JAKARTA - Milwaukee Bucks Player Giannis Antetokounmpo has become the number of NBA players who did not participate in defending his country, namely Greece, in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Basketball competition which was held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.

Antetokounmpo informed this through his official Instagram account giannis_an34, Saturday (12/8), and said the medical reason was an obstacle for him not to be able to appear in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

"Everyone knows my passion and love for the national team and will never change. Since my last season in the NBA, I have forced my body to reach the line to help our team achieve its goals," he said, quoted by Antara.

"But after a few months the medical team explained that I am not ready to compete at the level required at the World Cup," he continued.

Antetokounmpo stated that not participating in the 2023 FIBA World Cup was the only option so that he could continue his career as a professional basketball player. He called himself very sorry for the decision.

"I am very disappointed, but this is a decision made with the medical team. I will continue to encourage myself to be ready when my name is called up again for the national team," said the NBA MVP winner twice.

Giannis Antetokounmpo did have a tough season with his side Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA 2022-2023 season. He became the main engine that brought the Bucks to the top of the NBA Eastern Region standings in regular seasons.

In the playoffs, Antetokounmpo suffered a serious injury, which fell very hard on his back against Miami Heat in the first round. Antetokounmpo did not compete in several playoff games, but he insisted on playing which in the end was not optimal. Bucks had to be willing to be eliminated by Miami Heat in the first round of the 2022-2023 NBA playoffs.

Antetokounmpo stated that his personal target was to bring Greece to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris France.

Prior to Giannis Antetokounmpo, another NBA star who did not participate in the 2023 FIBA World Cup was Nikola Jokic of Serbia, the winner of the 2022-2023 NBA Final MVP, Joel Embiid of France who is the NBA MVP for the 2022-2023 season, and Jamal Murray, the NBA 2022-2023 champion from Canada, reportedly also did not participate in the 2023 FIBA World Cup which was held in Jakarta Indonesia.


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