By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Athens, Greece – After powering Greece in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus and four wins in as many games, Giannis Antetokounmpo is finally set to play in the Olympic Games.
“The coaching staff for these last two weeks we have been together, I think everybody was extremely focused and ready to go. We knew we had the opportunity to do it in our house,” mentioned the Freak in the postgame press conference following the Final against Croatia on Sunday, “We knew we had four finals to play. I think from the first game, no matter if we played a very good team or not so good, we were focusing on ourselves. I am so happy with how the games went, so far that we took our tickets to the Olympic Games.”
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Antetokounmpo, 29, insisted on focusing on the team rather than the spotlight naturally aimed at him. “Me personally, I am very hungry but at the end of the day it does not matter,” he described the environment across the senior national team of Greece, “I think as a team, we are very hungry. The atmosphere is unbelievable.”
Bouncing back at the international level after recovering from a left calf strain and a premature ending to his 2023-24 campaign with the Milwaukee Bucks, he put up 22.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 1.0 steals per OQT game, leading Greece to the Olympics for the first time since 2008.
“We are going to the Olympic Games,” he proudly said, “The best athletes in the world compete in the Olympic Games. We have nothing to lose. We just have to play Greek basketball, give everything we have, every single day no matter who we play, and live with the outcome. At the end of the day, I really believe we have an incredible team and we can accomplish something special.”
“Spanoulis is a winner”
Playing under head coach Vassilis Spanoulis, Giannis seemed much more adjusted to the heavy demands surrounding an NBA superstar trying to lead his country to success.
“I do not think that if you can write this scenario, it could be better. Having my idol helping this team and leading us to victory, having my teammates that have been great guys,” he continued praising Spanoulis and his teammates, “For so many years, we want to something memorable. We were able to do it. Being in your house, your family here, people that support and love you, the fanbase, it is an incredible feeling.”
“I believe coach Spanoulis is a winner. You can not teach that. You are either a winner or not. When he talks to you, you have to respect it,” he added on the 41-year-old selector of Greece, a legendary player in his own right with three Turkish Airlines EuroLeague championships standing out in a long list of achievements.
Before taking down Croatia to complete the unbeaten run in the Peace and Friendship Stadium, Greece overpowered the Dominican Republic and Egypt in the preliminary round, and Slovenia and Luka Doncic in the Semifinals.
“When I arrived for training camp, in the first practice with the national team, I did not know who we were facing,” confessed Giannis, “I always try as a player and as a leader to focus on what I can do, what I can control and my team. If we are in a good place, if guys compete hard, if we have a winning mentality, you can compete against anybody and win a game. And vice versa. Anybody can beat us and we can beat anybody.”
“I always wanted to play in the Olympic Games”
From the 2014 and 2019 installments of the FIBA World Cup and the 2015 and 2022 editions of FIBA EuroBasket, he earned an upgrade to the pinnacle event of sports.
“Since I was a kid, I always wanted to play in the Olympic Games. This is something that means a lot to me,” he mentioned, “I remember in 2016 when I was 20 years old, we played Croatia and lost the game. That memory stuck in my head. Even my wife was in the crowd, I told her to wear the same shirt from that game. I feel like these things make you stronger. Mentally, I am very strong now. Hopefully, physically slowly to get even stronger.”
Meanwhile, Spanoulis revealed the Bucks star as a candidate to be the flagbearer for Greece in the Olympics.
“That is an honor,” responded Giannis, “If I am the flagbearer, great. If I am not, OK. I am just happy that I have a good coaching staff and a good team, I am in the Olympics. I just want to go and compete. But I would enjoy every moment.”
NBA versus FIBA
A former NBA champion with Milwaukee in 2021, Giannis was named Finals MVP cementing himself among the most influential and popular players in the league. Far from his status in the NBA, international action has not been equally kind to him, at least until brilliant displays in the OQT.
“It is a totally different game,” he compared playing in the NBA to international fixtures with Greece, “In games like this one, you can literally take the ball and send everybody away and isolation from one side. A lot more isolation game. Here it is more of a tactic game.”