The upcoming FIBA World Cup is coming close and basketball fans will have the opportunity to have fun after the last NBA playoffs that put the Denver Nuggets of Serbian MVP Nikola Jokic on top of the best league in the world. If the Colorado franchise grasped the Larry O’Brien trophy in June, things did not end up well for the Milwaukee Bucks of Greek Nigerian power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who were eliminated very early in the race towards the precious ring. No worries, Giannis should have the opportunity to redeem in the end of August. Well, now it is not that sure.
As a matter of fact, the best Greek player was compelled to be operated on recently due to an injury on the knee. The medical intervention took place a few weeks ago, but the most worrying is maybe not the fact that Giannis was operated on, but the fact that no one communicated on it: the Greek federation of basketball remained silent, and the player himself did not talk.
Without their leader, who is an NBA champion (2021), Greece does not stand the same chances of success in this world cup at all. The final answer is expected to come soon because the tournament itself is coming close: the FIBA world cup is about to be disputed in Asia (Philippines, Japan and Indonesia) from August 25 to September 10. The Greek squad will be in the C group with Jordan, the United States and New Zealand.
The other African teams involved in the competition will be Egypt, Angola, Ivory Coast, South Sudan and Cape Verde. As usual, the US are considered as the big favorites of the world cup, but underdogs like Serbia, France or Australia should be taken seriously too.