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After Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo was cleared to play for Greece in EuroBasket last week, he went viral for slapping his Greek teammate, Giannoulis Larentzakis during an exhibition matchup against Latvia. Welp, Larentzakis got his lick back in Greece's rematch. While Antetokounmpo sat for Saturday's first friendly game against Latvia, he was in uniform for Wednesday's rematch.
Larentzakis was seen hitting Antetokounmpo back after a timeout, which many assummed was revenge for Satruday's video of the two that went viral, per Hellenic Basketball Federation's X, formerly Twitter.
Giannis enjoys team spirit! 😄#Eurobasket #MakeYourMark#PantaDipla #HellasBasketball 🏀🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/qk0EenQjYY
— HellenicBF (@HellenicBF) August 20, 2025
Antetokounmpo's slap over the weekend was seen across the world on social media, per BasketNews' X, formerly Twitter.
Why did Giannis Antetokounmpo slap Larentzakis like that 😭
🎥 giannispan_/TikTok pic.twitter.com/kuwtbvEMvd
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) August 16, 2025
Apparently, Antetokounmpo and Larenztakis have been having this ongoing slap fight for years as this wasn't the first time they've exchanged slaps mid-game, per Basketballmaniac's X, formerly Twitter.
Lari and Giannis have been giving each other slaps since way back😂👀#greece #hellas #paobc #olympiacosbc #eurobasket pic.twitter.com/jyc5B41mJE
— Basketballmaniacs_ (@bballmaniacs_) August 17, 2025
Antetokounmpo made his EuroBasket 2025 debut against Atlanta Hawks center Kristaps Porzingis and the Latvia national basketball team. Giannis finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds in a 104-86 blowout win. He went 9-of-12 from the floor and added two blocks in 15 minutes. Porzingis finished with seven points and four rebounds.
Greek Federation on rumors about Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo
Despite reports suggesting Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo could be ruled out of participating in the Greece's EuroBasket before his slap, the Greek Federation denied reports that Antetokounmpo wouldn't play. The Greek Federation addressed the Giannis rumors, per Eurohoops.
“The Federation doesn’t bother with and doesn’t answer to anything malicious regarding Giannis Antetokounmpo’s participation with the national team that has been written these days,” The Greek Federation stated. “All these circles that have created these are guided by ‘para-centers' that knew very well that everything they were saying and writing were lies.
“They manufactured a non-existent issue because their sole goal was to mislead the public opinion and harm the unity and concentration of the national team with their lies. Unfortunately, it’s one more sample of some people using the national team to transmit their toxicity to basketball.”
Before Wednesday's exhibition, Greece head coach Vassilis Spanoulis confirmed that Antetokounmpo will make his first appearance in the Akropolis Tournament opener against Kristaps Porzingis and Latvia on Aug. 20. Greece will face Italy next Thursday when the games become official. Wednesday's win marked the fifth exhibition matcup for the Greeks.
Greece will face Cyprus on Saturday, August 30, which will be followed by the second leg of back-to-back against Georgia on Sunday amid EuroBasket's group play.
