The first explosion of Greek basketball found Nikos Papadogiannis thrown in the backcourt, but with a slingshot in hand. Still a young boy, he witnessed the triumph of 1987 somewhere between the stands of SEF and the offices of Apogevmatini, which entrusted him with the first typewriter. However, he excelled in the celebrations, in the fountain of Omonia.

In the three and a half decades that followed, Nikos... saw it all. Olympics, finals, World Cups, Eurobaskets, achievements, miracles, and injuries. In the 29+2 chapters of the book you hold in your hands, the author guides you through the unforgettable matches of his life, as he experienced them from a breath's distance, with bated breath.

His voice grew hoarse from the descriptions, his hands turned pink from writing, his legs tired from the relentless pursuit of news, his cheeks grayed from years of service, but his soul continues to leap whenever he hears the sound of the orange ball.

Usually, Nikos is absent, but - as the old journalistic cliché says - he has returned and is writing. If you're not very interested in basketball, all the better. The book is not aimed so much at the die-hard basketball fan of the courts, but at the occasional spectator, a faithful reader and traveler.

Sports is not about winning, but about the journey. And Nikos can't get enough of the journey.