Giannis Antetokounmpo will be playing in the Olympics for the first time in his career.
Antetokounmpo led the Greek national team to an 80-69 victory over Croatia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament finals on Sunday in Piraeus, Greece, which officially qualified Greece for the Olympic Games for the first time in 16 years.
Naturally, the Milwaukee Bucks star got emotional on the court after learning he’d be heading to Paris later this month.
Antetokounmpo, who was born in Athens to parents who emigrated from Nigeria, has long been a mainstay for the Greek national team, which has struggled at international level until this summer when it qualified for one of four tournaments to decide the team that will play in the Paris Olympics.
Antetokounmpo scored 13 points in Saturday’s 28-point semifinal win over Luka Doncic and Slovenia, which finished fourth in the 2020 Olympics but will miss the tournament entirely. Antetokounmpo had 23 points and eight rebounds in Sunday’s win over Croatia, which was led by longtime Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac.
Greece will be competing in the Olympics for the first time since 2008, when they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by China.
Brazil and Spain have both qualified for Paris through their own qualifying stages. Lithuania and Puerto Rico will meet in the final round later Sunday. France, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Sudan, Japan, Serbia and Germany have already qualified.
Antetokounmpo averaged 30.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game for the Milwaukee Bucks last season, but the team lost in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year after hiring new head coach Doc Rivers midway through the season.
Antetokounmpo and Greece will compete in Paris alongside Canada, Australia and Spain in Group A. Their first game is scheduled for July 27 against Canada.
