Fan favorite and energizer Thanasis Antetokounmpo is back for the Milwaukee Bucks after signing a one-year deal. He was unsigned last season as he had to rehab his ACL injury.
It took some time for him to return with some speculating he will play for another NBA team or a Greek club instead. Turns out, he was just working to prove himself and one game he thought earned him that spot is his game in EuroBasket 2025.
The Bucks coaching staff, led by head coach Doc Rivers and assistant Darvin Ham, together with general manager Jon Horst, were in Cyprus to watch his brother Giannis play. The team heads were there, too, to see if Thanasis deserve to go back to the team.
He played his heart as always and according to the older Antetokounmpo, the coaches appreciated what he can do on defense.
“They were here after the first game against Italy, and they were excited because I was playing defense,” he said.
“I was doing my job, that’s my role.”
Thanasis came to the league in 2014 through the New York Knicks. He joined the Bucks in 2019 and was part of the 2021 title winning team.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo discusses injury
A season-ending injury can make or break a player. It is either they have the drive to return to their top form or just be contented that they are no longer the prime player they were before the setback.
Thanasis knows he has more to prove after going down.
“The important thing is that everyone who returns (after such an injury) with a team, or in a tournament like this, has to prove themselves again,” he shared.
“That’s basketball. Whatever you have done so far counts; it’s your resume, but you have to prove it every day. That’s professional sports.”
He has been backing up his words. He may not be playing big minutes for Greece in EuroBasket 2025 but his defense has been stellar either as help defense or primary defender. He has recorded at least one steal in all the three games he played so far.
The Antetokounmpo brothers and Greece are currently 3-0 in the tournament and have advanced to the Round of 16.
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