By Michalis Gioulenoglou/ info@eurohoops.net
Limassol, Cyprus – Following a late call-up, Thanasis Antetokounmpo joined the training camp and eventually earned a spot on the final roster of Greece for EuroBasket 2025. Resurfacing in an official game for the first time after suffering a torn Achilles tendon and having surgery, the 33-year-old combo forward scored six points, including a three-point dagger in a win against Italy.
“I missed this a lot. I am grateful. This is why I give it my all. You won’t be playing forever, and I don’t know another way. This is the way I play,” he commented on bringing his energy to the senior national team of Greece.
“Every opener is complicated, especially when you faced the specific opponent eight days ago,” he talked about a positive start in a five-game round-robin schedule in Spyros Kyprianou Arena and referred to a recent prep game opposite Italy, “An excellent team. They have also since added [Danilo] Gallinari, disrupting our initial scouting report. Every game will be different, and we will need to find the correct approach. Every time, we will need to win differently.”
Beyond earlier comments by the losing head coach, Gianmarco Pozzecco, during the postgame press conference following the game on Thursday, the selector of the senior national team of Greece, Vassilis Spanoulis, explained the path from the experienced forward missing initial call-ups to displaying his talents in Cyprus.
“He had a serious injury before 15 months, but he is an incredible athlete,” said Spanoulis, “He’s a guy that gives everything to the team. We had a conversation before I called him to the national team. And I told him, ‘It’s up to you’, “You can stay one day, five days, or you can make the team’, and I added, “I don’t make any favors’. He was there. He fought. He gave us great energy, great passion, he is a good teammate, he is vocal, and he’s a guy that plays to win without caring about stats.”
In Limassol, Thanasis shared the court with his brothers, Giannis and Kostas, besides adding to a long international career alongside the majority of the current roster.
“Playing with all these guys, even more with my brothers, it’s like a dream,” he explained.
Up to 1-0 in Group C of the preliminary round, Greece resumes action against host Cyprus on Saturday.