Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t be playing for his native Greece at EuroBasket this summer, and the Greek Basketball Federation smells something fishy.
Antetokounmpo announced on Saturday that he will not be suiting up for the tournament due to a knee injury. Shortly afterwards, the federation released a statement of their own, accusing the Milwaukee Bucks, Antetokounmpo’s NBA team, of orchestrating “an organized and well-prepared plan” to hold him out of the competition, per Eric Nehm of ESPN.
The Greek Basketball Federation has released a strongly worded statement regarding Antetokounmpo. Here is the English translation: pic.twitter.com/TPhQGFcNrz
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) August 19, 2017
It’s a fairly serious and largely unprecedented accusation for an international basketball body to levy against a professional team. For what it’s worth, the 22-year-old Antetokounmpo is fairly durable, appearing in 80 games for the Bucks last season, his third straight campaign of suiting up for 80 or more. But in any case, it’s a situation that’s worth keeping a close eye on, especially since Greece and the NBA have historically enjoyed strong relations.
