The national basketball team, the `official favorite` of Greek fans for more than two decades, celebrates its 73rd anniversary. It was on June 25, 1936, when the Greek National Team played its first game in history against the National Team of Turkey. It was a time when Greek basketball trained in open spaces.

Along the way, the National Team grew, won a medal in 1949 in Cairo, went through a `teenage` thirty-year period before it `grew up` and stood on its own feet, and suddenly on a warm June evening in 1987, it gained courage and audacity and claimed the title of European champion. Since then, it has never looked back. Seven and a bit decades filled with victories, losses, celebrations, tears, hopes, disappointments, and dozens of unforgettable moments have been completed.

From 1936 to today, many things have changed. From the open courts of Istanbul, where the National Team made its debut, we moved to the ultra-modern stadiums, like the `Beogradska Arena` in Belgrade, where it returned to the top of Europe. The Greek National Team - along with all who have worn its jersey over the last 73 years - can proudly say that it has grown with its achievements for generations of Greek fans.

It was, after all, the first representative team in a team sport to bring a gold medal to Greece. Its heroes grew over the years and passed the torch to the next generation, but their `works` on the playing fields made millions of Greeks celebrate in the streets one success after another and thousands of children grasp the orange ball in their hands, enchanted by their efforts. Alkis Angelou, Feidonas Matthaiou, Giorgos Kolokythas, Giorgos Trontzos, Giorgos Amerikanos, Vasilis Goumas, Apostolos Kontos, Takis Koronaios, Steve Yatzoglou, Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, Fanis Christodoulou, Panagiotis Fasoulas, Giorgos Sigalas, Fragkiskos Alvertis, Nikos Oikonomou, Dimitris Diamantidis, Theodoros Papaloukas, and the golden list goes on.

This unique historical journey, from the 1930s to today, is documented without extremes and exaggerations but with sensitivity and an investigative eye for the small details behind the events and the personalities that made a big difference while wearing the blue and white jersey with the national emblem. For those who were `Forever Champions`.

The edition you are holding in your hands is a comprehensive work on the national basketball team. It is the fourth volume of the new SKAI-book series, which aims to gradually cover the history of Greek sports in Greece. Another stop on an exciting journey through the magic of sports.