By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Tales to tell are many for Gianmarco Pozzecco, the star of multiple moments going viral during the 2022 EuroBasket.
Pozzecco, 50, added the missing pieces to the hug with Giannis Antetokounmpo. His jump on the Freak was crazy. Well, maybe not as unexpected as the reaction of the Milwaukee Bucks and Greece’s senior national team leader.
“He’s such a nice person. I hugged him and I kissed him. Really nice guy,” he then explained to Eurohoops explaining his decision to give him a big hug in the corridors of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in the celebrations of Italy’s win over Serbia in the EuroBasket Round of 16.
“I noticed Giannis,’ he began going into details appearing in Trento’s Il Festival dello Sport, “I’m sure he knew what I was going through emotionally. When he first saw me, he smiled. You could tell he wanted to share my happiness. And then I got ready to jump, I saw his face, and he was clearly thinking, ‘This is an idiot’. Luckily, he was ready to take me in his arms.”
Desiring to share the story of two weeks ago, Pozzecco continued and revealed the reaction of Antetokounmpo. “I kissed him and said, ‘I love you,’. It went unnoticed, but he responded to me in Greek, ‘f… you,’.”
“I apologized to him. Giannis said he had to thank me because I had taken away some tension before the game,” he said about talking to him the next day and went on to clarify not being at fault for Greece being later eliminated from EuroBasket, “He played great that day, but Greece lost two days later. At least, they can’t say they lost because I jumped on Giannis.”
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL