Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece basketball have qualified for the Olympics this summer and the Bucks star will make history at the games, becoming the first black flagbearer in the country’s history.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Makes History
The Greek basketball team managed to navigate their way through qualifiers this month to earn a spot at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and one of their players is set to make history at the games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Greek team through some difficult qualifiers and he has been rewarded with the honour of carrying his nation’s flag at the opening ceremony later this month.
HELLAS 💪🏾🧿🇬🇷 #FIBAOQT pic.twitter.com/TUZCpMKMNR
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) July 9, 2024
Having struggled with racism towards him in the past, Antetokounmpo has been very vocal about his struggles in Greece and so the honour of carrying the flag will certainly mean a lot to him.
“Greece is a country of white people, life can be difficult for someone with the colour of my skin. Or of another nationality. You go to a lot of neighbourhoods, and you face a lot of racism,” said the two-time NBA MVP on a documentary in 2020.
The ‘Greek Freak’ has only got better as each year passes in the NBA, but his season was cut short this year after picking up a worrying looking calf injury in the first round of playoffs against eventual champions Boston.
Antetokounmpo wasn’t able to recover for any of Milwaukee’s remaining games in the season, however he was fighting fit for Greece’s Olympic qualifiers which took place in early July.
Giannis spearheaded his nation to qualifying success with wins against Luka Doncic’s Slovenia, Egypt, Dominican Republic and finally Croatia in the final.
Greece’s basketball team will get their Olympic games underway on July 27th with a tough matchup against Canada, followed by Spain and Australia before the finals which begin at the start of August.
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