Giannis Antetokounmpo is feeling on top of the world right now after he led Greece to the bronze medal in the 2025 EuroBasket tournament. With 30 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists, the two-time NBA MVP was dominant in his country’s 92-89 victory over Finland in the third-place game on Sunday.
This performance is a far cry from his outing last Friday, when Greece fell to Turkey in the semifinal, via a 94-68 blowout. Antetokounmpo struggled mightily in that game, finishing with a tournament-low 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
Turkey put together a terrific game plan to contain the Greek superstar, who saw multiple bodies throughout the contest, especially whenever he got inside the paint. Following the match, Turkey’s Alperen Sengün was asked about their strategy in defending Antetokounmpo and offered what sounded like a subtle jab at the 
Milwaukee Bucks superstar.
“He’s not a great passer. He’s an amazing player, you know. But he’s not a great passer. So just tried to help and jump to close the paint.”
Sengun’s comments went viral over the weekend. But Antetokounmpo stayed silent in the immediate aftermath as he likely locked in on the third-place game against Finland. Now that the dust has cleared and Greece bagged the bronze medal, The Greek Freak now had some time to talk.
During a press conference, a reporter asked Antetokounmpo if he had anything to say about Sengun’s dig. He didn’t address the Houston Rockets center directly and instead said this, via BasketNews:
“I’m a guy that doesn’t like to talk a lot. I let my game talk. I’m going to my 13th season in the NBA. I won everything. Everything. And [the EuroBasket medal] was the thing I hadn’t won and I won… I’m not the guy that will talk back to coaches or players or people that say bad things about me. It doesn’t really matter because at the end of the day, you won’t remember what they say. You will remember how I respond.”
Antetokounmpo is one of the most accomplished NBA players today and he is far from giving up his spot near the top of the food chain any time soon. He’s already won an NBA championship, a Finals MVP, two league MVPs, and a Defensive Player of the Year award.
And as he showed on Sunday, Giannis did let his game talk and bounced back in a huge way to claim his first medal in international competition. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but take a subtle jab at the end as well.
“Go see my clips on YouTube and then come back and then ask me if I’m a good passer.”
Though Antetokounmpo didn’t directly respond to Sengun, his head coach Vassilis Spanoulis did and he did not hold back with an NSFW-laden soliloquy.
“Sengun is a very, very small kid to talk about Giannis.”
Sengun and Turkey may have been smiling at the end of the day on Friday, while Antetokounmpo and his Greek teammates had their heads down. But after Sunday, it was the other way around. Giannis and Greece celebrated winning third place in the EuroBasket, while Turkey came up short against Germany in the final.
In times like these, it’s better to finish third than second.
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