Giannis Has Bounce-Back Performance to Lead Greece to the EuroBasket Podium

The NBA stars came out for EuroBasket. All five players who made the All-Star Five for the tournament are NBA players, with four of the five being established or up-and-coming NBA stars. Of those, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most revered and accomplished. 

Giannis already has two MVP awards and a championship, paired with a Finals MVP. That’s why when he only scored 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting in the Semifinals against Turkey, many were shocked. Despite falling short in the Semifinals, Giannis still had one opportunity to redeem himself for his country. 

In the third-place game against Finland, Giannis got his revenge. He was magnificent in the bronze medal game, scoring 30 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, and three stocks and leading his team to victory. Giannis ended the tournament averaging 27.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists. 

After winning the bronze medal game, Giannis said this was the biggest accomplishment of his career. Winning a medal for his country meant more to him than all the NBA accolades he’s already racked up. 

"When you win the MVP, my mom is happy, my brother is happy, my agent might be happy. It is what it is. But when you win the medal, 12–13 million people are happy. I’ve never given that feeling before."

For a lot of these international players, playing for their country is the highest honor of their careers. Winning a medal is an even higher one. Now that Giannis has done that, he can finally feel like he has accomplished everything he wants to in his career. 

This EuroBasket medal could even impact Giannis’ NBA career. Will it inspire him to try and win another NBA championship and prove he can still be the best player in the world? Or will his great accomplishment make him complacent, willing to live out his playing days comfortably in Milwaukee, falling short of NBA championships? Only one man knows.