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.”
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?’”
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.”
