For the first time in his career, Giannis Antetokounmpo is headed to the Olympics.
Antetokounmpo led the Greek national team to an 80-69 victory over Croatia in the final of the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament on Sunday in Piraeus, Greece. The victory officially gave Greece a spot in the Olympics for the first time in 16 years.
Naturally, the Milwaukee Bucks star was excited on the court when he realized he would be traveling to Paris later this month.
Antetokounmpo, who was born in Athens after his parents emigrated there from Nigeria, has been a mainstay of the Greek national team for years, but the country has struggled mightily in international competition. This summer, however, they swept their qualifying tournament, which was one of four held to determine the remaining entrants for the Paris Olympics.
Antetokounmpo scored 13 points in a 28-point win over Luka Dončić and Slovenia in Saturday’s semifinals. Slovenia finished fourth at the 2020 Olympics but will now miss those games entirely. Antetokounmpo finished with 23 points and had eight rebounds in Sunday’s win over Croatia, which was anchored by veteran Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac.
Greece will now be able to compete at the Olympics for the first time since 2008, when it was eliminated in the quarter-finals in China.
Brazil and Spain won their respective qualifying tournaments and secured a place in Paris. Lithuania and Puerto Rico will face each other in the final qualifying match on Sunday. France, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Sudan, Japan, Serbia and Germany had already qualified.
Antetokounmpo averaged 30.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game last season with the Milwaukee Bucks, though they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season after hiring head coach Doc Rivers midyear.
Antetokounmpo and Greece will compete in Group A in Paris alongside Canada, Australia and Spain. Their first match is scheduled for July 27 against Canada.
