21 hours ago
Why did Giannis Antetokounmpo slap Greece national teammate in viral video?
EuroBasket 2025 doesn't begin until Aug. 27, and the Greece national team doesn't debut until the following day, but Giannis Antetokounmpo already has Hellas going viral a week early for something that happened in a huddle.
Teams are practicing and playing exhibitions in preparation for the tournament, and during one such session for Greece, Antetokounmpo slapped teammate Giannoulis Larentzakis across the back of the head in a video shared Saturday on X.
The cause of the slap hasn't been confirmed, which has only caused people to speculate on the seriousness of the situation. But what's clear is Antetokounmpo really put some oomph into this swing.
Why did Giannis slap him?
Again, there hasn't been any comment from the Greece side of things, so who knows? But if you want a couple totally not made up possibilities:
Was Giannis being serious?
As hard as the slap appeared to be, it's possible Giannis wasn't slapping Larentzakis with ill-intent. In fact, one former NBA player and Larentzakis' EuroLeague teammate, Evan Fournier, already made light of the situation in a tweet.
The Eurohoops X account noted that Larentzakis and Antetokounmpo grew up and went to high school together and remain close friends.
A fan account posted another angle of the slap and the aftermath of the huddle, and everything at least appeared fine as players walked to the bench.
That's all we know for now. It was certainly a hard slap. It may or may not have been that serious.
