Career
He is 2.02 m (6 ft 7 ½ in) tall. He played at the shooting guard, small forward, and power forward positions. Clubs Papanikolaou began his professional career in 1992 with the Greek club Sporting Athens.
He then transferred to Olympiacos Piraeus in the year 1995.
In 2002, he moved to Makedonikos Kozani, and then in 2003, he moved to Panathinaikos Athens. In 2007, he moved to AEK Athens, in 2009 to Panionios, and a year later he joined Peristeri.
He announced his retirement from professional basketball on August 22, 2011. Greek national team 1993 International Basketball Federation Europe Under-16 Championship: 01 ! Gold 1995 International Basketball Federation Under-19 World Championship: 01 ! Gold On January 24th, 2012, Papanikolaou began his coaching career, as the head coach of AEK Athens, where he stayed for about one month.
In the summer of 2012, he became the head coach of Ilysiakos.
In 2013, he became an assistant coach for the senior men"s Greek national basketball team In 2014, he coached the Greek men"s national under-17 basketball team at the 2014 International Basketball Federation Under-17 World Championship. Player Sporting Athens: (1992–1995) Olympiacos Piraeus: (1995–2002) Makedonikos Kozani: (2002–2003) Panathinaikos Athens: (2003–2007) AEK Athens: (2007–2009) Panionios: (2009–2010) Peristeri: (2010–2011) Coach AEK Athens (Head Coach): (2012) Ilysiakos (Head Coach): (2012) Greece (Assistant Coach): (2013) Greece Under-17: (2014) Pro career.