Giannis Antetokounmpo opens up on Olympic experience: 'I cannot ...

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — No one could tell how Giannis Antetokounmpo was feeling.

His Greek team had just made history, winning its first Olympic men’s basketball game in 16 years by downing Australia 77-71 on Friday afternoon and keeping hope alive of advancing to the knockout rounds in Paris. But as had been the case when Greece lost to Canada and Spain, Antetokounmpo walked briskly through the media mixed zone at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in the kind of silent and sullen way that made many people in the room wonder whether the 29-year-old Milwaukee Bucks star wasn’t enjoying his inaugural Olympics experience.

But 20 minutes later, Antetokounmpo made a surprising return to the press area, grabbed a stool before settling in, and finally began to speak. And by the time his 12-minute visit with reporters was over, it was quite clear this past week has been one of the most special times of his inspirational and fascinating life.

“I’m trying to enjoy every single day with my teammates,” said Antetokounmpo, the son of Nigerian immigrants who was born in Athens and would later become the subject of  a Disney movie. “I remember I came the first day and texted my wife, and I told her, ‘I cannot stop smiling.’ You know, just the atmosphere and the vibe, it’s just different.”

GREECE ???????? SURVIVE ????#Paris2024 x #Basketball pic.twitter.com/2xZ8VniUGn

— FIBA (@FIBA) August 2, 2024

From the honor of carrying the Greek flag down the Seine River in Paris during the opening ceremonies on July 26 to living in the athlete village in Lille to the basketball battles in between, Antetokounmpo described an experience that has been fulfilling in every way. Even with his team’s early struggles in the tournament.

The flag experience, as Antetokounmpo shared, almost didn’t happen. When he was asked to carry the flag with world champion race walker Antigoni Drisbioti, with Greece going first as the origin of the Games, Antetokounmpo replied that he’d prefer his teammate, longtime Greek player Kostas Papanikolaou, do the honors.

“(Papanikolaou) had more national team appearances than me, and I was like, ‘That feels right; that feels right,’” said Antetokounmpo, who was the first Black athlete to carry the flag for Greece. “But he was like ‘No, we want you to do it because you represent everything that sports represents, the way you carry yourself on the court and off the court. We would love you to do it.’ I said ‘Great. It would be an honor for me to do it.’ And when I did it, I said, ‘It’s the biggest honor that I’ve ever done in my life, and I know that my father is watching from heaven and he’s dancing about this, you know?’”

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games have officially begun! As tradition goes, the ???????? Greek team proudly leads the Parade of Nations, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Antigoni Drisbioti serving as flag-bearers. Let the games begin! #GoGreece @Paris2024 @HellenicOlympic #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/biozfGSMPM

— Embassy of Greece in the US???????? (@GreeceInUSA) July 26, 2024

Antetokounmpo’s father, Charles, died from a heart attack at the age of 54 in September of 2017. As Giannis shared in an Amazon documentary chronicling his story, he considered quitting basketball altogether after the tragic loss.

“He’s literally dancing,” Antetokounmpo continued. “It’s something (where) I might win another championship (in the NBA). I might win another MVP. Who knows? But I might never carry the flag again. So I tried, for those 45 minutes, to soak it in as much as I can. And going through the Eiffel Tower, and it was raining, which made it even more dramatic, seeing my mom with her phone, always, and videotaping me, it was a great experience I will never forget in my life.”

He’s been building more memories ever since.

Unlike the Team USA players who are staying in hotels in Paris and Lille, Antetokounmpo is staying in the athlete village in Lille. He doesn’t have to share his room — a perk that is hard to come by — but is living a very different daily existence than his American NBA contemporaries. True to his ultra-competitive form, Antetokounmpo said he has struggled with the reality that he shares space with other athletes with whom he’ll compete.

“Obviously, it’s hard for me to be around every basketball player, because we compete against one another, and then you see them in the cafeteria, you see them in the elevator, you see them outside in the athlete lounge area,” he said with a smile. “But just the energy is different. From the moment that we went to the ceremony, with all the Greeks, all the Greek athletes, and my teammates and lifting up the flag, and seeing people come down in Paris to celebrate us and cheer for us, then going back and competing in the games, and seeing how you know the crowd was into it, and how people are really competing … it’s incredible.

“I’m happy that I’m here. I don’t take it for granted, and will enjoy to the fullest because you never know if you were ever going to have this opportunity. It took us 16 years to be here. …I’m just happy that I see my kids out there (during games) and they are able to see me compete at this stage and I can tell them stories about how it goes.”

As for Greece’s prospects in Paris, it will have to wait for the outcome of the Serbia-South Sudan game on Saturday before knowing what comes next. While there are other scenarios relating to that game, the easiest way for Greece to move on is for Serbia to beat South Sudan by at least three points. In other words, Giannis has never been a bigger fan of one of his main NBA rivals, Serbian big man Nikola Jokić. Or, for that matter, the Olympic experience.

Yet, as he acknowledged, there is a pressure that comes with playing for the national team that is different from the NBA ecosystem. Even still, he would love nothing more than to get another chance to carry the Greek flag on the court again.

“I won’t say it’s easy to play for your (NBA) club; it’s not easy,” said Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 27.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 33 minutes in the three pool play games. “But I think it’s easier (than the national team). Once you come here, you’ve got to take that all away — everything you know — and put it on the side. Here we’re working for a common goal, which is win — win at all costs. It’s not win the way that you want.

“You have to win at all costs, because we are representing a history here. We are representing 30 million Greeks. …Everybody tunes in, and everybody wishes us the best. And also when we don’t do well, they wish us the worst too.”

He laughed. And rest assured, the confusion about how he felt was no more.

(Photo: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Sam Amick is a senior NBA writer for The Athletic. He has covered the Association for the better part of two decades while at USA Today, Sports Illustrated, AOL FanHouse and the Sacramento Bee. Follow Sam on Twitter @sam_amick