Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was emotional after leading his home country Greece to a bronze finish after beating Lauri Markkanen and Finland in the third-place game of 2025 EuroBasket on Sunday afternoon.
Antetokounmpo was dominant throughout his time in EuroBasket. He averaged 27.3 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game on 69% shooting from the field as he got his team to finish third place.
Antetokounmpo reflected on the incredible achievement after the win, per BasketNews. He is aware of all the ups and downs that occurred in his life, overcoming obstacles to represent his home country in the tournament and earn success.
“I've heard everything in my life. Through up and downs, good or bad. When you are one of the best basketball players. I don't talk too much, I like my actions to talk, I don't fake, I like basketball, I don't like media, I don't like being famous; I just like basketball,” Antetokounmpo said.
“Sometimes when you don't play well, people talk s**t about you. But this for me, it's almost like relief. Because I did it for my country. I did it for myself, I did it for my family, I finally f**** did it. I'm proud. This is one of the biggest accomplishments as an athlete. I know I won an NBA championship but there's no feeling like representing your national team and 12 million people that live and breathe this basketball team. This is probably the greatest accomplishment I've accomplished so far in my life.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn't hold back tears after winning his first medal with the Greek national team 🥹🇬🇷 #EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/xM8nEA00id
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) September 14, 2025
What lies ahead for Giannis Antetokounmpo after EuroBasket
Giannis Antetokounmpo is right to be emotional about achieving bronze in EuroBasket with Greece. After leading the country to a quarterfinal finish in the 2024 Olympics, getting them a medal in the European competition was huge for him to pull off.
In the meantime, he will take the rest of the month off with rest before reporting to the Bucks for training camp in October. The team retooled in the offseason, waiving Damian Lillard while adding Myles Turner and Cole Anthony among others to improve their roster depth.
With the NBA's Eastern Conference being wide open, the Bucks have a chance to make a deep playoff run if all goes well. For Antetokounmpo, it would give him a second chance at competing for the NBA championship with 2021 being the last time he claimed the throne.
Milwaukee will await its preseason opener, facing the Miami Heat on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The team's regular season will take place at home, hosting the Washington Wizards on Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. ET.
