Giannis Antetokounmpo’s time with the Greek side has been a journey of pauses and highs. While the Greek Freak was expected to lead his national team throughout the summer, he ended up missing the first four preparation games due to an insurance conflict between the Greek Basketball Federation and the Bucks. And when he returned to action on Wednesday against Latvia, he impressed everyone with his stellar performance of 25 points and 10 rebounds. The good didn’t last, and he is on the bench again. But why?

The news of Giannis going to miss tonight’s matchup comes after the Greek national team announced its roster for their upcoming preparation game for the EuroBasket 2025 against Italy. Along with Giannis, Kostas Sloukas and Dinos Mitoglou’s names were also on the list of players who will not be suiting up for tonight. As expected, this news left fans of Greek Freak searching for answers.

Although the Greek Federation did not give a reason for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence, according to sources, it is all part of head coach Vassilis Spanoulis’ plan for Sunday. Some reports even suggest that Greece’s head coach has rested Giannis and a couple of other superstars as he plans to use his entire roster during their final preparation game against France before the EuroBasket 2025 group stage tips off.

Which does make a lot of sense. After all, these preparation games are held to provide plenty of practice to the teams before heading to the main event, which is the group stage. And by the looks of it, Giannis Antetokounmpo seems more than well-equipped to face whatever is going to come his and Greece’s way as they take on the likes of last edition’s winners Spain, then Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, and tonight’s opponents Italy.

While Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece gear up for their battle against France and the much-awaited group stage, why don’t we take a look at how Greece’s FIBA EuroBasket 2025 campaign could unfold?

What will Greece’s FIBA EuroBasket 2025 look like?

As we’ve already mentioned, Giannis and Co. will be taking on some heavyweights in Group C. Greece’s campaign will start against Italy on the 28th of August. While this could’ve been a great chance to test the waters, it seems like Vassilis Spanoulis has chosen not to reveal too much against them before the group stage. Then, just two days later, Greece will face host Cyprus, which should be an interesting matchup.

However, it’s the final three group stage games that will be a real test of Greece’s quality — they’ll take on Georgia, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina, and last but not least, the defending champions, Spain. Should Greece be able to come away with at least three or four of these five games, they’ll have a fair chance of qualifying for the next round. However, for that, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar will have to be at his best, just like he did back in 2022.

The forward was the main reason why Greece finished 5-0 in their EuroBasket 2022 group stage campaign, winning against the likes of this year’s opponents, Italy, and the rest. They then comfortably beat a solid Czechia side before losing out in a close game against eventual finalists Germany. In fact, Antetokounmpo finished the tournament as the scoring leader, averaging 29.3 points. So, there’s no reason not to believe that the Greek Freak can guide his national team past the group stage this year as well.

Going by recent records, apart from Spain, there is no other team that Greece cannot beat. So, even if they lose against Spain, there’s a good chance that Giannis and Co. will make it to the round of 16. From there, it’s anyone’s game because there’s only one chance, unlike the NBA playoffs. Nonetheless, this could be the year where the Greek Freak leads his nation to a podium finish at the FIBA EuroBasket, something that they’ve achieved since finishing third in 2009. So, this should be something to keep an eye on, as everyone awaits the tournament.