Dimitris Papanikolaou

Dimitrios Papanikolaou is a Greek professional basketball player and a professional basketball coach. He spent most of his career playing at the shooting guard and small forward positions, although he also played at the power forward position late in his career.
He is the only Greek basketball player who has won the triple crown (Euroleague, championship and cup) twice, with different teams: in 1997 with Olympiakos and in 2007 with Panathinaikos.

Headshot photography portrait for the cover of Dimitris Papanikoalou book with the Title 11:11 ALL UNIQUE, ALL EQUAL.

“Mr. Papanikolaou, we are sorry, we do not accept “these children” in our school.
Mr. Papanikolaou, if you take your daughter from the volleyball team, she will not have a career.
Dimitris, they made fun of her on Tik Tok, calling her autistic.
Dimitri, again turned speechless and sad.
Dimitris, the other children went for a walk and told her that they would not go out so as not to take her with them. Don’t find out she was lied to.

One night my cell phone lit up for a notification. The time was 11:11, a number my wife and I saw almost every day, on the phone, on receipts, on signs, on license plates, etc., from Aria’s diagnosis onward.
This time I would pay more attention to them. What do you want to tell me and you keep appearing in front of me? I screenshotted them. I focused on the numbers on the screen. Taking one off changed the total, each number was unique. Then I zoomed in. All numbers were equal. In height, in thickness. “All unique, all equal. All unique, all equal!” I exclaimed.
I’m not winning anymore with complaints and individual battles, I’m shrinking. I will gain by creating and spreading light. I will activate the good guys who are outnumbered, and the “bad guys” will retreat.

But I still have a serious problem to solve. My wife won’t let me talk publicly about the child because she’s afraid it will be stigmatized. That’s okay, I have all the stuff from sports and I know how good teams and their leaders work. I will take responsibility, put myself forward and speak for myself”.