Giannis Antetokounmpo to face 'Group of Death' in 2024 Olympics

With a victory over Luka Doncic and Slovenia last week, Giannis and the Greek National Team qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was the first time that Greece qualified for the Olympic Men’s Tournament since 2008. Now, Giannis and Greece will compete for their first ever Olympic medal in basketball.

If they are going to achieve that, though, they will have to overcome one of the toughest challenges of Giannis’ basketball career.

Antetokounmpo will face a gauntlet of tough teams in the 2024 Olympics

There are only 12 countries whose teams qualified for the 2024 Olympics. They have been divided into the following three groups:

Group A

• Canada
• Greece
• Spain
• Australia

Group B

• France
• Germany
• Japan
• Brazil

Group C

• Serbia
• South Sudan
• Puerto Rico
• United States of America

Group A, where Giannis and Greece will play, has been labeled as the “Group of Death” due to the high level of talent on all four of its teams.

The Canadian National Team is led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished second in NBA MVP voting this year while averaging 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Giannis and the Greek National Team will face Canada on Saturday, July 27 in their first game of Olympic competition.

Spain is led by guard Rudy Fernandez, who will be playing in his sixth Olympic Games. No other player has accomplished such a feat. The Spanish National Team recently won a Gold Medal at the 2022 EuroBasket Tournament.

Puerto Rico boasts former Wisconsin Badgers star Aleem Ford on its roster.

Antetokounmpo’s viral reaction to making it to the 2024 Olympics

When the clock hit 0:00 in Greece’s win over Slovenia to clinch a berth in the Paris Olympics, the following video of Giannis went viral on social media:

As seen, the moment and accomplishment meant a great deal to the Greek Freak, who showed similar emotion after winning the NBA Finals in 2021.

To make it even more special for Giannis, one of his younger brothers, Kostas Antetokounmpo, is also on the Greek National Team.