Greece beat every single team that was placed in front of them during their qualification journey to the Paris Games, which will start at the end of the month, and now Giannis Antekounmpo and his teammates are Olympians. The Bucks star led his nation with his 23-point performance against Croatia on Sunday, in one of the four men’s basketball tournament finals to determine the final spots.
Along with his MVP exhibition, teammates Georgios Papagiannis and Nick Calathes dropped 19 and 14 respectively to earn Greece’s Olympic berth for the first time since 2008. “It’s very nice to qualify because that’s the first step,” Papagiannis shared. “At the Olympics, we’re looking to do something really good there.”
Now that almost all nations have qualified for the big stages, the team from the Mediterranean will join the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan, Canada and Australia. While France qualified as the host country, the other seven squads made the list based on their performances in last summer’s FIBA World Cup.
What a day for Greece! 🇬🇷
Giannis Antetokounmpo was in tears after leading his country to the Olympic men’s basketball competition for the first time since 2008.
(via @FIBA) pic.twitter.com/DwDcloANj0
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 7, 2024
Giannis’s journey starting with him scoring 32 points against the Dominican Republic, then 13 against Slovenia, a well-deserved rest against Egypt, then winning an intense semifinal clash against Luka Doncic’s Slovenia, and finally this Sunday against Croatia.
“We knew that we had the opportunity to do something we hadn’t done for years. We came in, knowing we had 4 finals to play. I’m happy about how the games went,” said the 29-year-old superstar after winning the final.
The Milwaukee player couldn’t hide his excitement once the game was over. “We’re very hungry as a team. The atmosphere is unbelievable. Everybody’s having fun with one another, everybody’s locked in, and know their roles. We have an extremely good leader. Coach Vasilis Spanoulis puts that fire in our bellies and gives us the best tactic to compete,” he assured.
“Now, going into the Olympics, I think the best athletes in the world will compete there. We have nothing to lose. We just have to play Greek basketball and give everything that we have, no matter who we play against. I believe we have an incredible team and that we can accomplish something special,” Antetokounmpo shared.
The NBA star expressed his admiration for his coach Vasilis Spanoulis, who happens to be his idol since he was growing up in Greece
With his coach sitting next to him during the postgame interviews, Giannis was asked what he has learned from Vasilis Spanoulis, who is a EuroLeague legend that will be returning to the Olympics as a tactician this time, instead as a player in 2008.
The Bucks star started by making a big distinction. “All the coaches I’ve had in the national team were incredible as coaches and minds and I respect them very much,” he started out. “But coach Spanoulis is a winner and you can’t teach that. It’s either you’re a winner or you’re not. He wants to win more than us. You should have seen him in today’s shootaround. He was literally running up and down. You could have given him a jersey and he could have played the game.”
Greece has now earned a place in Group A of the Olympic Games in Paris, and will face Australia, Canada and either Spain of Bahamas in the group stage of the competition.
Antetokounmpo feels confident with Spanoulis on his side. “I just love that I have somebody like him next to me and he knows I do whatever I can to win,” the 29-year-old assured. “I don’t bullshit, I don’t cheat the game. His identity goes through the whole team. Now, we have 12 players like that and when we go to the court, we play with that winning mentality.”