Nikolaos "Nikos" Zisis (alternate spelling: Zissis; Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Ζήσης; born August 16, 1983) is a Greek basketball executive and former professional basketball player. During his pro club playing career, at a height of 1.97 m (6'5 3⁄4") tall, he played at both the point guard and shooting guard positions. He was inducted into the Greek Basketball League Hall of Fame in 2022. He is currently the general manager of the senior Greek men's national basketball team and of the pro club Aris Thessaloniki of the GBL and the EuroCup.
During his senior men's club playing career, Zisis won the 2008 EuroLeague championship, while he was a member of the Russian club CSKA Moscow. Zisis also won nine national league championships, in various European domestic leagues. He won a Greek League title, four Italian League titles, two Russian League titles, and two German League titles.
In addition to that, he also won nine European national domestic cup titles. He won two Greek Cups, four Italian Cups, one Russian Cup, and two German Cups. He also won five European national domestic super cup titles. As he won four Italian Supercups and one German Supercup. Two of his club teams, HAN Thessaloniki and Brose Bamberg, retired his team jerseys.
As a member of the senior Greek national basketball team, Zisis won the gold medal at the 2005 FIBA EuroBasket, the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Cup, and the bronze medal at the 2009 FIBA EuroBasket.
Zisis started his basketball playing career in 1996, playing with the junior teams of HAN Thessaloniki (English: YMCA Thessaloniki). He was with the club until 2000. The club would later go on to retire his jersey in 2021.
Nikos' high school team was Mandoulides Schools. In 1999 and 2000, Zisis won the Panhellenic Schools Basketball Championship, which is the Greek national high school basketball championship. In 1999, in Jerusalem, he also won the International School Sport Federation (ISF)'s Under-18 age category World Schools Basketball Championship.
At the age of 17, Zisis moved to Athens and to the Greek League team AEK, where he began his professional basketball career. With AEK, he won the Greek Cup in 2001 and also the Greek League championship in 2002. He also won the Greek League Best Young Player award in 2002.
After playing with the Greek club AEK Athens, Zisis moved to Treviso, Italy, and played on the Italian League team Benetton Treviso. With Treviso, he won the Italian Super Cup and the Italian League championship in the year 2006, and also the Italian Cup in the year 2007. He then left Italy and moved to Moscow, Russia.
On June 13, 2007, Zisis signed a 3-year contract worth €5 million euros net income with the Russian team CSKA Moscow. With CSKA, Zisis won the EuroLeague championship at the 2008 EuroLeague Final Four. He also played in the 2009 EuroLeague Final with CSKA. While he was a member of CSKA, he also won two Russian League championships (2008, 2009).
In 2009, Zisis left CSKA Moscow, and signed a 2-year contract worth €1.6 million euros net income with the Italian League club Montepaschi Siena. In 2010, he signed a 2-year extension with Montepaschi. With Siena, he won three Italian League championships (2010, 2011, 2012), three Italian Cups winner (2010, 2011, 2012), and three Italian Cup Supercups (2010, 2011, 2012).
In 2012, Zisis signed a 2-year contract, with the second year being an optional year, with the Spanish League club Bilbao.
After spending a season with the Spanish club Bilbao Basket, Zisis moved to the Russian VTB United League club UNICS Kazan, in July 2013. With UNICS, he played in the 2014 Eurocup Finals. With UNICS, he also won the 2014 edition of the Russian Cup.
On December 29, 2014, the Turkish Super League club Fenerbahçe Ülker acquired Zisis. With Zisis playing an average of 23.5 minutes per game with Fenerbahçe in the 2014–15 EuroLeague season, the team advanced to the 2015 EuroLeague Final Four. It was the first time in the team's history that they made it to the EuroLeague Final Four. However, on May 15, 2015, they lost in the EuroLeague semifinals to the Spanish club Real Madrid, by a score of 96–87.
On July 16, 2015, Zisis signed a two-year contract with the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) club Brose Bamberg. In 2017, he extended his contract with Brose, through the year 2019. With Bamberg, he won two German BBL League championships (2016, 2017), two German Cups (2017, 2019), and the German Supercup (2015). In the 2019 German Cup Final, Zisis hit the game-winner, with 2.4 seconds left in the game, to give Bamberg an 83–82 win over Alba Berlin. On September 7, 2019, Bamberg retired Zisis' number 6 jersey.
On July 15, 2019, Zisis signed a two-year deal with the Spanish Liga ACB club Joventut Badalona.
In January 2020, Zisis left the Spanish club Joventut Badalona, and signed with his former club AEK Athens, of the FIBA Champions League. With AEK, Zisis won the 2020 edition of the Greek Cup, in which he was also named the Greek Cup MVP. Zisis announced his retirement from playing professional club basketball in June 2021.
With Greece's under-16 junior national team, Zisis won the silver medal at the 1999 FIBA Under-16 European Championship, and he also led the tournament in scoring. Zisis also won the silver medal with Greece's under-18 junior national team, at the 2000 Albert Schweitzer Under-18 World Tournament. He also won the bronze medal at the 2000 FIBA Under-18 European Championship. In addition, Zisis won the gold medal with the Greek under-20 junior national team at the 2002 FIBA Under-20 European Championship, where he was also named the tournament's MVP.
Zisis played with Greece's men's under-26 national selection at the 2001 Tunis Mediterranean Games. At the Mediterranean Games, he helped Greece win the silver medal at the tournament. As a member of the Greek men's national basketball team, Zisis won the gold medal at the 2005 FIBA EuroBasket, which was held in Serbia and Montenegro. He was Greece's leading scorer during the tournament, averaging 10.6 points per game. At the end of the semifinal game against the French national basketball team, Zisis drove the length of the court, drove into the middle of the floor, drew a double team, and then dished the ball out to Dimitris Diamantidis, who hit a game-winning 3 pointer. After his great performance at the EuroBasket in 2005, Zisis was named the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year.