Giannis Antetokounmpo is heading to the Olympics for the first time, after he scored 23 points and Greece held off Croatia 80-69 on Sunday. The game was one of the four men’s basketball qualifying tournament finals being held to determine the remaining spots in the 12-team field for the Paris Games.
“The best athletes in the world compete in the Olympic Games,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have nothing to lose ... I really believe we have an incredible team and we can accomplish something special.”
Georgios Papagiannis scored 19 points for Greece, who also got 14 from Nick Calathes and earned an Olympic berth for the first time since 2008.
“It’s very nice to qualify because that’s the first step,” Papagiannis said. “At the Olympics, we’re looking to do something really good there.”
Greece will be in Group A for the Paris Games, with opening-stage games against Australia, Canada and Spain – who also qualified on Sunday by beating the Bahamas.
The defending champions USA, as well as France, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan, Canada and Australia had already qualified. France qualified as the host nation; the other seven teams on the list qualified based on their finishes at the World Cup last summer.
After the World Cup, 24 teams were left to compete for the final four slots. They were decided in the winner-take-all qualifiers that started last week. Brazil grabbed the first of those spots on Sunday, before Greece, Spain and Puerto Rico followed.
On Saturday, Antetokounmpo had come up against another perennial NBA All-Star, Luka Dončić, in the semi-finals. Antetokounmpo and Greece beat Dončić’s Slovenia 96-68.
“They played way better than us. They were way more aggressive,” Dončić said. “I think they have an amazing team. Obviously, they have Giannis. But other pieces are very important for them, too. And they’re very well-coached ... They outplayed us today.”