Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has proven time and again that he is one of the best basketball players in the world. He is an eight-time NBA All-Star, a two-time MVP, an NBA champion and Finals MVP, and has won NBA Defensive Player of the Year. But there was one honor that had eluded him until this year.
With a victory over Luka Doncic and Slovenia last week, Giannis and the Greek national team qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. It was the first time Greece had qualified for the Men’s Olympic Tournament since 2008. Now, Giannis and Greece will be fighting for their first Olympic medal in basketball.
However, if they want to achieve this, they will have to face one of the toughest challenges of Giannis’ basketball career.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will face a slew of tough teams at the 2024 Olympics
Only 12 countries qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games. They were divided into three groups as follows:
Group A
- Canada
- Greece
- Spain
- Australia
Group B
Group C
- Serbia
- South Sudan
- Puerto Rico
- United States of America
Group A, which Giannis and Greece will play in, has been dubbed the “Group of Death” due to the high level of talent across all four teams.
The Canadian National Team is led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished second in the NBA MVP voting this year, averaging 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Giannis and the Greek National Team will face Canada on Saturday, July 27 in their first Olympic game.
Spain is led by defender Rudy Fernandez, who will be playing in his sixth Olympics. No other player has accomplished the feat. The Spanish national team recently won the gold medal at EuroBasket 2022.
Puerto Rico’s roster includes former Wisconsin Badgers star Aleem Ford.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s viral reaction to making it to the 2024 Olympics
As the clock ticked down to 0:00 in the match in which Greece defeated Slovenia to secure a spot at the Paris Olympics, the following video featuring Giannis went viral on social media:
Giannis moved after qualifying for the Olympic Games 🥹💙
Leading Greece to first Olympics since 2008 🇬🇷
(By @FIBA)photo: twitter.com/eM31ZxPoL2
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 7, 2024
As you can see, the moment and accomplishment meant a lot to “The Greek Freak,” who showed similar emotion after winning the 2021 NBA Finals.
To make things even more special for Giannis, one of his younger brothers, Kostas Antetokounmpo, also plays for the Greek national team.
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