By Michalis Gioulenoglou/ info@eurohoops.net
Riga, Latvia – The driving force for Greece in EuroBasket 2025, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo opened up about capturing bronze after a winning effort versus Finland on Sunday.
“I am very happy for the team. I am very happy for the nation. After 16 years, as the coach said, we were able to bring success to the team,” he referred to an earlier statement by head coach Vassilis Spanoulis during the postgame press conference, “From day one, we went to the training camp, we kept each other very, very accountable every single day.”
“Everybody believed in a common goal, which was to fight for, not for what we deserve, but earn a medal, because you don’t deserve anything in life, you have to earn it,” continued the 30-year-old point forward, “I think this is something we have been waiting for a long time, and we feel relief.”
In the bronze-medal fixture, he posted a 30-point, 17-rebound double-double.
EuroBasket medal versus NBA championship
An NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, the Freak extended to a medal with Greece.
“Winning an NBA championship is a huge accomplishment. Milwaukee is an incredible city, but it has 500,000 or 600,000 people. When you are able to make 12 million Greeks happy and being able to inspire the next generation the way they inspired us, and the previous generation in ‘87 inspired them, I think it’s the biggest thing ever,” he compared his success with the Bucks to capturing bronze with Greece.
“There’s a kid right now watching the TV. He’s going to be very happy and he’s going to believe one day he can win a medal with the national team, the same way I did when they won,” he once more pointed to Spanoulis, a EuroBasket champion as a player in 2005, “It’s probably the best accomplishment I had in my career.”
“Check my clips on YouTube”
On Friday, after Greece fell to Turkiye in the Semifinals, Alperen Sengun pointed to the lack of creativity in the game of the Freak as part of the defensive plan against him.
“I don’t like to talk. I let my game talk,” Giannis replied to a question about the comment, “I love to carry myself that way. I’m not the guy who will talk back to coaches or players or people who say bad things about me. It doesn’t really matter, because at the end of the day, you won’t remember what they say, you’ll remember how you respond. I keep everything to myself. You can go and check my clips on YouTube and then come back and ask me if I’m a good passer.”
👀🗣 Giannis Antetokounmpo responds to Alperen Sengun who said the “Greek Freak” is not a good passer! #Eurobasket pic.twitter.com/cbhSVPf6Kg
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) September 14, 2025
“Sengun is a very small kid to talk about Giannis,” added Spanoulis.
Over seven appearances between Limassol and Riga, Giannis tallied 27.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 0.9 steals per contest.
Photo Credit: FIBA