Giannis Antetokounmpo will play in the Olympics for the first time after helping Greece beat Croatia to qualify for Paris 2024.
The Milwaukee Bucks superstar hit 23 points as Greece sealed a 80-69 win in front of their home crowd in Piraeus.
Greece have not qualified for the Olympics since the 2008 Games in Beijing.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” said two-time NBA MVP Antetokounmpo, who was in tears after Greece’s victory.
“Since I was a kid I always wanted to play in the Olympic Games.”
The 29-year-old, who led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA title, had not played since picking up a calf injury in April until Greece’s first match of the qualifying tournament on Wednesday.
The Athens-born power forward helped his country beat Dominican Republic before sitting out their second match as Greece defeated Egypt.
Antetokounmpo returned to help Greece beat a Slovenia side featuring Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic in the semi-final to set up the final against Croatia.
In the finals of the other men’s Olympic qualifying tournaments, Brazil beat Latvia 94-69 in Riga and Spain secured a 86-78 win over Bahamas in Valencia.
Finally, Puerto Rico qualified for the Games for the first time since 2004 by beating Lithuania 79-68 in San Juan.
Source: BBC