By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to be part of team Africa in the NBA Africa Game and that will give him two days off from the Greek national team training camp.
As it was announced today the NBA Africa Game will be played on Aug. 1 at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. Antetokounmpo will be there to honor his Nigerian roots under coach Gregg Popovich who will be on the bench of Team Africa in the game against the Team World.
The game will be played in support of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, SOS Children’s Villages Association of South Africa and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Luc Mbah a Moute, Boris Diaw, Serge Ibaka, Luol Deng, Nicolas Batum and Festus Ezeli are other notable players for Team Africa. Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul will lead Team World and Barcelona natives Pau and Marc Gasol will join him, along with Nikola Vucevic among others.
Antetokounmpo learned about the NBA Africa game when he was in London for the game Bucks vs Knicks. Greek national team coach Fotis Katsikaris was also there, so he learned from day one about the need for some days off from the training camp. Antetokounmpo will be medically examined before the game with the rest of the Greek national team and he is expected back in Greece in the 3rd of August. That means that he will miss two days of the training camp and what’s also good is that he will not change timezones from Greece to Africa, so he will be ready to go upon his return.