Nikolaos "Nikos" Pappas (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Παππάς, born July 11, 1990) is a Greek former professional basketball player who last played for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague.
He stands at 1.95m meters of height and plays at the shooting guard-small forward positions.
Pappas is from Aidipsos in where he grew up.
He started his career from the local club Syllas.Then, he transferred to Locros Atalanti.
His mother is Greek Cypriot from Famagusta.
2006
Pappas made his professional debut in the Greek League with Panellinios, during the 2006–07 season.
2007
He made his debut in Europe's continent-wide second-tier level competition, the EuroCup, with Panellinios, during the 2007–08 season.
As a member of the junior national basketball teams of Greece, Pappas won the silver medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.
2008
He signed a 5-year contract with the Spanish League club Bilbao Basket in 2008.
He was loaned to the reserve team of Real Madrid, Real Madrid B, of the Spanish 4th Division, for the 2008–09 season.
He was named the MVP of the 2008 Albert Schweitzer Tournament, where he also helped lead Greece to defeat Team USA Under-18 during the tournament, by scoring 27 points in the game against the USA.
He also won the gold medal at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he was also voted to the All-Tournament Team.
2009
He was loaned to the Greek League club Kolossos Rodou for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons.
Pappas also played at the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit, where he helped the World Select Team to defeat Team USA 97–89.
He also won the silver medal at the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Cup with Greece's junior national team, where he was also voted to the All-Tournament Team.
Pappas also won the gold medal at the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship and the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading the tournament in scoring.
2010
He was named the 2010 Greek League Best Young Player.
Pappas first trained with the senior men's Greek national basketball team in 2010.
2012
In February 2012, he joined PAOK.
He moved to Panionios for the 2012–13 season.
2013
With Panionios, he was the Greek League Top Scorer, and a member of the Greek League Best Five, in 2013.
On 20 June 2013, Pappas joined the Greek club Panathinaikos.
He was announced as a new player of Panathinaikos, for the following three seasons, along with his Panionios teammate Vlado Janković.
During his second season with Panathinaikos, Pappas switched his jersey number from 15 to 11.
2015
On 22 April 2015, after winning his first EuroLeague MVP of the Round award, after the third week's game of the EuroLeague playoffs, in which he scored 25 points against CSKA Moscow, it was officially announced that Pappas had renewed his contract with Panathinaikos, until 2018.
On 16 May 2015, Pappas suffered a torn ACL injury, and a tear of his meniscus, in a Greek League game against Kolossos Rodou, after falling awkwardly, after being fouled on a play by Vassilis Toliopoulos.
He was operated on the day after, and his return to playing basketball was scheduled at 5–6 months time, at the earliest.
On November 30, 2015, in a Greek League game against Lavrio, Pappas made his first re-appearance in an official game, 6-and-a-half months after his injury.
He scored 2 points in the game.
2020
During a press conference on July 3, 2020, it was confirmed by the team's new head coach Georgios Vovoras that Pappas was parting ways with the Athenian club after seven seasons.
On September 23, 2020, Pappas signed with Hapoel Jerusalem for the duration of the Basketball Champions League Final-8.
On February 23, 2021, he signed with Stelmet Zielona Góra of the Polish League.
On August 16, 2021, Pappas signed with AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League.
He was constantly plagued by injuries and he also spent the final stretch of the season under suspension, after falling out with new coach Curro Segura, who took over the team after Stefanos Dedas signed with CSKA Moscow.
In 12 league games, he averaged 12.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals, playing around 27 minutes per contest.
After assisting the team in the pre-season, on December 3, 2022, Pappas was signed on for the rest of the 2022–2023 campaign in order to close out his playing career with his beloved Panathinaikos.
He made his debut on December 11, 2022, in a match against AEK Athens.
Pappas appeared in a total of only four domestic league games, scoring one basket against Olympiacos in Game 4 of the Greek Basket League finals.
Reportedly, Pappas pledged to donate the entirety of his contract pay to the sanitation workers at the Athens Olympic Stadium complex.
On July 21, 2023, Panathinaikos officially bade farewell to the retiring player.
