He served as a vice president of Olympiacos’ basketball club for 11 years. Between 1997 and 2003 he was a member of the board of directors of Olympiacos FC as well, while in 2009 he returned to the football team at the behest of then president Socrates Kokkalis, a personal friend.
They met in the early 1980s, as Salonikis was a businessman, having taken over from his father the fruit canning business Veko, which had facilities in the city of Corinth. In 1991 he created a new company focusing on the export of Greek agricultural products to the Balkans, bringing him into direct contact with Kokkalis, who was a shareholder in the company.
It was in the offices of that company, headquartered in an Athens tower, that some of the biggest player deals in Olympiacos’ basketball history during the 1990s took place, along with exhaustive conversations with both Kokkalis, the team’s president, as well as his favorite coach, Yannis Ioannidis, with whom he had developed a very strong friendship.
A personal friend of Evangelos Marinakis, the latter even dedicated the 2016 championship celebration to him: “It is dedicated to a very good friend, to a very great Olympiacos man, who’s watching us from his home, Giorgos Salonikis,” Olympiacos’ president said.
A bond with the unforgettable Roy Tarpley
In between the two dramatic games against Limoges in 1993, which cost Olympiacos the qualification for the Final Four in Piraeus that year, Aris Thessaloniki won the FIBA European Cup in Turin, with NBA star Roy Tarpley posting spectacular performances for the Greek team that season.
Salonikis, who was “obsessed” with signing the super star, eventually lures him to Olympiacos for the next season (1993-94), with Kokkalis and Ioannidis finding out after the deal was finalized! The former Dallas Mavericks standout was the team’s second foreign player after Žarko Paspalj, and joining Panagiotis Fasoulas and Dragan Tarlać to create the best front line in European basketball at the time.
The general consensus then was that Olympiacos played the best basketball in Europe, a situation that had not been seen for several years at such a dominant level.
“It was a great opportunity for Olympiacos, considering it cost us 750,000 US dollars. I only had to see three or four games when he played with Aris to be convinced that he was going to go crazy in our team’s jersey. We’re talking about a super player. He did incredible things on the court. Contrary to what some may believe, he was a good-natured guy. He simply couldn’t subdue his passions. For me, though, he remains one of the best foreign players to ever to play in Greece,” Salonikis later recalled in an article bylined by Yannis Fileris, and focusing on Tarplay’s career on the occasion of his premature death at the age of 50.
The coach, Ioannidis, was at first apprehensive over the marquee transfer, but Salonikis reassured him: “Giannis, don’t worry, I have him… tied up,” referring to a strict contract with several restrictive terms.
“…I’m not in college anymore to be in bed at 8 p.m. This isn’t a contract but a rule book,” Roy had complained, as he was required to not miss a game (excluding injury), be home at no later than 12 midnight on weekdays and by 2 a.m. on weekends, among other conditions.
Given that Salonikis also loved football, during the same season he personally signed noted Danish striker Bent Christensen for Olympiacos.
Those who know him refer to a generous, friendly and dynamic man, as long as no one picked on Olympiacos, which would immediately change his demeanor. One such instance came during a meeting with then Greek Football Federation president Sophocles Pilavios in 2009, when Salonikis returned to the football after having purchased three million euros of Olympiacos’ shares.
“I merely requested equal treatment; we want to protect our investment” he had said at the time.
His relationship with Ioannidis
In the summer of 1991, he was present during the first contacts between Ioannidis and Kokkalis, with the latter, who had excellent relations with his father, entrusting him with the top management position in the basketball team. He Ioannidis’ biggest fan, convincing Kokkalis to bring him back in the summer of 1999, even as outgoing coach Dusan Ivkovic (who also enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Olympiacos president) had Željko Obradović ready to meet with Kokkalis at a downtown Athens hotel.
“Today is his birthday. Every morning we’re friends, and at night we quarrel,” Ioannidis had quipped about his friend Salonikis at the 1993 championship victory celebration, where the Panathinaikos did not take to the court.

“Today is his birthday. Every morning we’re friends and at night we quarrel,” Ioannidis had quipped about his friend Salonikis at the 1993 championship victory celebration.
Relations with Ivkovic
Salonikis also got along well with Dusan Ivkovic from the first season, sharing, among others, an affinity for the same brand of whisky. One great story from that era began over a glass of the spirit they enjoyed on a flight back from Belgrade, after the Reds’ victory over Partizan, in the first playoff game for qualification to the quarterfinals in 1997. The Piraeus side had broken the opposing team’s home court advantage to go up 1-0, and when qualification to the quarterfinals was two wins. While most of the players were sleeping, and Salonikis and Ivkovic were enjoying their whisky.
“Should I book a plane, as a standby, just in case we need it,” the team’s travel agent, Giorgos Koukovinos, timidly chimed in, with Salonikis’ eyes lighting up: “What are you thinking, we won’t come back again,” he said, with Ivkovic adding: “Giorgos, forget about the flights and bring some more ice and come have a glass yourself”.
The second game saw Partizan win by one point at Olymipacos’ home, the Peace and Friendship Stadium, tying the series at 1-1. At midnight that night, however, there was no flight available to fly back to Belgrade at dawn. It was through Ivkovic’s personal intervention, reaching out to acquaintances at JAT (Serbia’s national airlines) that an available plane was found. Auspiciously, the Olympiacos team returned to the Serbian capital and the rest is history, with the Club continuing on the path to a final triumph.
Giorgos Salonikis also lived for the rivalry against Panathinaikos, considering one of his greatest successes when the Reds acquired Sasha Volkov in 1994, which Panathinaikos had allowed to exercise an option in his contract and seek an NBA team. However, it was Olympiacos who was behind the use of the “option”.
A personal friend of Evangelos Marinakis, the latter even dedicated the 2016 championship celebration to him: “It is dedicated to a very good friend, to a very great Olympiacos man, who’s watching us from his home, Giorgos Salonikis,” Olympiacos’ president said.