{"id":85165,"date":"2024-07-08T14:07:42","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T18:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=85165"},"modified":"2024-07-08T14:09:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T18:09:23","slug":"olympics-giannis-antetokounmpo-herculean-effort-leads-berth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/08\/olympics-giannis-antetokounmpo-herculean-effort-leads-berth\/","title":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s Herculean Effort Leads To Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> is the leader just about everywhere he goes.<\/p>\n<p>As a two-time NBA MVP, 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, and 2021 NBA Champion, it may come with the territory. Nonetheless, whether it\u2019s the Milwaukee Bucks or Greek national team, all eyes are on him. One of the most uniquely gifted seven-footers, his elite explosiveness makes him seem like all he has to do is run and jump to dominate. However, Antetokounmpo\u2019s two-end playmaking comes down to far more than his physical attributes. He\u2019s also a high level processor, which has allowed him to play a point-forward role.<\/p>\n<p>His gifts have allowed him to average 29.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game over the past seven NBA seasons. They\u2019ve also led to him being one of the most recognizable players in all of basketball.<\/p>\n<h2>Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s Herculean Effort Leads To Olympics<\/h2>\n<p>On Sunday, Antetokounmpo led Greece\u2019s men\u2019s national basketball team to a momentous victory over Croatia in the final round of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/08\/olympics-pelicans-defensive-menace-jose-alvarado-hero-puerto-rico\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Recording 23 points, eight rebounds, one steal, and one block in 28 minutes, his Herculean effort was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiba.basketball\/en\/events\/fiba-olympic-qualifying-tournament-2024-piraeus-greece\/news\/giannis-antetokounmpo-named-tissot-mvp-at-fiba-olympic-qualifying-tournament\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rewarded with MVP honors<\/a>. As expected, he was also named to the All-Star 5 for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Greece.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Your <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FIBAOQT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#FIBAOQT<\/a> Greece All-Star 5 \u2b50\ufe0f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OtEyHutBxV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/OtEyHutBxV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FIBA (@FIBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIBA\/status\/1810041701571907831?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After the game, Antetokounmpo took to Twitter, saying: \u201cI have never (cheated) the game&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I have never cheat the game.. See you in Paris \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffe<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Atoutaler?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Atoutaler<\/a> \ud83e\uddff <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/F0GT9su0kg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/F0GT9su0kg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Giannis_An34\/status\/1810086684593394167?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This will be Antetokounmpo\u2019s first time in the Olympics.<\/p>\n<h3>Going Against the Grain<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s significant that Antetokounmpo is making his Olympic run with Greece.<\/p>\n<p>This is partially because the Greek national basketball team hasn\u2019t qualified for the Olympics since 2008. However, there\u2019s also a sociocultural aspect at play. Players who aren\u2019t naturalized American citizens look at playing for Team USA as an honor. Yet, this is a phenomenon that\u2019s seemingly exclusive to the African diaspora.<\/p>\n<p>This has led to stars like Cameroonian center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Embiid<\/a> shunning their home country\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n<p>Embiid isn\u2019t the only star to make that decision, with Jamaican-born <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/ewingpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Ewing<\/a> and Nigerian-born <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/olajuha01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hakeem Olajuwon<\/a> also playing for Team USA. However, the Jamaican men\u2019s national basketball team has never qualified for Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>Olajuwon played for the Nigerian junior national team, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120523132400\/http:\/\/sportsillustrated.cnn.com\/events\/1996\/olympics\/daily\/july20\/dream.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">which led to problems<\/a> when he tried to play for Team USA. Yet, the Nigerian national team didn\u2019t qualify for an Olympic tournament until 2012. With that being said, if Olajuwon could\u2019ve played for both teams, he may have.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, Antetokounmpo has gone against the grain. He hasn\u2019t taken what many would consider an easier and potentially less fulfilling path. By choosing to put Greece\u2019s Olympic hopes on his back, he\u2019s demonstrating an increasingly rare type of patriotism.<\/p>\n<h3>It\u2019s A Bit Different For Giannis<\/h3>\n<p>Notably, Antetokounmpo is of Nigerian descent. In fact, Greece didn\u2019t grant him or his family citizenship until he reached adult age. Indeed, Antetokounmpo and his family \u2014like many African immigrants \u2014were treated like second-class citizens in Greece. With that being said, Antetokounmpo\u2019s not exactly paying homage to his roots. However, as he was raised in Greece from birth, he\u2019s truly both Greek <em>and<\/em> Nigerian.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, Antetokounmpo\u2019s less like the Embiids, Olajuwons, and Ewings of the world. He\u2019s more like Miami Heat center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/adebaba01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bam Adebayo<\/a>, who was born in New Jersey to a Nigerian father and African-American mother. Notably, Adebayo will play for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/05\/paris-olympics-basketball-team-usa-plan-for-starting-lineup\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Team USA in the Paris Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Giannis Antetokounmpo is the leader just about everywhere he goes. As a two-time NBA MVP, 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, and 2021 NBA Champion, it may come with the territory. Nonetheless, whether it\u2019s the Milwaukee Bucks or Greek national team, all eyes are on him. One of the most uniquely gifted seven-footers, his elite [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":85216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[60,1608,31,15,62,12,3,13],"tags":[306,2144,267,1052,415],"class_list":["post-85165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-olympics","category-basketball","category-rockets","category-bucks","category-nba","category-knicks","category-news","category-76ers","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-hakeem-olajuwon","tag-joel-embiid","tag-olympics","tag-patrick-ewing"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}