The 50 most interesting players in European hoops: Nos. 10-1

2. Vassilis Spanoulis, PG, Olympiacos

Spanoulis is this high because he’s a walking Euroleague legend. A three-time champion and Final Four MVP, one-time Euroleague MVP, and seven-time All-Euroleague Team member, Spanoulis has accomplished just about everything you possibly can outside of the NBA (And he spent a season there, too). He’s one of the game’s most ruthless close-game sorcerers, with a Kobe Bryant-level reputation as a big-shot maker. He’s 35-years old now, and that might mean the end is coming for him. Last year, he showed some signs of weakness, struggling with consistency and taking an approach so apathetic to defense that Kyrie Irving would scoff at it. But put him in a close game, late in the fourth, with the ball in his hands? He’s the same old Kill Bill.

Olympiacos is my title favorite this season, and the team they’ve built around Spanoulis is one that is deep, mean, and powerful. They can compensate for Spanoulis’s defense with a roster full of lockdown wings and Milutinov in the back; they have Brian Roberts to handle the load when Spanoulis can’t bring his A game. But to win everything, which Olympiacos hasn’t done since 2013, they’ll need Bill to kill someone. And he’s going to be ready. This may be Spanoulis’s last shot at the top of the mountain, and it’s certain that he’ll be ready for it. He just might need help getting there.