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Greece national Giannis Antetokounmpo might have just won his first NBA championship with long-term NBA home the Milwaukee Bucks, but his national team has failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Finals after bowing out of the Qualifiers. While the Milwaukee Bucks fought it out for the NBA championship against the Phoenix Suns, a Giannis-less Greece squad participated in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying tournament that was held at the Victoria Memorial Arena in Canada.
Greece ended up losing in the Finals after winning one and losing one of the group stage matches. However, a decent Czech Republic team led by 2014 NBA draftee Patrik Auda won 97-72 to qualify for the Finals, making it the third straight Olympic games in which Greece did not qualify.
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Taking a look at the Greek Olympic Basketball team and their absence from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Quite simply, Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s presence during the qualifiers would have probably resulted in Greece qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. However, Giannis starred in the 6-game NBA Finals series while Thanasis was also rumored to be looking forward to representing his nation at the Tokyo Olympics.
Regardless, both were unavailable for the Tokyo Olympics which meant that the only NBA player that the Greek squad had was Kostas Antetokounmpo. Most of the 12-man roster had players from the Greek league, with Konstantinos Mitoglou, Nick Calathes and Kostas Sloukas from AJX Olimpia Milano, FC Barcelona and Olympiacos BC respectively also on the roster.
Also Check out: Japan Men's Olympic Basketball Team 2021
Regardless, it was Georgios Papagiannis who top-scored for Greece in the Finals of the qualifiers with 14 points, with Nick Calathes and Nikos Rogkavopoulos also regular starters throughout the tournament. However, considering the 25-point loss in the final, Greece will be ruing the absence of the dominant Giannis Antetokounmpo who would have in all probability resulted in a thoroughly different outcome. Regardless, with all 3 groups now having tipped off with the first games, Greece will be watching the event from a distance for the third straight time in recent years.
Their best ever finish came at the 2004 and the 2008 Olympic Games, where Greece finished 5th. The wait for an Olympic basketball medal will hence go on for the time being.
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