μπουρούσης; born November 17, 1983) is a Greek former professional basketball player and basketball executive. He is the general manager of the Greek basketball club ASK Karditsa. During his playing career, at a height of 7 ft in (2.15 m) tall and a weight of 270 lb. (122 kg), Bourousis played at the center position. Bourousis, who was a two-time All-EuroLeague First Team selection, was compared to FIBA Hall of Fame / Basketball Hall of Fame center Vlade Divac, by San Antonio Spurs' head coach Gregg Popovich. Bourousis was on the senior Greek national team that won the gold medal at 2005 EuroBasket in Serbia, and he also played an instrumental role as Greece won the bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket. He was also a member of the Greek national teams that finished in fourth place at the 2007 EuroBasket, and in fifth place at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The indoor basketball arena Giannis Bourousis Karditsa New Indoor Arena, which is located in Karditsa, Greece, is named after him, in his honor. Early years and youth career Bourousis originally began his athletic career training to be a professional swimmer, but he grew too tall for the sport, and so he took up playing basketball, at the age of 18. He began playing basketball as a member of the youth clubs of the Greek club G.S. Karditsas. Professional career Bourousis began his professional career in the year 2001, with AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League. In 2006, he transferred to FC Barcelona of the Spanish ACB League. Later that same year, he joined the Greek EuroLeague club Olympiacos Piraeus. In 2009, he was offered a 3-year $12 million contract by the NBA club the San Antonio Spurs. However, he turned down San Antonio's offer, and instead signed a 3-year contract extension with Olympiacos worth €5.1 million euros net income. The contract contained a €1 million buyout amount, which could only be used to sign with an NBA team. After 5 years with Olympiacos, the club decided to terminate his contract. In the summer of 2011, just weeks before signing with Olimpia Milano, Bourousis was involved in a doping-related media controversy in Greece, after an unrelated football match-fixing probe of his (then future) father-in-law, Makis Psomiadis. However, Bourousis was quickly cleared of any suspected wrongdoing, after he