The data for Antetokounmpo and the National Team ahead of the World Cup

Just under two months to go World Cup (25/8-10/9) and the anxiety about his participation Giannis Antetokounmpo it has hit… red.

The Greek Freak has been in Athens for several weeks now, showing that he is enjoying family life and the love of the world. But at the same time, he also follows an intensive training program, having spent a lot of time at OAKA and SEF.

The 28-year-old ace is not training at 100%, however, as the chronic problem he faces in his knee needs special attention. This forced the Bucks this year to do a special management in his participation in the regular season, while then came in the first match of the playoffs a different injury that was basically the… final blow for the Milwaukee team.

For Giannis Antetokounmpo’s desire to play in the World Cup is beyond doubt. After all, since 2014 he has been a member of the National Team, he has only been absent once, in 2017 due to a knee problem (again at that time), while in 2021 it was simply impossible to play in the Pre-Olympics since at the same time he was competing for the championship with the Bucks, which and finally conquered.

The question is whether his body will allow such a thing. The positive thing is that there is almost a month left until the start of the National Team’s preparation for the World Cup (July 24-25 the first gathering, with the NBAers – based on the agreement with FIBA ​​- to be integrated a little later). The negative is that the Bucks coming off a disappointing end to the season and considering that Giannis’ strain from Eurobasket played a role, they might push in the direction of Antetokounmpo’s absence if tests show no substantial progress.

However, the matter is not expected to turn into a series that will last until the end of July or… August. Information says that there will be a clear picture by the first fortnight or fortnight of July for the participation or not of the Greek Freak in the World Cup. Besides, and Dimitris Itoudis with his partners they should know which players they can bet on in order to shape their plans accordingly. And one of the best – if not the best – player in the world with his presence or absence makes a lot of difference to the plans. That is why before appearances and absences are “locked in”, the pre-selection for the preparation will not be announced, which is expected in the second ten days of July.

In the good scriptGiannis Antetokounmpo will normally be in training and will strengthen the National Team with some special management as to his minutes, in friendly and “easy” games. The World Cup schedule is not as heavy as EuroBasket, since the games are every two or three days, so that helps. In the bad script, that of his absence from the World Cup, everything shows that it will be a while before we see the Greek Freak with the national emblem again. This is because next year there is the very possible prospect of the Pre-Olympic Tournament, which is very close to the NBA playoffs, while if the National team does not qualify for the Paris Olympics, we will hope to see him with the blue and white in 2025, at Eurobasket which will be co-hosted by Cyprus (with Greece playing the first phase matches in Limassol).