Take Giannis Antetokounmpo off the Milwaukee Bucks and imagine where they’d be. Even in a soft Eastern Conference, nobody would fear the deer. Now take him off of the Greek national team and see what happens. The results are very predictable.
Advertisement
Greece is in the midst of warming up for the EuroBasket tournament which is set to begin later this month but Giannis hasn’t yet taken the court due to an unpaid insurance payment.
Without him, Greece got blown out 75-58 by Israel yesterday, its first loss in that matchup since 1997.
As first reported by Sports DNA, the insurance payment is something that would help protect his and the Bucks’ interests if he were to be injured while playing for his national team.
Greece has now played three games without Giannis, losing two of them. They managed to beat Belgium this past Thursday, but lost to Nikola Jokic and Serbia on Saturday and then Israel on Sunday. Next up is a matchup with Montenegro on Thursday, a game Giannis will also miss if the insurance payment isn’t rectified quickly.
The most important date is two weeks from now. That’s when Greece meets Italy in its first game of EuroBasket, also known as the European Basketball Championships. This tournament typically takes place only once every four years (this time it’s three since COVID pushed it back to 2022 last time).
Greece has won the gold twice, most recently in 2005 when Giannis was only 10. Most top international players represent their countries in this prestigious tournament, so to have a chance, Greece will need Giannis to get that payment sorted out so that he can suit up.
It’s been a drama-filled offseason for Giannis. He’s dealt with rumors all summer that he would be requesting a trade from the Bucks, and though that hasn’t happened, it’s reportedly still not off the table. This is despite Milwaukee waiving off Dame Lillard to be able to sign Myles Turner.
Now he’s conspicuous in his absence with the national team which he has represented with pride for so long. Last year, Greece played in the Olympics for the first time in 16 years, but even with the two-time NBA MVP, still lost four straight games, resulting in a swift elimination.
The EuroBasket format sees 24 teams placed into four groups of six, with the top four teams from each group emerging out of round-robin play. Hopefully for Greece’s sake, Giannis gets this insurance situation cleared up soon so that they have a fighting chance.
