The Rise of Kendrick Nunn at Panathinaikos

                  

The Rise of Kendrick Nunn at Panathinaikos

By: Antoni 

May 8th, 2024

                                                         

            Panathinaikos have finally done it, after twelve long years of missing out on the final four, the illustrious Greek club finally secured their spot in the final four on Tuesday. This comes with much delight to the fans, players, and also club president Dimitris Giannakopoulos who took to social media to further build on the festivities by announcing that twenty-eight year old American guard Kendrick Nunn had penned a two year contract extension. Amidst all the celebrations it was difficult to distinguish whether fans were more elated by the club’s progression into the final four, or by Nunn’s extension. 

The excitement by the fans shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it goes without question that the arrival of Kendrick Nunn propelled Panathinaikos’ season into another trajectory. The summer brought about a nearly entirely new roster of players, including the signing of two time Euroleague champion Ergin Ataman as head coach. The offseason was filled with what seemed to be “bam” signing after “bam” signing. Expectations were set pretty high during the offseason, yet early on, the club experienced struggles as the new core needed time to gel together and find their rhythm. In the midst of these early struggles, Panathinaikos would announce the signing of Kendrick Nunn in early November with lots of anticipation surrounding the arrival of the talented scoring guard. 

With experience in the NBA, having played for teams like the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and Washington Wizards, Panathinaikos fans knew the club had signed an elite scoring guard and it could not have happened at a more perfect time. Ultimately, Nunn arrived during a pivotal point in the season, with Panathinaikos having seen some of the aforementioned struggles both at home and away early in the Euroleague season, the club was in need of another elite scoring guard to pair with Kostas Sloukas to compliment the system which was similar to the one coach Ataman favored during his time at Anadolu Efes. 

By January, Nunn had fit into the team seamlessly and helped the club gain momentum into a nice winning streak. As a shifty, left-handed scorer, Kendrick Nunn brought about another dimension to the Panathinaikos offense. When the offense had seemingly hit a block, Nunn would come up big in pivotal moments with a timely three point shot or with a drive to the basket. As his time with the club progressed, we also witnessed his chemistry with Sloukas growing and his game elevating to another level as he also began to switch off and share some playmaking duties with Sloukas when the team needed him to. 

With these positive traits, Nunn very quickly became a fan favorite, but he also added to the charm by coming out with some memorable quotes during the regular season such as before the game against Fenerbache, stating the Turkish side were “coming here to lose, that’s what I have to say” backing his words by delivering a top performance. Nunn would also showcase his clutch side a few match days later after hitting a buzzer beating floater against Italian side Bologna away which won Panathinaikos the game and aided the club in their pursuit for the top two seed. Nunn ended the regular season by averaging sixteen points and three assists, and having a ninety-six percent free throw percentage. 

Nunn’s great performances translated into the most recent playoff series against Israeli side Maccabi Tel-Aviv. The American shooting guard put up a dazzling performance in the fourth quarter of game five, scoring twenty-six points with half of them coming in the fourth quarter. Club captain Kostas Sloukas came out injured leaving Nunn with the responsibility to try and put the game away with some big time shots. Kendrick Nunn’s performance in the playoff series netted him ninety-six points in the series, putting him in the top five scorers in a Euroleague playoff just three points shy of record holder Wade Baldwin. Ultimately, Nunn’s efforts in game five did not come in vain, as the club finally clinched a final four berth for the first time since 2012. 

Heading into the final four which begins on May 24th, Panathinaikos fans will be hoping to see more of Nunn’s heroics as the club are set to take on the winner between Monaco and Fenerbahce in Wednesday’s game five playoff. The one off game will be one which will certainly bring lots of excitement and some anxiety, but we have seen the elevation of this team’s performances in nervy games. Players like Kendrick Nunn, despite being a Euroleague rookie, will know exactly what to expect against an opponent he has faced before in the regular season. His shifty play, elite scoring abilities, and confidence are all traits that are needed to help the greens in their pursuit for the seventh star.

To end, all I can say is, as Panathinaikos fans, we are elated with Kendrick Nunn’s performances with the team. He has put on fantastic performances, given us some memorable moments and quotes, and has put a smile on our faces as we watch this Panathinaikos team make a deep playoff run we were all dreaming about last summer. His extension comes with much excitement as we impatiently await the start of the final-four in a couple of weeks time.