FILE–Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo looks on during the Basketball World Cup Group F game between Greece and New Zealand in Nanjing on September 5, 2019. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will be a member of the Greece national team during this year’s Eurobasket, the Greek basketball federation president confirmed on Friday.
Antetokounmpo has played 49 games for Greece since 2014.
“Giannis loves the national team very much. He is an athlete who loves Greece and we want to emphasize that of course he will be with us in Eurobasket (September 1-18), after all, he also declared it indirectly,” Vangelis Liolios told radio station EraSport.
He said that the Milwaukee Bucks power forward will also be in coach Dimitris Itoudis’ team for the World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Belgium late next month.
He has been in Greece training with his brothers, fellow Bucks player Thanasis and Alex.
Thanasis is also expected to play for Greece at the Eurobasket, which gets underway on September 1 and will be hosted by Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Georgia.
Liolios also announced that Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer has been hired by the Greek federation to assist the national team.
“We have a great relationship with the Bucks with mutual respect and trust,” Liolios said.