 After two and a half seasons, Panathinaikos parted ways with coach Xavi Pascual, on 20 December 2018.Pasqual paid the price for the teams' poor performance and losing streak in 2018/2019 EuroLeague.Georgios Vovoras served as Panathinaikos' interim head coach for the second time in his career, as the club agreed with Hall-Of-Famer Rick Pitino to be the team's new head coach, until the end of the 2018/2019 season.