Turkey eliminated Greece (94-68) in the semi-finals of EuroBasket 2025 to reach the Finals against Germany (which they eventually lost 83-88 and took home the silver medal). Following Greece's bronze medal game with Finland, which they won 92-89, Giannis Antetokounmpo got emotional about how much this game meant to him.
When a member of the media brought up Turkish player Alperen Sengun's comments, which allegedly exposed his weakness, the Bucks' superstar reminded Sengun of his resume and took the high road when it came to directly addressing Sengun.
"I'm a guy who doesn't like to talk a lot, you know, I let my game talk. I'm going to my thirteenth season in the NBA. I have won everything, everything. And this was the thing I hadn't won, and I won," said Antetokounmpo after winning his first International medal.
"I have an incredible family, I think I have incredible people that support me every day. I've built incredible relationships, and I love to carry myself that way. I'm not the guy who will talk back to coaches, players, and people who say bad things about me."
"It doesn't matter because at the end of the day, you won't remember what they say. But you will remember how I respond, so I keep everything to myself,"said Antetokounmpo, throwing a subtle shade at Sengun, saying his comments are too insignificant to be remembered.
"You can go and check on YouTube... you know how they say go see my clips on YouTube and then come back and ask me if I am a good passer," said Antetokounmpo in conclusion. Antetokounmpo finished the bronze medal game with 30 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists.
This is a strong bounce back from the semifinals, where he was held to only 12 points in the game, following which his passing came into question. Heading into the 13th season of his career, Antetokounmpo averages 23.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game.
As a power forward, averaging five assists per game itself is a rare achievement, as they are not primary playmakers by convention. Just last season, he averaged 6.5 assists per game for the Bucks as their primary playmaker, while Sengun had 4.9 assists per game.
I know that a direct comparison of numbers is not the best metric here for the quality of passing, but it shows that Antetokounmpo is not as bad as Sengun's comments made him seem to be. But Antetokounmpo was more focused on bringing home a medal for the 13 million people in Greece who had their eyes fixed on him,
Following the game, he got teary-eyed while discussing how much the medal meant to him, and his comments went viral about the bronze medal win.
"I have played in nine tournaments with the National Team. I was there from day one, and we had our ups and downs. Today was the day! I love everyone, and I thank everyone for the support, because without it, nothing would have been possible. This is the greatest achievement of my career: representing the National Team, representing your country, 12 million people, and reaching success, winning a medal."
"I have lived through everything in my life. Through ups and downs, good or bad. I don’t talk much; I like to act. I like basketball. I don't like the media. I don't fake, I don’t like being famous, I just like basketball. People like to talk sh*t about me. But for me, this is a relief, because I did it for my country, for myself, I did it for my family — and finally, finally, I f**king did it."
While Antetokounmpo had to settle for a bronze medal, Sengun and Turkey went on to the Finals and just fell short of upsetting the FIBA World Champions, Germany. The Rockets' All-Star had 28 points, three rebounds, and three assists in the gold medal game, but it was just not enough to triumph over Dennis Schroder and the world champions, who took home the gold medal.