Matt Nielsen continues to carve out a fine international basketball career. His latest stop in Europe comes with a return to Greece, with the versatile forward agreeing to terms on a two-year deal with Greek powerhouse Olympiakos BC.
Nielsen, who started his career with the Sydney Kings, has played in Greece previously (with PAOK Thessaloniki) where he started his European career. More recently he has played with Lietuvos Rytas (the current home of fellow Aussie, Brad Newley) and Valencia (where Portland Trail Blazers draftee Victor Claver plies his trade).
Olympiakos, ever a mover and shaker in Europe, have also just inked 6’4″ combo-guard Vassilis Spanoulis. The superstar of Greek basketball has played most of his career with Panathinaikos (interspersed with some time with the Houston Rockets) and alongside Nielsen acts as a huge signing to cover for the loss of Josh Childress (Phoenix Suns) and Linas Kleiza (Toronto Raptors).
The image above (credit: Tim Clayton/SMH) harks back to Nielsen’s latter, NBL championship-winning days with the Sydney Kings. His career certainly has taken off from the days of the skinny, long “Nitro” Nielsen that Australian audiences will remember. This Sydney Morning Herald article from 2003 is a fun reminiscence for those that remember those days.
UPDATE: As per The Hoops Market, the deal will be at 900,000 euros per year.
