John Poulakidas

Poulakidas attended Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois.^[1] As a junior, he averaged 17.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.^[2] He committed to play college basketball at Yale University over offers from Minnesota, Wake Forest, and Rutgers.^[3][4]

After playing sparingly as a freshman, Poulakidas started every game as a sophomore and junior.^[5] As a junior in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Auburn, he scored 28 points, making six three-pointers and helping lead Yale to a 78–76 upset victory.^[6][7][8] Poulakidas returned for his senior season, emerging as the team's leading scorer by averaging 19.4 points per game.^[9]

Poulakidas was not selected in the 2025 NBA draft. He signed an NBA Summer League contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.^[10]

On March 3, 2026, Poulakidas signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks.^[11] Immediately after his signing, that same day, he made his NBA debut, playing 14 minutes and 28 seconds of game time action in a 90–117 loss against the Charlotte Hornets, he grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists.^[12] On April 12, Poulakidas put up a career-high 28 points in a 149–128 win over the Chicago Bulls.^[13][14]

Poulakidas's parents are both Greek. "My father's parents are from Greece, my grandfather was born in Sparta, and grandmother is from the island of Chios. On my mom's side, both parents are from the Peloponnese, from a village called Rizes. All my grandparents are Greek, all my family and ancestry are Greek. I speak a little Greek, but I haven't learned it very well," he revealed in an interview with ERT3.^[15]