Will Giannis Antetokounmpo play in the Pre-Olympic Tournament with the Greece national team?

The Milwaukee Bucks missed Giannis Antetokounmpo during the NBA playoffs, and they were eliminated in the first round by the Indiana Pacers. The Greek basketball player missed the postseason due to a calf injury but aims to return to the court for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Vassilis Spanoulis, the coach of the Greek basketball team, told Harris Stavrou of SPORT24 that Antetokounmpo, who has not played since April 9, will represent his country in the Pre-Olympic Tournament, which will be held at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus (Greece) between July 2 and 7.

Greece is in Group B, and they will play a match against the Dominican Republic on July 3 and another against Egypt on the 4th. Group A is made up of Slovenia, New Zealand, and Croatia. The two best teams in each group will advance to the semifinals to compete for a spot in the Olympic Games. The winning team will share a group with Australia, Canada, and the winner of the Spanish pre-Olympic tournament.

In preparation for the pre-Olympic tournament, Greece will play friendly matches with Montenegro on June 25, Poland on June 26, and the Bahamas on June 27.

Greece dreams of the Olympic Games

The Greek men’s basketball team has participated in the Olympic Games four times. Their first participation was in Helsinki 1952, where they finished in 17th position after winning one of the three matches they played.

They returned to the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 and achieved fifth place with five wins in eight games. In 2004, they qualified as the host country and also finished in fifth position. At the same Games, the Greek national team defeated for the first time the Team USA men’s basketball team since the introduction of NBA professional players in their rosters. The last time the team saw action was in the Beijing 2008 edition, where they came in fifth place with Spanoulis and Antonis Fotsis as stars.