Basketball superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has officially confirmed that he will be returning to play for the Greek national team and he will be joined by brothers Thanasis, Kostas and Alex who have also been named on the preliminary 23-player roster for the 2022 Eurobasket tournament and the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers.
The Greek Basketball Federation announced on Tuesday the inclusion of Giannis Antetokounmpo who was twice the US National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Most Valuable Player and a 2021 champion with the Milwaukee Bucks last played for the national team in 2019 World Cup. Eurohoops.net said that Hellenic Basketball Federation president Vangelis Liolios announced that the Milwaukee Bucks’ assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer would assist the national head coach Dimitris Itoudis.
A former player, Mr Oppenheimer, 53, will also provide scouting knowledge of NBA players that are likely to face Greece.
Giannis confirmed that he would play for the national team through social media last Thursday.
Thanasis also plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, Alex has just signed for the Wisconsin Herd which is NBA G League side that is affiliated to the Bucks. Kostas , a free agent, last played for Asvel in France .
Other key players included in the squad include Nick Calathes, Kostas Sloukas, Ioannis Papapetrou, Kostas Papanikolaou and George Papayiannis.
Another player from the NBA to join the Greek team will be Tyler Dorsey, the guard for the Dallas Mavericks who last played for the national team in the 2016 Olympic qualifiers.
The team will begin its training camp on Monday, August 1 in preparation for games against Serbia, in Belgrade on 25 August and will play hosts to Belgium in Athens on 28 August.
The EuroBasket tournament begins on 1 September and will continue until 18 September. The Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy and Germany will jointly host the tournament that features 24 teams.