A video of Giannis Antetokounmpo slapping his teammate behind the head has been drawing serious attention online.
The clip was from an exhibition game between Antetokounmpo’s Greek team and Montenegro’s men’s basketball team ahead of the EuroBasket FIBA tournament.
Giannis, who was in street clothes for the contest, joined his team’s huddle after beating Montenegro 69-61. The Milwaukee Bucks star gave Greek guard Giannoulis Larentzakis a stern look before unleashing what looked like a hard open-palm blow to the back of his teammate’s head.
Why did Giannis Antetokounmpo slap Larentzakis like that 😭
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) August 16, 2025
🎥 giannispan_/TikTok pic.twitter.com/kuwtbvEMvd
It’s unclear if the scene was simply roughhousing from Antetokounmpo or if he was genuinely upset about something Larentzakis did.
The angle of the original clip may have been to blame for making the moment look worse than it actually was.
One X user showed how the two have been slapping each other in the back of the head since they were youth players for Greece. The clip the user posted also had an alternative angle of Thursday’s slap that made it look much more light-hearted.
Lari and Giannis have been giving each other slaps since way back😂👀#greece #hellas #paobc #olympiacosbc #eurobasket pic.twitter.com/jyc5B41mJE
— Basketballmaniacs_ (@bballmaniacs_) August 17, 2025
Larentzakis had a decent game in the tune-up contest. He was one of four Greek players in double figures with 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Antetokounmpo is one of the meanest competitors on the basketball court and has had some testy moments throughout his NBA career. But the Bucks star is one of the goofiest personalities once the final buzzer sounds.
Unless we’re missing something the stat sheet doesn’t show, it’s hard to imagine Larentzakis did anything to upset Giannis following a game that doesn’t even count.
